TV time 'massive' for Limerick footballers in competition with other codes
"I was only thinking the other day actually, this year's league final was probably the first time a lot of kids in Limerick actually saw us play, because it was on TV," said the Limerick football captain.
"We don't have a big following so to actually get on TV for the Division 4 final, that was probably the first time a lot of people had seen us this year.
"Now to get this far and to be preparing for the Tailteann Cup final, to stay in the shop window as long as we have, to be on RTÉ two weeks ago for the semi-finals and to do it again this weekend is massive.
"It's really important for children to see, for kids to see that there's a competitive football team in Limerick and that there is a chance to get up to Croke Park and that there is a chance to be competing for silverware."
For a county not used to being in the shop window, Saturday's Tailteann Cup final against Kildare will actually be Limerick's third Croke Park game this year.
Prior to 2025, they hadn't played there since the 2022 Division 3 league final while, before that, it was 2013 when a Limerick football team had crossed the Croker whitewash.
To put the most positive spin on it, this season's Division 4 league final win, and the Tailteann semi-final win, were the first Croke Park outings for a number of Limerick players who therefore boast a perfect record at GAA HQ.
Opponents Kildare, meanwhile, have had a difficult time at Croke Park over the years, losing five games there in a row before labouring past Fermanagh in the recent semi-final.
"I don't think Kildare have any fear coming up there," maintained Fahy. "They have a lot more experience playing there than we do as well."
It helps Kildare too that they gained promotion from Division 3 this year, compared to Limerick winning Division 4. No Division 4 side has ever won the Tailteann Cup.
"We're here now, we're both in the final," shrugged Fahy. "Look, Kildare will be coming in as favourites. But we think we have every opportunity to perform and to play well and we'll see what happens after that."
The Dromcollogher/Broadford man is optimistic about it being a high-scoring, open and enjoyable game.
Both sides are stacked with quality forwards with Limerick benefiting from the strong form of goal poacher Danny Neville, 2024 Tailteann Cup All-Star Emmett Rigter, Fahy himself and the prolific James Naughton.
"He's in the form of his life," said Fahy of Naughton, who struck 4-12 in one league game alone this year. "He's playing unbelievable football. His free-taking is really something we rely on as well. He's very consistent with that. He's been incredible all year really. It's great to have him in that form and to have him as a weapon that we can rely on."
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The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Poll: Who will win today's All-Ireland SFC semi-final and Tailteann Cup final?
IT'S ALL-IRELAND FOOTBALL semi-final weekend. Kerry and Tyrone face off first at Croke Park this evening, with Donegal and Meath going head to head tomorrow. Advertisement The Tailteann Cup final is also down for decision, Kildare and Limerick kicking off another huge weekend at GAA HQ. Both counties contest their first final at this level — who will follow Down, Meath and Westmeath to be crowned Tailteann Cup champions? Throw-in is 2.30pm, with the action live on RTÉ and BBC. The first Sam Maguire decider ticket is then up for grabs, with Kerry-Tyrone throwing in at 5pm and being shown by the same broadcasters. Rivalries will be renewed, the pair having previously met in the semi-finals in 2015, 2019 and 2021. The Red Hand went on to lift the Sam Maguire Cup in '21, while Kerry prevailed from the last four in '15 and '19 before losing out to Dublin. Jack O'Connor's side last won the All-Ireland in 2022. A fascinating contest lies in wait as Jack O'Connor and Malachy O'Rourke, the Cliffords and the Canavans, and a whole lot more, do battle. ***** Related Reads Kerry have the best attack left in the championship - the rest is just pub talk Kerry knock Armagh off their perch as they dump champions out of race for Sam Tyrone take major step, dominant Donegal, Monaghan's second-half struggles Who will win today's All-Ireland SFC semi-final and Tailteann Cup final?
Irish Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
How Tyrone was transformed from makeweights into one of football's superpowers
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And that's before we mention the two National Leagues, the six All-Ireland Vocational schools titles, the 13 Ulster senior titles, picked up since 1984. Someone should write a book about that year. For that was when it all changed for Tyrone, when the foundation stones were built which saw them turn from an easy touch into a genuine football superpower. 'I'm not comfortable with the word superpower being attached to us,' says Benny Hurl, who was involved in the management team that won a minor All-Ireland last week. 'A lot of hard work goes on in Tyrone for sure, but hard work takes place all over Ireland. It's not just us.' Perhaps so, but it's clear that Tyrone works smart as well as hard. For these are the facts: only two other counties, Dublin and Kerry, have won more All-Irelands this century; only three teams, the Dubs, Kerry and Mayo, have appeared in more All-Ireland semi-finals since 2000 while no county has won more All-Irelands than Tyrone at minor and Under 20/21 level in the same timeframe. This is the story of how Tyrone footballers morphed from Clark Kent into Superman. FOOTBALL IS ART Before there was Mickey Harte, there was Art McRory, the founding father of Tyrone coaching. 'A hugely gifted and influential man,' says Hurl. McRory was a teacher by profession but really he was more than that. 'A pioneer,' says Joe McMahon, a Tyrone All-Ireland winner in 2005 and 2008. 'He guided; he led; he moulded men.' It was McRory who brought Tyrone to the 1986 and 1995 All-Irelands as well as to their first national title at senior level in 2002. More than that, he was Tyrone's Rinus Michels, Harte their Johann Cruyff. Everything started with McRory, those successful coaches that came after - Harte, Paddy Tally, Hurl, Peter Canavan, Ciaran McBride, Danny Ball, Brian Dooher, Fergal Logan, Martin Coyle, Liam Donnelly - learning from the master. Between them all, they shaped Tyrone. The titles started coming, first at underage level, then - when Harte took charge in 2003 - at senior. 'Anything Mickey did was competitive, whether it was a drill or an in-house game,' says McMahon. 'He is a great wordsmith in terms of how he gets his message across, too. When he speaks, people listen. 'When I was there, his big thing was instilling pride and privilege into you with regard to playing for Tyrone. 'You have earned this jersey,' he'd tell us. 'Make sure you leave it in a better place'.' This is 2008 footballer of the year Sean Cavanagh's take: 'Mickey's big thing was he never felt inferior to anyone or anything, ever. The stars almost aligned. Peter was established; a new crop of underage players had emerged; and Mickey took charge. 'We knew the talent was there in 2003. But we had never won anything, All-Ireland wise. We had an inferiority complex. 'So, Mickey drilled into us that we were better than Dublin, than Kerry, than Armagh. Ever since we won that first All-Ireland, we have not feared anyone. We almost love the feeling, 'Come on Tyrone, we are on our own'. That is who we are. We are not ashamed to be a part of that.' JUST JEALOUS GUYS Before Tyrone, there was Down, All-Ireland champions in 1991 and 1994. Then came Donegal, champs in 1992; next was Derry, the 1993 winners, and then Armagh. 'One thing you have to acknowledge is that Tyrone is a big county, and a footballing county. There is a lot of ambition here,' says Cavanagh, who remembers being a boy waiting for two hours to see the Derry bus pass through The Moy, his village, with their 1993 All-Ireland. 'The stimulation of the other Ulster sides winning in the early '90s played a part in our rise, no question. For me growing up, we were told as children to support the Ulster team in an All-Ireland. We always felt that Ulster pride. 'I idolised the likes of Anthony Tohill, Mickey Linden; their success stoked fires in us. We had the brilliance of Peter The Great and came so close ourselves in 1995. I remember crying in the Cusack Stand that day when Dublin beat us by a point. 'But at the same time the fires were starting to ignite and from then on, it was only a matter of time before we began to win things … big things.' TROUBLES ENDING The Troubles is a touchy subject. Those of us who lived through it, don't like to speak of it, too much loss, too much pain. Yet you can't ignore the fact that the GAA has thrived in the six counties since the political situation stabilised in the 1990s. Just look at the facts. Until 1990, Ulster teams had won the All-Ireland on eight occasions. Since then, Tyrone (four), Down, Donegal and Armagh (two each) and Derry (one), have brought Sam home. You can't say it is a coincidence that as soon as the intimidation ended, our games thrived. 'As a child, I remember going to Dungannon Leisure Centre and being told, 'take off your Tyrone top, you aren't allowed to wear it',' says Cavanagh. 'It was a real taboo thing. Now GAA jerseys are everywhere and anywhere but because you have more of an openness and pride in the GAA, participation levels have gone through the roof. The political stuff has settled down.' GRUNT WORK Benny Hurl is a GAA man. It's in the blood. A Sigerson Cup winning coach with UUJ, now a minor All-Ireland winner with Tyrone, he flies under the radar on a national level, but only because Tyrone have produced so many outstanding coaches. And that's just the point he seeks to make. 'Throughout the county, at club, at primary school, at secondary school, you have so many outstanding coaches,' says Hurl, 'people who have a love for Tyrone, surely, but the GAA in general. That's the same everywhere, I know. It's not just us.' That's true. But Tyrone does things differently. They run their own summer camps, for example; the number of former inter county players - such as Peter and Pascal Canavan, Ciaran McBride - who are coaching in schools is disproportionately higher in quality and numbers than in other counties. 'In 1984, the GAA placed an emphasis on developing facilities for our centenary year,' says Hurl. Tyrone, with 54 clubs, really went after that idea. Cavanagh said: 'When I go to Go Games around the county, I see junior clubs which now have five or six pitches, walking tracks around them. I coach Under 5s. We have 30 kids on any training night. Thirty years ago, we would have had around five.' Then there is Club Tyrone, the fundraising body set up in 1995. 'We are a big county, lots of engineering firms and big businesses,' says Cavanagh. 'There has been a real buy-in to developing football in the county.' Their centre of excellence at Garvaghy is not just a building, not just a meeting place but a footballing university where coaching standards are raised. 'We're a big county; Garvaghy is smack bang in the middle,' says Cavanagh. 'The quality and investment in coaching have increased. The right people have been behind them. A lot of counties seem to be fractured. Tyrone has been very good at pooling resources and trying to get the best out of us.' VIRTUOUS CIRCLE 'Success breeds success,' says McMahon. His career came after the 1998 All-Ireland minor breakthrough and the back-to-back Under 21s who followed. He was on the Hill in 2003 but on the pitch in 2005 and 2008. And that's the point people have missed. That generation in the Noughties has been followed up on. Today, against Kerry, Tyrone will appear in their 11th All-Ireland semi-final in 22 years. That's serious consistency and that's before we mention the four Hogan Cup successes enjoyed by their schools in that timeframe, the three Under 20 All-Irelands won in the last four years, the minor All-Ireland won last weekend. McMahon says: 'You look at the quality of schools' football in the county. Tyrone schools and underage clubs constantly competing at the top end. The quality and drive of coaching has been way ahead for a number of years.' Hurl reckons being a large county - one that has 54 clubs - helps as well as the fact it is largely a rural population, as the GAA thrives outside of urban areas. For McMahon, the number of county players working as teachers in Tyrone schools is huge: 'That kind of coaching and belief they gave us was special. 'The power of those guys being role models in the schools; and then the people and role models you had in your own clubs, how would you not have success from that? The foundation of a good player is having that hard work and belief. The other attributes will fall in behind that and support that. The teaching is a huge part of why Tyrone has had success.' NO FEAR Once upon a time, Tyrone had an inferiority complex. Like in 1986, they led that All-Ireland final by seven points before missing a penalty and losing it by eight. Today, they won't hold any fear. McMahon says: 'We are not fixated on past glories. There are generations now who want to prove themselves and put their own stamp on things, write their own chapter for Tyrone's history. 'Any team that has success drives the next generation. That's who we are.'
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
I'm a Doubting Thomas, but want to be a Tyrone believer
I've always thought Thomas got a raw deal. In all the usual pre-match discussions I've had these past few weeks, I've been rehashing Doubting Tommy's infamous thought process. He didn't deny the possibility outright; he didn't say, 'not a chance in hell,' merely commented, 'it's a fairly big jump, so I'll believe it when I see it.' Surely, the vast majority of us sane football followers can allow ourselves this without feeling guilty of being bandwagoners? I can hear the disdain of the true supporters even as I type! Bottom line, based on the evidence to date, Kerry should beat Tyrone. They've demonstrated an ability to play at a level that Tyrone haven't. For most of the year, Tyrone have been averaging a 6.5/10 type performance level – decent, passable. Against Donegal, we saw an 8/10, and the excitement immediately flowed into the county, just as much as a certain fear spread around the rest. But that was followed by a 5/10 against Mayo. And that's been the story of Tyrone this year. It's been adequate. There are whispers, murmurs, of the potential within, like the final 10 minutes against Dublin, the final 15 minutes against Armagh, or that game against Donegal. But until we see it in full song, that's all they are: whispers and murmurs. Of course, has Kerry's season been all that different? Well, it was certainly a step up during the National League; after all, they did win it. But since then? Not really. Their championship performances have all been in that 6-7/10 zone – enough, but definitely not enough to convince. Even against Armagh, down by five points after the first 43 minutes of the game, they also lost the final 10 minutes. But then, there were THOSE 15 minutes. For 15 minutes, the beauty and horror of the modern game were played out in front of us. The beauty of a team, with space and options to torture an opponent ceaselessly and do the sort of damage that previously a whole game would have taken to inflict. The horror of a team caught in the Gaelic version of a flash flood. Previously, tactical fouling, a little injury, or 'parking the bus' were the go-to methods to stop the flood and regain a foothold. Now, you figure out how to get control of your kick-out, or you drown. In those glorious/terrible 15 minutes (delete depending on your allegiance), Kerry were probably the first team in the country to hit 10/10 in our new game. It was imperious from Kerry. So imperious that it distorts all attempts to weigh up the teams ahead of Sunday. Because we've seen Kerry hit that level, it's hard not to believe in their case more so than Tyrone's. Tyrone remains a team of potential only, needing that leap of faith to believe. It feels possible, just not probable. Kerry's injury list has to be a factor. Paudie Clifford being back is massive, but can the rest of the Kingdom collective reproduce that level again? In some ways, that's surely as big an ask as it is for Tyrone to produce their best of the year. Tyrone are now forewarned. There's a great bonus in preparing for a team by seeing them at the very peak of their powers. It's uncomfortable and scary, but if the right players watch it, they start to feel a fizz of excitement to take it on, to rise to the challenge. For Malachy O'Rourke (above) and his men, those 15 minutes are actually gold dust. Tyrone have the luxury Armagh didn't. Armagh would have been confident that by restricting Kerry's penchant for goals, they were unlikely to get enough. But 32 points later, without Ethan Rafferty's net being rattled, that plan lay in the gutter. For Tyrone, minimising the goals while maintaining strong pressure everywhere is the puzzle. Goals and two-pointers are Kerry's new twin towers. Huge, relentless energy will be required to shut down both, but when Tyrone are at their best, isn't that exactly what their calling card is? In attack, Tyrone have shown a definite tendency towards more deliberate, built-up attacks, eschewing the same degree of fast, aggressive counter-attacks that have been more common. That could be key against Kerry, a team who love to punish with fast, long-ball attacks which make the most of their talent up top and their thirst for goals. It works best on turnovers. Restricting cheap ones of those will reduce Kerry's threat, yet I still wonder if Tyrone's hidden potential might be released by greater speed in attack and willingness to get the ball in early. Balance on this front is key, but assuming the impact substitutes remain on the bench, Tyrone will hope to repeat their trick from the Dublin game: go for control and hope to explode for home come the final 15 minutes. Given the heat expected over the weekend, this approach makes sense from plenty of angles. Blinded by the sheer beauty of what Kerry produced last time out, it's very hard to imagine them being beaten in the next game, but that's something anyone involved with the game will have seen before. Can Tyrone beat them and reach an unlikely All-Ireland final in Mal O'Rourke's first year? The closer the game gets, the more my belief grows. Still, I need to see it to really believe it! I'm with poor, misunderstood Thomas on that one! Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals with RTÉ Sport. Kerry v Tyrone on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and Meath v Donegal on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow live blogs on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 10.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
