Pride and emotion as Mayo end 75-year wait for glory

ByDavid Mohan

BBC Sport NI journalist at Croke Park

"To every young boy and girl across Mayo and our diaspora across the world: never stop dreaming, stick your chest out and be proud to be from Mayo."

In an instant, 75 years of heartbreak were over.

As Jack Coyne became the first Mayo man to hoist the Sam Maguire Cup over his head since Sean Flanagan 1951 following victory over Kerry, his voice seemed a mix of emotion and delirium, for this was no ordinary All-Ireland title win.

It took Mayo 48 years to get back to Gaelic football's biggest day when they fell three points short against Cork in 1989 and they were not to know it - how could anyone? - but it would begin a sequence of 11 defeats in All-Ireland finals, ranging from the chastening, the near misses, replays and the downright bad luck.

Manager Andy Moran was a player in six of those from 2004's emphatic defeat by Kerry until 2017 when Dublin's Dean Rock broke Mayo hearts with a last-gasp free.

The Yew County would go onto fall in a couple more finals before they final scaled the mountain on a day in which they wore all white due to a colour clash - the same they wore back in '51 and when, as legend has it, a curse was placed on the county's footballers due to their over-exuberant celebrations when passing a funeral.

Whether fact or fiction, it was another albatross around the neck of a county whose football fortunes mean so much and it showed as Mayo players, fans and the management team led by Moran finally got to taste the victory they craved.

"It's a bit surreal," said Moran as he tried to make sense of it all.

"I think of other people that are sick at home and missing out on this. It's amazing. I think of the managers, the great people [who have represented Mayo in the past].

"John O [Mahony] got honoured here today, 25 years from Galway [2001 win] - just great, great people who sadly are no longer with us. I just think of them guys and I'm just deeply honoured to be representing the people of Mayo."

As the teams warmed up before the game, 'To Win Just Once' by the Saw Doctors played over the Croke Park tanoy and that them certainly struck a chord with the Mayo support who belted it out with gusto and even continued a cappella when the music cut and the teams moved to be introduced to Irish President, Catherine Connolly.

Mayo had three prior All-Ireland titles and while they have been in the mix since, this felt like a breakthrough moment, a day when the ghosts of All-Ireland finals past were finally laid to rest.

"Even last night I was thinking, Donal Vaughan [sent off in the 2017 final], Liam McHale [sent off in the replayed final of 1996 following a mass brawl] - guys that have suffered not only losing, but real heartache in All-Ireland finals and blamed for a lot of it," Moran reflected.

"I just hope that today brings a bit of peace to them guys. I'm waiting for it to give me a bit of peace, but I'm sure on Wednesday and Thursday, I think I'll settle, but I'm just so grateful for all the players that have played, all the managers that have managed us over the last 75 years. We're just the lucky ones that have got over the line."

Mayo entered the game as outsiders against a Kerry team that was bidding for back to back titles for the first time since 2006-2007 and a record-extending 40th overall.

Perhaps the clues were staring us in the face all along, as while Kerry got over the line in the quarter-final against Tyrone and semi-final against Dublin, breaks fell their way in both.

Mayo were certainly much more impressive in their semi-final win with 17 points the margin against a Louth side that had taken some scalps along the way.

"I know the general narrative was that we had no chance and we were kind of looking at it and saying, 'hold on here now for a second, Louth beat Armagh and Dublin, yet we beat Louth and get no credit for it'," Moran said.

"We thought this the whole way through, from the Monaghan game, that we win and still get no credit.

"It wasn't back to the wall stuff, but we had 100 training sessions done up to this point and we were quite confident that we could give it a good rattle at least, then if we were in it down the stretch, we thought we'd the subs to come in and finish the job."

Finish it they did and there were no arguments or complaints from Kerry boss Jack O'Connor.

Naturally disappointed in defeat, O'Connor was gracious nonetheless and was happy to acknowledge what the win meant for Mayo.

"I'm long enough around the place to know this is fantastic for the game of football," said the Kerry boss.

"From our point of view, we're bitterly disappointed because we're in the business of trying to win it for ourselves but I'm long enough around the place to know that this is a great day for Mayo. It gives a lot of other counties hope."

That hope is now a reality for Mayo who will enjoy this for quite some time to come.

For Moran, it's been a long-held dream to get his hands on a Celtic Cross and while it just evaded him as a player, he now has it in his first year at the helm of his native county.

"I've been waiting for this since 2003, probably even before that as a minor, always dreamt of being part of it, and now I'm kind of afraid of it, so we'll wait, we'll go to Castlebar tomorrow night [for the homecoming].

"I'm sure we'll have a great night tonight, but I'd be encouraging the young fellas to go easy, and just enjoy this."