Aidan O'Shea holding steady amid the wild green and red hyperbole

Life as a Mayo footballer is a rollercoaster ride, never more so than this spring

As Mayo and Kerry prepare to go head-to-head this weekend in the Allianz Football League Division 1 Final, Allianz and the GAA unveiled the new cup that will be presented to the division winners, this coming Sunday, for the very first time. ‘Corn Mhíchíl Uí Mhuircheartaigh was unveiled today, to honour and remember the GAA icon, who made every match unforgettable for generations of fans. Pictured is Aidan O'Shea of Mayo with the new Allianz Football League Division 1 trophy, the Corn Mhíchíl Uí Mhuircheartaigh, ahead of the Allianz Football League Division 1 Final this weekend. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

A few hours after Mayo lost to Galway by 10 points in round 2 of the National League, a week after being defeated by Dublin, Tomás Ó Sé had his say on RTÉ.

"You're not going to write Mayo off in February but...." began Ó Sé, leaving nobody in much doubt about his thoughts.

It had already been a somber enough winter for Mayo given that it took a county board review after a fruitless 2024 just to green light manager Kevin McStay for another season.

A couple of months on, the travelling rollercoaster ride that is the Mayo senior football team will pitch up in Croke Park this weekend for an Allianz League Division 1 final fixture that few anticipated.

With only a few minutes to go against Donegal last weekend, relegation loomed. They survived that one, and somehow secured a Division 1 final spot, but it tells a tale of just how chaotic it all was that Aidan O'Shea was sure they would be facing Dublin in the decider.

"I was walking around afterwards thinking, 'Yeah, we're playing Dublin'," smiled O'Shea. "And then somebody was like, 'We're actually playing Kerry, you know that?' I was like, 'No, I don't!'.

"There was a live table doing the rounds on Twitter and you were on top of the table and then you were down in the relegation zone. My wife was telling me after, her mother was ringing from Kerry telling her about all these different scenarios."

Aidan O'Shea of Mayo in action against Connaire Mackin of Armagh during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Armagh and Mayo at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

It's only last summer that O'Shea got married and he and wife Kristin took a month out to honeymoon over winter, heading to Australia and the Maldives for an extended break. Based in Mayo and working as a project manager with Abbvie in Westport, the time away was perhaps a welcome respite from gloomy predictions locally about 2025.

"There's a little bit of hyperbole or whatever the word is whenever there's a result in Mayo, or something to talk about," said O'Shea of the constant chatter. "To be honest, within the group, it's been quite steady. It's funny, like, I don't think the younger lads are as aware about the stuff that goes on outside as maybe us older lads. And that's kind of a breath of fresh air as well. So no, I don't think it's something that we focus on at all."

O'Shea's wife is from Tralee — 'she's a Rockie' — while his own father is from Killorglin and played with Laune Rangers.

"He would have played with Mullingar Shamrocks as well, he moved around the country a little bit," explained the Breaffy man. "But yeah, Laune Rangers would be his home club."

So a league final against Kerry is going to be one for all the family, and extended families, to enjoy and endure.

Kerry are favourites, partly because of their strong form in recent weeks and also how the new rules appear to suit their natural skillset.

From Mayo's perspective, there was criticism, particularly after the Galway game, about how they'd adapted to the rules. Had they fully embraced them? The lack of two-pointers, and an apparent lack of innovation, suggested they may not have fully embraced them at that stage.

"Has anybody embraced them?" said O'Shea. "Has anybody figured it out perfectly? I don't think so. I mean, they changed them halfway through the league as well to go from 12v11 to 11v11. The 3v3 has changed and the four back has changed. 

"Look, I think there are a lot of things going on. Were we perfect on the rules early doors? I don't think any team was. We were in the same boat. We had a lot of players coming into inter-county football for the first time, never mind having to deal with new rules. So I think it (criticism) probably was a little bit harsh.

"We just weren't good enough in the first two games to get over the line. We could easily have won the first day but we weren't good enough the second day out.

"The next day, against Tyrone, I don't think it was a case of us getting a handle on the rules any better, if that's the barometer of how we won that game. We were just better on the day than Tyrone and we've improved our performances."

The last time Mayo reached the Division 1 final, they beat Galway, in 2023, but subsequently lost to Roscommon in the opening round of the Championship. This year, they'll play Sligo in Connacht a week after the league decider.

"We were probably in a different spot back then," said O'Shea of 2023. "We had a lot of injuries that time. We had no complaints in terms of we were beaten by the better team against Roscommon that time. But I think we're in a good spot coming into this weekend and the following weekend. We ultimately know that we're going to be going after that game against Sligo at home."