Jack O'Connor says it's critical that Kerry start winning All-Irelands at minor and U21 levels again.

O'Connor is manager of the Kerry minor side that locks horns with Cork in the 2014 Munster MFC final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh at noon on Sunday and he feels that silverware in the minor and U21 grades is vital to the Kingdom's long-term sustainability:

"I keep going back to the 1990s - when I was involved in the Kerry U21s - when we really had five top class U21 teams in a row," he says in The Irish Examiner.

"We reached four All-Irelands, we won three of them. That period backboned Kerry for ten years. That was also on top of winning in the 1994 All-Ireland minor.

"So, we won a minor in 1994; an U21 in '95, '96 and '98, as well as reaching a final in 1999. It was five or six years in a row where you had serious players coming through.

"Young fellas have a lot of choices these days and they can easily go one way or the other, especially when they are 18, 19 and 20. If they get that feeling of winning early that will drive them on to greater heights. Dublin have had that recently.

"I think it is absolutely critical that Kerry start winning at minor and U21 level. The great side that reached six All-Ireland finals in a row, the vast majority of them are moving on and we now need new guys coming through that have tasted success. If you win underage it gives you the confidence to go on and win at senior." Tweet

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