Kieran Shannon: Mayo's long and winding road in search of success

A number of Mayo players through the years have lived and worked in the capital. As the Connacht side meet Dublin in another All-Ireland final, Kieran Shannon catches up with some of those players

Mayo players arrive for a 2016 National League game. Picture: Diarmuid Greene / Sportsfile

One of the biggest challenges Mayo have in their pursuit of All Ireland glory could be termed the Dublin Factor – and not in the most obvious sense that the capital has had an outstanding team the past decade. A huge consideration in the lives and preparation of Mayo footballers is that many of them work or study in the big smoke, roughly three hours from Castlebar. Yet year after year they just get on with it and try to get around it, convening at a mutual meeting point for the collective ferry bus home – and back. Kieran Shannon caught up with some former players who made those journeys

WHEN Kenneth O’Malley thinks back on all those journeys coast to coast and back with the lads, the image that most comes to mind is when the slide door of their minibus would open in the car park of the Lucan Spa Hotel a little after midnight and a flood of water would gush out.