ARMAGH MANAGER KIERAN McGeeney has revisited the controversial vote by the county board when his role hung in the balance last August.

Speaking at the Armagh press night at the Carrickdale Hotel ahead of the All Ireland football final, McGeeney spoke about how he felt emboldened when club delegates and county board figures decided his future late last summer.

In the end, the vote was 46-16 in his favour, representing 74%. Fourteen of the votes to continue came from the county board delegates, and it is believed that senior players would have influenced their view.

Asked if he found that period difficult, McGeeney replied, “I wouldn’t call it difficult. It was actually probably one of those moments that the vote reinforced. Whatever it was, 70 to 80 per cent of the clubs, voted for me. So, if anything, it was a good start to the year. As the year went on, I think that percentage went down!

“I’ve been around football a long, long time. Seen all of those things come and go.”

He continued, “In terms of this year, I think I’m right in saying we have lost one game by a point, that was the league final. So to me, it’s been a fantastic year.

“The last team who has got close to doing anything like these boys have done… yes, we got beaten on penalties in the Ulster final. But it’s perspective. Everybody says you can’t close out tight games but Donegal and Monaghan end up in a penalty shoot-out and they can close out tight games? They can’t. They were just better at penalties than we were. So I don’t buy into that narrative.

“For me, these fellas have been phenomenal. In 2005, we lost our first league game and went on – we had draws that year too. In 2005, Tyrone in the Ulster, they actually played better than us in both games and we ended up winning the replay and the All-Ireland semi-final we played better than them and lost it.

“For these fellas to go through this year and have one defeat by a single point is phenomenal.”

McGeeney revealed the text that his All Ireland opposing manager Galway manager Padraic Joyce sent after the two sides met in the closing round of the group stages and drew in Markievicz Park.

“He told me after the thing, he says ‘we’ll meet in the final.’ He actually predicted two or three things that have all come,” McGeeney revealed.

“I have asked him who did he see winning the final but he hasn’t told me that one yet. Joyce is a good fella, I know him a long time, an unbelievable player in his day and he’s a competitor through and through.”

McGeeney also stated that Armagh were unsure if they could use their black rig, rather than their traditional orange kit.

In the last three championship meetings against Galway they have worn orange, but in games against Derry and Kerry this season, they have gone with their all-black rig.

“We have two players with colour blindness, that’s an issue at different times, so when you have full block colours it can be an issue for two of them,” he said.