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Can't speak for anyone or anything but what it's in front of my eyes.

In County Down there's 42-44 clubs, depending on what notion a few of them have.

39-42 own their own grounds.

In the same council area (mostly Newry, Mourne and Down), there's about 8-10 soccer clubs own their own grounds.

I wouldn't suggest this is representative of the island of Ireland.

But I kind of have a sense that it's not far off the mark.

The direction taken by Laochra Gael and GAA Social is unavoidable and inevitable.

For the truth is that most people's back stories aren't that interesting.

And much as the "dyed in wool GAA die hards" will tell you that they want to hear real GAA stories, truth is that once the big personalities in the game have been done, moving into the next tier (players who are not quite as interesting), after the 3rd episode in a row of "yes we were really determined that it was our year. We trained every day, sometimes twice a day, and it was worth it", the only ones tuning in are highly localised to the person being interviewed.

By the way this one isn't a GAA problem. It's the same for all sports. How many people would honestly tune into the "Premier League social" by season 2? The reason the Overlap works is because of the presenters. They're the ones who drive the opinion and stories each week, not the subjects.

I do believe both Paddy Heaney and Benny Tierney both cited this conundrum when retiring their Irish News columns. The sport will always be exciting and interesting, but the stories that emanate are nearly always the same, which - unless you're going to become personal in opinions about managers or players - makes it very difficult to write about for any length of time.

You'll never understand it BB.

Postulate and prance all you like, but the Troubles was a very real and complex time.

Which you'll never understand

1. I follow Spurs. Cant say I support them as my average "investment" per annum in them would see change from a £20 note.

2. Since 1987.

3/4. I spent a fair bit of time in London growing up, family over there. But the reason I picked up Spurs is I went to see AC Milan (Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkard, Maldini, Baresi) in a pre season friendly at Wembley, and came away infatuated with Chris Waddle. In my teens and early 20s I went to see them play a dozen times, even a few away trips. Since then my interest levels have dropped and risen sporadically. Not so much to do with success, but style of play and the actual players. Harry Kane kept me focused for a decade. Currently I'm quite passive about all.

5. I generally root for England when there's Spurs players involved, and o root for Harry Kane whoever he is playing for. Generally I'm ambivalent about England winning something. I don't think it would produce the same feelings for me that others have "can't turn on the news or read a paper for a month". It's very easy to ignore media these days. Plus they've some likeable players who do deserve a big win.


6. I'd honestly love to support Newry City, but in my lifetime - apart from the rebuild after they folded when I did know quite a few of their players - their team has largely been made up of players from anywhere but Newry and Mourne. Now I will preface this by declaring that my area's record for producing high class athletes at any sport is truly abysmal - but at same time I've no interest in watching a bunch of mercenaries traipsing in from neighbouring boroughs, with a sole intention of either gathering coin, or using Newry as a pedestal to playing with a bigger Irish League club. And on the Irish league, it's a cesspit of pretend effort, pretend loyalties, pretend bank accounts, pretend everything. NI soccer takes all the worst attributes of soccer and clings to them like a prize.

I don't understand this "under the radar" angle. Do you not watch National League football?

5 of Mayo's defence (along with 6 others who played in both) lined out in the 2025 NFL final.

12 of the 20 players used by Mayo last weekend played in a national league final 3 years ago.

10 of last weekend's matchday squad were in the 26 man panel for the 2021 Ai final

8 of last weekend's matchday squad were in the 26 man panel for the 2020 Ai final.

Stephen Coen too. He would have featured last weekend but for injury and he played in all the above.

They brought through a seam of quality players earlier this decade - Coyne, Hession, Callinan, McBrien, Carney, ROD - when the old guard were done. And they stayed competitive whilst waiting for those lads to mature into men.

Mayo have been hiding in plain sight for the past 5 years I reckon.

League stuff and knockout championship football aren't comparable, the only thing that could be compared looking back was Kerry's defending against Tyrone,Dublin and Mayo was as poor as it was against Donegal in the league final.  One Kerry poster on here thought Jason Foley whould mark Ryan O'Donoghue out of the game, instead O'Donoghue was Man of the match. The same Kerry poster hasn't posted since I wonder why?

Those stats are inflated by saying matchday squad instead of starting 15 which was much changed from the 2021 All-Ireland final

Mayo in their previous 4 championships was last 16,last 12 exits and hammered by Kerry,Dublin in All-Ireland Quarter-finals.  Mayo and their supporters can correct me if wrong,  7 or 8 of their starting 15 played in their first ever Croke Park championship match against Cork in this summers All-Ireland Quarter-final,  if that isn't the definition of coming in under the radar I don't know what is


After winning All-Ireland semi-final by 17 points the under radar stuff should have been over however Andy Moran played the media like a fiddle after that match asking a room of journalists did any of them really think Mayo would win the All Ireland final and he was greeted with silence.

Even though we have a more offensive based game All-Ireland finals are still won by the team that defends the best and the defensive work out of possession by Mayo forwards and midfielders was the stand out feature in them ending their 75 year famine.  Food for thought for teams with potential in what is sure to be another open championship in 2027.

That "7/8" surprised me but it might be right.

Livingstone, McGreal, Beirne and Kobe made their first Croke Park championship starts vs Cork. Diarmuid Duffy came on early to make five.

Maybe McHugh, Brickenden and Towey didn't get any Croke park minutes over the years, I'm not sure.

I guess the point I'm trying to make though is that Mayo had been developing the core of that team since 2020. Aside from injury, Coyne, Hession, Callinan, McBrien, Carney, Flynn, O'Donaghue and Conroy (along with Coen and, until this season, Ruane) have been everpresents whilst the older guard were phased out and the younger lads brought through. Along with Brickenden, Tuohy and McHugh, they don't really know anything apart from D1 level football and what it entails. League isn't championship, but if there's a better prep for marking the Clifford's, Walsh etc than playing against them, I don't know what it is.

There's definite parallels with Tyrone in 2021. They were also a team with the right age and experience profile to win an AI. They just needed a few cards to fall in their favour.
 

I don't understand this "under the radar" angle. Do you not watch National League football?

5 of Mayo's defence (along with 6 others who played in both) lined out in the 2025 NFL final.

12 of the 20 players used by Mayo last weekend played in a national league final 3 years ago.

10 of last weekend's matchday squad were in the 26 man panel for the 2021 Ai final

8 of last weekend's matchday squad were in the 26 man panel for the 2020 Ai final.

Stephen Coen too. He would have featured last weekend but for injury and he played in all the above.

They brought through a seam of quality players earlier this decade - Coyne, Hession, Callinan, McBrien, Carney, ROD - when the old guard were done. And they stayed competitive whilst waiting for those lads to mature into men.

Mayo have been hiding in plain sight for the past 5 years I reckon.

I'd like to go the Fleadh for an evening but yep the public transport bit worries me. Newry to Belfat trains have been full up since they went to the hourly service, let alone without the Fleadh.

Not overall possession, Mayo full forward line had alot of possession in the scoring areas,Kerry very limited with possession held on to, way out the field!

I'm not trying to be obstreperous here, but I'm reading your logic as along the lines of "as long as David converts the majority of his opportunities, then he's the best player on the pitch".

Clifford scored 1.06 of very limited possession, as Kerry getting cleaned way out the field. He only missed 1 either half from what i rememember, what the Mayo lads missed with 65% possession?

Where did you 65% possession from out of curiosity?

Kerry won more kickouts than Mayo off both goalkeepers.

No nrico2006 not as an absolute rule.

But most of the time, that's what should happen.

Once the shadow boxing and easy ties are out of the way, who is it that stands up the most?

Y'know for all Clifford's absolute brilliance (he's the best player I've ever seen), he didn't have that much of an impact on the final; and he was not being double marked or sweeped. He got most his scoring done early doors. I know that's his games - he's a quality over quantity player when it comes to touches.

ROD on the other hand showed up in pretty every aspect of what's important in Gaelic football ie skill, athleticism, aggression, intelligence, willingness, leadership.

How anyone would want this marked the other way is beyond me.

It just highlights the fickle nature of the award - and the recency bias that dominates the All Stars.

Dylan Geaney was touted by some as a potential PoTY after the quarterfinal, now he isn't really in the running for a place in the All Star team - at least none that I have seen from the experts.

Also, if Clifford's 2pt effort at the end of the final went the right side of the post and Kerry went on to win the match - no one would be referencing O'Donoghue as PoTY - Clifford would be an absolute shoe in for the award.

Just looking back on previous awards, I'm assuming Bernard Brogan the only man to win it without getting to the final?

It's not recency bias.

It's recognition that as challenges got increasingly more difficult, some players rose to the occasion, and others did not.

Player of the year should be the person who had the most bearing on the outcome of the championship.

That was Ryan O'Donaghue. Then a long, long gaps.

Right, it's the one  we've all been waiting for.

Appropriately , we're doing it this week of all weeks.

Here we go....

The Saw Doctors

Austy these lads wouldn't fill a tea room in Castlebar, let alone Croke Park.

Can you not just yourself name the 3 songs everyone is vaguely familiar with and then move on?

There's far too much chitter chatter about fitness levels.

I'm not saying fitness isn't important. Of course it is.

But top tier county teams only have two levels; they are either super fit or look super super fit.

The difference between those levels has very little to do with actual fitness, and has a lot more to do with tactics and momentum.

One of the key things continually overlooked since Sunday is that Mayo's gameplan didn't ask anyone to burst their balls by trying playing in multiple positions. Their fullback line played in full back positions. Their full forward line played in full forward positions. Callinan, Hession, Flynn, DOC and Tuohy played between the 45s. The only ones with no fixed position were McBrien, who had a really smart game but mostly ambled forward rather than attacked lines, Carney who had an unbelievable game but never carried the ball, and ROD who played the same role every CHF of the 90s and 00s played.

They looked fitter because they weren't running an endless series of 80m runs in support of now obsolete footballing principles. They gained momentum because when they went to tackle and went to press, they could do so because they weren't bucked from running an endless series of 80m runs in support of now obsolete footballing principles.

Not fitness. Gameplan and momentum.

Well done UEFA. A shining beacon in a dark age.

Jazes - you'd long for the good aul days of Blatter when it's was just honest decent corruption.

I can't help thinking this is all  one big  charade from UEFA

A few brown envelopes and  it'll   all be done and both sides know  it

Dont kid youraelf , one  organisation is  as corrupt as the other

But they're not.

Association football would appear to corrupt from top to bottom. To be brought into the inner circle of a national association, I suspect you have to be shown more willing to oversee the exchange of envelopes than have any notions of stopping them.

But Infantino has shown monstrously, unrelenting new levels of greed that blow everyone else out of the water. He's intent on extracting his pound of flesh out of everything related to football. He's basically a combination of everything that happens when accountants take over organisations, mixed with him being the actual f**king devil incarnate.

I honestly might even hate him more than Trump.

Doesn't everyone have squad issues though?

Kerry had a 34 and a 35 year old playing all season.

That wouldn't  suggest they've a bench to call upon.