When they were kings... Liam Hayes on Gaelic football and sportswriting, now and then

33 years ago, Kerry met Meath in Croke Park, with the greatest team of all running out of road and the Royals on the rise. An email conversation with Liam Hayes stirred some memories on Gaelic football and sportswriting, now and then

Tony Leen: So, it was like this, Liam. You were part of, I can’t forget it. It was a time notebooks could walk among the dead of a losing All-Ireland semi-final dressing room. Joe Cassells was laid out on the medical table, his shoulder in shit. There were cuts and slits over a few eyes, and one player — I can’t remember who — was having a neck-brace sized. It was an A&E under the Hogan Stand.