Christy O'Connor: The long haul road to Sam Maguire

It didn’t appear to be possible to win an All-Ireland playing ten games until Tyrone finally managed it in 2005. They still hold the record

Kerry won the 2025 All-Ireland by playing nine games, the most that any team from the county ever had to play before to bring the Sam Maguire back to the Kingdom. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Moments after Meath had beaten Laois in the 1991 Leinster final, Liam Hayes, the Meath captain, was standing around trying to get the players together so they could go up in a group to collect the cup when Mick Lyons walked past Hayes. Lyons didn’t even stop walking before turning to his captain and snapping: ‘Just go up and get the f***ing thing.’ 

Meath had spent 16 years trying to win Leinster but as soon as they cracked the code in 1986, it became a routine; that 1991 success was Meath’s fifth title in six years. Walking up a handful of steps to take home the Delaney Cup was now considered an irritant but Meath were just beaten up and worn down by then after winning the most arduous provincial title in Gaelic football history.