Covid, Teams meetings and postponements: The Kerry-Tyrone saga of 2021

The All-Ireland semi-final between the great rivals almost didn't happen due to a covid outbreak among the Tyrone players and management

CLOSE QUARTERS: Paudie Clifford of Kerry is surrounded by Tyrone players, from left, Conor Meyler, Michael McKernan and Tiernan McCann during the game. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Early Saturday morning, August 7, 2021. Kerry are due to face Tyrone in an All-Ireland semi-final in eight days’ time but a WhatsApp message lands, outlining why it’s almost certain the game isn’t going to go ahead.

“Fears the complete Tyrone training squad could be stood down after another 11 players tested positive tonight,” it read. “The officials at Croke Park have ordered a covid test on every member of the squad tomorrow morning at Garvaghy.” 

A few calls and messages later to corroborate the information, including one to a Tyrone county executive member, and the Irish Examiner is comfortable to break the news that the game on August 15 is in jeopardy as several players were isolating after three players as well as joint-manager Feargal Logan are suspected of having covid after the previous Sunday’s Ulster final win over Monaghan.

Two days later and the GAA announce on foot of Tyrone’s medical reports that the game is to be refixed for Saturday, August 21 and the All-Ireland final pushed into September. Only by the following Saturday, Tyrone announce that they won’t be in a position to fulfil that game.

Tyrone GAA executive member and Omagh solicitor Conor Sally remembers how tense the management committee meeting was before formulating what effectively was their death notice from the championship.

“That was a real possibility. There was a one-week extension and that wasn’t going to be enough. I remember one evening when 10 or 11 Tyrone players out of a squad of 35 trained. That was the level you were at. It wasn’t that one or two boys were away.

“That Saturday morning, Brian (Dooher) and Feargal had spoken to the players and as administrators we had to be led by them. They came onto the Teams meeting from Garvaghey, said that they had spoken to the players, had explained the medical advice to them and they weren’t in a position to put out a team the following week. Certain leaders in the squad stood up and said that they had to do this. For some guys, that could have been their last chance of reaching an All-Ireland final so they weren’t taking it lightly.

“They relayed that message to us, I suppose the custodians of Tyrone GAA, to contact Croke Park to try and get another week. Now that period between Saturday morning to Sunday, nobody knew what was going to happen. Croke Park could have said anything, If they said no, where would that have left us in terms of a right to appeal? It was new ground for everybody.” 

The initial response from Croke Park was negative. That month, an U20 All-Ireland hurling final had been postponed due to a covid outbreak in the Cork camp but only the once, while the year before Sligo’s withdrawal had been accepted by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).

But the fixtures body wanted to know how Kerry felt. If they were prepared to wait another week, then a second delay to the game and in turn the All-Ireland final might be accommodated. The following morning, then Kerry chairman Tim Murphy spoke to manager Peter Keane and his players. As much as this wasn’t of their own making, a bye to an All-Ireland final was anathema to them.

“I don’t think Kerry could have made any other decision,” says Murphy now. “It was just one of those things. It was Kerry first, absolutely, but Kerry as a county wouldn’t have wanted to play in a competition where they got into an All-Ireland final without winning a semi-final.

“The most trying part was the fact that everything was happening at such a fast pace. It was unchartered territory and decisions had to be made within a day or two. We found out on a Saturday and met on a Sunday when Kerry trained. The players and management felt we had to play. There was a Teams call with ourselves, Tyrone and Croke Park that evening and I remember leaving Austin Stack Park with Peter Twiss at the time and that was it then.” 

As much as a regulation was brought in to prevent All-Ireland finals from being delayed beyond seven days – Tyrone had a postponement of 13 days and the final was eventually played 14 days after its original date, CCCC chairman Derek Kent was pleased the various parties were able to resolve the matter.

“It was an unprecedented era obviously and it took great leadership by those counties, but others and clubs as well to fulfil fixtures through the county at the time given the controls that were in place.

“We did bring in new regulations after the outcome but it was a credit to everyone that the championships were completed. It was a trying time, not just Kerry and Tyrone. You had a situation with Clare and Wexford senior hurlers and Cork and Galway’s U20s before the All-Ireland final. It was tough but as expected the GAA came to the fore in the parishes and the communities.” 

If there was initial reluctance in the CCCC to give Tyrone an extra week, there was less sympathy for them in the general public with tales of post-Ulster final celebrations and what not. 

“If you consider 14 of the 17 played against Monaghan had covid,” Sally points out. “Those guys, that seems like a very large number of first-team players. I’m by no means a medical expert but those guys would have been sitting in fairly close proximity to each other in the changing rooms in the Hogan Stand.

“That was also a game where people will look back and say that Tyrone tired incredibly in the second half. Monaghan closed in on them and clearly some players were coming down with covid.

“Garvaghey, Tyrone’s training base, you couldn’t get in or out of it. It was like a prison. Seán McCann, the logistics guy, was standing at the front gate, checking temperatures and you weren’t allowed out of the car until he checked it was okay.

“All these stories started to appear like these boys being out on the beer, being injured and are Tyrone bluffing. Some people may have been thinking that but if you speak to anybody in Croke Park the documentary evidence was clear and concise.” 

The chatter seemed to inspire Tyrone to victory in that extra-time game and beyond. 

“They said we wouldn’t, they said we couldn’t. I’ll tell you what, we did,” exclaimed Kieran McGeary at the final whistle. Frustrated with the line of questioning about how Tyrone found themselves so exposed to covid, Dooher walked out of the post-match press conference.

Inspiration comes in all forms. 

“Sometimes it’s a death, sometimes, believe it or not, it’s been a disciplinary case and that’s not unique to Tyrone,” points out Sally. “Some people love that siege mentality and in a dressing room it can become very tight. Every manager is looking to unify a squad and sometimes they’re self-generated and sometimes it’s another reason."

Taken off death row, Tyrone felt Lazarus-like. Sally continues: "Sometimes you go close to the edge. I remember Kerry being there against Sligo in 2009 and they later went on to win the All-Ireland. That 24-hour period for us in 2021 was the edge because we genuinely didn’t know what was going to happen.” 

After the counties were drawn to face each other on Monday, the joke about Tyrone immediately looking for a two-week postponement were doing the rounds. Murphy didn’t escape it but trying to see the funny side of it remains tough. “The immediate weeks after that defeat were exceptionally difficult personally and for all involved with team and management,” he says.

Nevertheless, the great respect Tyrone have for Murphy and Kerry is palpable. 

“To be fair to Tim Murphy and Kerry, they didn’t want to bypass to an All-Ireland final,” Sally remarks. “People talk about the rivalry between Tyrone and Kerry but there is great respect and sportsmanship there. Kerry genuinely wanted to play the game. It was typical of our association and Kerry who hold very high standards in terms of sportsmanship. What happens on the field, happens on the field but off it there is a great relationship there.”