Eugene McGee, the Offaly manager when they stopped Kerry’s five-in-a-row bid in 1982, has warned Jim Gavin that the “hullabaloo” coming his way next year will be “horrendous”.

Long before its conclusion, the 2018 football championship had assumed all the air and feel of a national league coming to its customary mild conclusion. Yeah, yeah ,yeah, yeah, OK, so such-and-such won it, fair play to them, but cut to the chase — how will they get on in the forthcoming championship?