A day of emotion and tenderness as persistence is finally rewarded.
Declan Bogue Reports from Croke Park WHEN THE FINAL whistle went in 2024, the ball was in the arms of Jarly Óg Burns, in a freakishly similar spot to where Kieran McGeeney held it when the final whistle came in 2002 to signal that Armagh were All Ireland champions.
Kieran McGeeney is now the All Ireland winning manager. Armagh are now the All Ireland champions. This may take some getting used to. If there was a marketing campaign for Lurgan, it might urge visitors to bring a helmet. In perhaps the most fanatical following there is in the game, the Lurgan crew swells the numbers every time. For them, the football is part of the day, but the party is the day too.
In the traditional day-after-an-All-Ireland-win-interviews, the Armagh players were making a solemn vow. It takes a good team to win an All Ireland, but it takes a great team to retain it.One year on, and Armagh are back in the All Ireland final and they have Tyrone for company this time. But they are tense and wound up and fucking irritable, truth be told.
In 2006, Kerry, with the help of a Kieran Donaghy goal, beat them in the quarter-final. A year later, Derry take them out in a Clones qualifier.A Friday night drive through Armagh. Taking your sons through the Cathedral city to note the flags and bunting and ‘Good Luck Armagh and Punky Toner’ type signs festooned around the county.
And then they switch to Silverbridge. Marty arrives in an open-top car. He is, well, practically molested on sight. There’s hundreds there, all going stone mad. Living their best lives.Who might have thought that Oisín Conaty would have been left so gloriously alone to cause absolute wreck? As the final whistle blows, it’s in the hands of Jarly Óg. He has a few moments for himself. Then he takes off bounding, skipping, tripping up the steps of the Hogan Stand, tearing up to grab a hold of his father, the GAA President.GAA President Jarlath Burns with his son, Jarly Óg Burns. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
What do you want from the GAA leadership? You want some leadership. Some of that means stripping back the feeling that over the last decade it has become similar in the worst ways to cold, impersonal sporting bodies. Referees. Umpires. Committee members. Blessed are the tea-makers. Those that put out a flag, those that mow the pitches, everyone you could imagine, with the point that This Day Is For You.
The last four years have had four different All Ireland champions. With Galway, Mayo, Derry and Donegal set to lock and load for 2025 along with the perennial challenge from Kerry and Dublin, we might just be living through football’s own Revolution Years.
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