David Power embarks on new chapter in career with Tipperary ladies footballers

Following on from his past achievements of guiding Tipperary minor footballers to the All-Ireland title in 2011, and the county’s senior footballers to their first Munster title in 85 years in 2020, Kilsheelan/Kilcash clubman David Power is now embarking on his latest challenge as manager of the Tipperary ladies footballers.

His first outing in the new role is away to Wexford in the first round of the Lidl National League Division 2 campaign on Sunday, a game that will be played at St Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy at 2pm.

It is not his first involvement in the ladies game, as he has previously coached at club level, doing a two-year stint with Comeragh Rangers in Waterford, while also coaching the WIT ladies football team, but it’s his first time with a county team.
And he is eagerly looking forward to it.

“I have managed all the men’s teams in Tipperary so this is a new challenge for me, and I really enjoyed my time working with the ladies in Comeragh Rangers,” he says, as he prepares for the new chapter in his managerial career.

He takes over the role from Ed Burke, with the Moyle Rovers man leaving last year after taking Tipperary to third in the league, just missing out on promotion to Cork and Galway, and reaching the All-Ireland quarter-final where they were beaten by Meath.

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Power’s target is to at least go one better than last year and win promotion to Division 1.

“We’ll be taking it game by game, first Wexford away, then Cavan at home followed by Mayo away. I think there will be four or five teams in the running for promotion. If we are being realistic, and want to get promoted, then I think we need two results from our first three games. That’s the target,” he says.

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Power isn’t underestimating the challenge in his first game in Wexford this Sunday, with the Model County team now managed by former Kildare minor football manager Darren Kendrick, who took over from the previous boss Lizzie Kent at the end of last year.

“It won’t be easy. Wexford have come up from Division 3 and have a good squad. Lizzie Kent has done massive work with them and she’s now in charge of the ladies and girls football with the FAI. She’s an extraordinary woman so I know that she’ll be leaving a good squad down there. It won’t be an easy task on Sunday,” he remarks.

Power has been working with the girls since his appointment and is delighted with how the preparations are going.

“It’s very good, the reaction from the girls has been super. They’re training really, really hard. We are still in the middle of sorting out our panels as they are playing third level colleges football. The O’Connor Cup is a big competition at third level, so we are dealing with that but overall it is very good,” he points out.

However, Tipperary will be missing some high-profile stars this season who will ply their trade thousands of miles away in Australia.

Aisling McCarthy and Orla O’Dwyer have been based down under for a number of years, and they will be joined this year by Aherlow’s Caitlin Kennedy.

Also returning to the professional game will be Cahir’s Aishling Moloney, who was one of the stars of last year’s league and championship campaigns after coming back from an early season injury. Also returning for another spell in Australia will be Sliabh na mBan player Niamh Martin, but she will be available to the Tipperary team until May.
Of course, departures will always make way for new arrivals.

Power says – “We have a very good group who are very committed and there will be opportunities for younger girls coming through. There’s a lot of talent there and they will get their opportunities. We could have up to fifteen new faces on the panel this year”.

And for the first time, those players will be playing under the new rules introduced by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association.

The association is trialling twelve new rules in 2026 to speed up play and improve fairness, including adopting men’s rules like the kickout mark, a two-point score from outside the arc, keeping players in the opposition half, plus specific LGFA changes such as allowing tackles when the ball is near the body (with open hands) and harsher penalties for dissent.

The rules will add a new dimension to the game, for both players and management, and will be in operation across all four divisions in the league.

“That’s something different that we will be experiencing from this weekend,” said Power.

As well as having to travel for games against Wexford and Mayo, the Tipp ladies will also be on the road to meet Westmeath.
Their home games are against Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal and Tyrone.