Mayo’s success will change mindsets
Mayo senior football manager, Andy Moran, and captain, Jack Coyne, bring the Sam Maguire Cup back to Mayo last month. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
Two years ago, the GAA football championship changed forever with the implementation of the new rules. There was a familiar winner, Kerry, in its maiden year. But, last Sunday week, Mayo came from nowhere to change the mindset of counties forever.
The reality now is that the days of Dublin and Kerry dominating are over. Over the next number of years, different winners will emerge. Andy Moran has given hope to lots of counties. You can be sure teams like Monaghan, Roscommon, Westmeath and Louth can dream. What seemed impossible is now possible.
Under the old rules, what Tyrone did to Kerry in Croke Park in 2003 was described by Pat Spillane as “puke football”. Twenty-three years later, under the new game, another Kerry man, Eamon Fitzmaurice, called the same gameplan the “high press” as Mayo's young guns dismantled Kerry's hold on Sam, leaving Jack O'Connor's men shattered by the finish.
It's amazing that the last three times Sam Maguire has come west — in 1998, 2001 and 2026 — Roscommon have played a major part in Galway's and Mayo's victories.
In 1998, Roscommon were seconds away from beating Galway in Tuam Stadium in the Connacht final, only for a last-ditch Niall Finnegan free to rescue the Tribesmen. After an extraordinary replay in the Hyde that went to extra time, a Michael Donnellan goal settled matters, with Galway going on to win the All-Ireland against Kildare.
In 2001, Roscommon, managed by John Tobin, were back in Tuam and beat Galway in the Connacht semi-final before defeating Mayo in dramatic fashion in the Connacht final, as Gerry Lohan's injury-time goal had the Primrose and Blue supporters in dreamland.
Instead of Roscommon going straight into the All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 1991, the GAA had changed the structure with a back-door system. Galway's revival started in Aughrim against Wicklow and, lo and behold, came back to haunt the Rossies when the sides were drawn together in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
John O'Mahony's Tribesmen gained revenge on their way to an All-Ireland semi-final battle with Derry before eventually winning Sam against Meath.
Fast forward 25 years and lightning struck for a third time. As Roscommon and Mayo supporters walked out of Hastings Insurance Park on Sunday, April 26th, after the Rossies had left the Green and Red on the canvas, nobody would have predicted what the eventual outcome would be on Sunday, July 26th, in Croke Park.
Mayo, All-Ireland football champions, beating Kerry in the final. The most chaotic season, with more shocks than a dodgy electric fence, had produced such unexpected winners and, once again, Roscommon had played a major part in the Oscar-winning movie.
Andy Moran deserves enormous credit for lifting Mayo after the Castlebar wreckage. He re-set the plan and flung his young guns into the firing line and, six games later, ended the county's 75-year famine, creating one of the greatest GAA sporting moments Croke Park has ever witnessed. It’s right up there with Clare ending the "Biddy Early" curse of 81 years in 1995.
It can be thrown at Mayo that it wasn't until the final day that they met a big gun. The draw favoured them along the journey, with Cork and Louth two perfect sitting ducks in the All-Ireland quarter-final and semi-final respectively. Getting out of Castlebar against Meath in the last 12 was a massive turning point, as they came from ten points down to beat the Royals.
Suddenly, Andy Moran's influence and energy were rubbing off on his troops. Kobe and Darragh Beirne were like kids in a sweet shop, Ryan O'Donoghue was the general and Mayo were playing football with smiles on their faces, emerging as the high kings of the Orange Flags.
Coming up the home straight in Croke Park, even the most biased of Roscommon supporters' hearts began to melt as Mayo had Kerry in all sorts of trouble and the realisation dawned that Sam was coming west.
The white jerseys, just like 1951, the presence of the late John O'Mahony in Croke Park as Galway's jubilee team of 2001 was celebrated, Andy Moran from Ballaghaderreen and Kerry's refusal to allow David Clifford wear number 13 were all tell-tale signs that something extraordinary was in the air.
I didn't hear it mentioned or written by any journalist that Kerry took this final for granted, but I fully believe the Kingdom were sucked into the loud noise that title number 40 was done and dusted.
Seven up after 20 minutes suggested as much, but once Mayo went after them, the Green and Gold couldn't lift themselves. Their body language was different to the challenge Dublin presented. Kerry celebrated that semi-final victory as if the All-Ireland had already been won.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, next year's Connacht championship will include the All-Ireland champions. Who knows, Mayo could be coming to King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park for the opening game in 2027.
We have been spoiled in Roscommon over the past decade with brilliant club football championships.
The 2026 series, which began last weekend, was a slow burner. No team have retained the Fahey Cup since St. Brigid's in 2017, with Pádraig Pearses and St. Brigid's claiming three titles each, along with Clann na nGael and Strokestown over the past eight years.
The smart money suggests that St. Brigid's will retain their crown and, after coming so close to All-Ireland glory last January, they are the team sitting in the front-row seats.
Pádraig Pearses and Boyle lead the chasing pack, but it's unlikely the Kiltoom men will be caught.
The intermediate championship is wide open and, while Tulsk and St. Dominic's are the front-runners, there is no guarantee the Jimmy Murray Cup will reside in either clubhouse this winter.
The Junior A Championship looks more straightforward and, if St. Aidan's and Four Roads can play happy families when the winning posts of both the hurling and football championships come into view, the Ballyforan men can return to the intermediate ranks.
My choices are…
Senior: St. Brigid's
Intermediate: St. Dominic's
Junior A: St. Aidan's
Last week's teaser was like Mayo — it caught everyone by surprise.
Can you name the only senior football county not to lose a home game in the 2026 season? It was Westmeath, with six wins from six.
Liam Dooley, Ballyhaunis, was first to knock on the door, followed by QPR, Frenchpark; John Croghan, Bundoran; Murt Hunt, Ballyhaunis; Mick Fetherston, Dublin; Pat, Sligo; Luigi, Ballyhaunis; Mary McCarthy, Holloway; Kevin Flanagan, Dartford; Seán Heston, Toolan, and Michael Kearns, Clapham.
This week's Teaser: Which was the only game out of 31 in this year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship that failed to produce a goal?
Answers by e-mail to willieefc@gmail.com or by text to 086 8356227. This week's teaser comes from Limerick.
Star pupil: Saoirse Wynne who gave a tour-de-force performance from centre-back for the Roscommon intermediate ladies’ footballers in Croke Park.
Crucial win for: Strokestown over Western Gaels in the Roscommon Senior Football Championship.
Much do better: Bad starts for both Roscommon Gaels and Clann na nGael in the senior football championship.
Spot of bother: St. Brigid’s midfielder Shane Cunnane picking up a serious elbow injury in the opening round of the championship.
Weekend highlight: Roscommon winning the All-Ireland intermediate ladies’ football title in style after a commanding, controlled and confident performance in Croke Park.
What a cracker: For the third year in a row, Galway and Cork clash in the All-Ireland senior camogie final, with one win apiece making this decider extra special.
“It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Outside of Croke Park, which held 24 games, O’Connor Park, Tullamore and St. Tiernach’s Park, Clones, hosted the most football games this season with nine.
From a famine to a feast in the space of seven days for Connacht as the All-Ireland men’s senior football title, alongside the senior and intermediate ladies’ crowns, have crossed the River Shannon.
