Mattie Murphy is a name that is now synonymous with hurling in Galway, having been involved with managing Galway teams since 1989.

Beginning his career on a high as the manager of the first Galway team to win the Tony Forstell in 1989, Murphy is now in his eighth year managing the Galway minors. And what an eight years it has been.

Underage hurling in Galway has been one of the county's success stories, winning All Ireland titles in '92, '94, '04 and '05, all under Murphy's leadership.

And the success seems set to continue. Two weekends ago this year's minors travelled to Dublin to play Cork in an All Ireland semi final. Galway were rank outsiders and yet came out on top.

"Beating cork was as sweet as any of them really," says Murphy.

"I suppose it can be down to being in the right place at the right time really. When you go into managing a team, you need time at it. It is a two year cycle. Like, when I came in with the 1992 minor team, I realistically saw an All Ireland in that team, but I thought we would do it within the two years and then we won it in the first year. But that is sport; you just never know," he adds.

Mattie's first taste of success with Galway minors prompted a strong breading ground for household hurling names in Galway. The next win was in '94, with "practically an entire new team". Some of the senior hurlers on that winning team included Alan Kearns and Fergal Healy.

In 1995, Mattie moved up the hurling ranks, taking hold of the Galway Senior Hurling team. Under his reign, they won the National League in 1996, but never got to taste the sweetest victory. Galway has not won an All Ireland senior title since 1988, despite coming close in 2001. Since then they have reached the final once again in 2005.

Two years ago Galway looked elsewhere for a manger and Ger Loughnane stepped in. However, after two years with just four championship wins, they have not gotten any closer to the Liam McCarthy Cup. It will be decided in the next month whether or not Loughnane will stay on for another year.

"I got involved with the senior team in the mid 90s and I suppose now my bottom line is that I have been there already and I really at this stage do not want the hassle of being involved at that level. There are too many obstacles and I have no interest in becoming involved in the political campaign that comes with becoming involved in senior management," Murphy says.

"One of the biggest problems is that there is no continuity in management. In the past they have looked for people who have had All Ireland medals and they are indeed well entitled to the job. However, I do think it is important for people over teams to work their way up. Look at the Wexford winning team of 1996; a lot of them lads have gone into management, taking on the underage development of hurling in the county. It is good to tackle management with the young lads, as you can really appreciate how the thing works. When you go into management, it takes at least two years to find your feet," he adds.

While Murphy will always be associated with Galway minor teams, he says he doesn't like to classified by just this.