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Extra.ie
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Why multiple Sam Maguires now look inevitable for Tyrone
Whatever the outcome in Croke Park tomorrow evening, be certain that Tyrone are going nowhere. The profile of the senior squad is encouraging and it is in the care of a smart manager. But the real reason for optimism among Tyrone supporters relates to their underage success. It has been so consistently bountiful that multiple Sam Maguires look inevitable — and that's allowing for the notoriously tenuous connections between underage talent and senior delivery. Last week's minor final win over Kerry confirmed Tyrone as champions in the two prestige underage competitions this season, following their Under 20 triumph over Louth in May (they beat Kerry in the semi-final en route to that title, after defeating them in last year's decider at the same grade. Tyrone stalk the Kingdom far beyond the senior grade). The Tyrone team celebrate with the cup after the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship final match between Kerry and Tyrone at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, Kildare. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile It was their fourth minor title in 15 years and their sixth since 2001. They have won three of the last four U20 titles as well, while also winning it in 2001, making them only the second county to do the underage double twice. And that matters because history shows us that the years immediately after these doubles invariably bring senior success. The first county to do it was Kerry in 1975, and thereafter dawned the Golden Years. Cork did it in 1981, and by the end of that decade, they were on their way to winning back-to-back All-Irelands. Then came Tyrone's double in 2001, before Dublin did it in 2012 — a year before Jim Gavin started building the greatest team of all time. Tyrone's Eoin McElholm celebrates scoring a late point. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie The one exception is, fittingly, Cork: they did it in 2019 but never got the dividend at senior level. That's as much about coaching and development structures within a county currently trying to correct generations of drift when it comes to football. But where the proper support is in place, prepared counties reap the bounty from a gush of success like the one the Red Hand County have enjoyed this season. Jack O'Connor, steeped in the schools and underage game himself, was aware of what Tyrone are building when he spoke before tomorrow's game. 'They have really good structures and really good people involved in coaching in the schools,' he said. David Clifford of Kerry celebrates with manager Jack O'Connor after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Armagh and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile 'I'm not saying there are not good people involved in the schools down here but that's what it comes down to, it comes down to the quality of the people involved in coaching.' Mention of schools is pertinent, too: Omagh CBS have won two of the last three Hogan Cups, the prestigious senior schools competition. Tyrone also won last week's minor decider without the prodigious Joel Kerr, who signed for West Ham United on a contract that began on July 1. Negotiations to release him didn't get anywhere, but he wasn't required in the end, as they held out in a gripping finale. There was an expectation at the start of that season that Malachy O'Rourke, in his first season in charge, would feed through the produce of some of recent U20 triumphs, but the age-old mistake of throwing young players in en masse has been avoided. Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke after his side's victory in the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Dublin and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile There's a long and inglorious history of counties trying to fasttrack underage winners into senior football in bulk, and the challenge is simply too great. Eoin McElholm, Shea O'Hare and Seánie McDonnell, the latter with two goals in the win against Donegal in Ballybofey, have been the stand- out graduates. McElholm is a tremendous talent who is being used with deliberate care. The way he blitzed Ciarán Kilkenny to score a late point in Tyrone's quarter-final win was heralded as generational change in real time, with one of the true modern greats beaten by a coming talent. Kilkenny (a star on the All-Ireland-winning 2012 U21 team) has nothing left to prove in the game, but that cameo did vividly illustrate the potency of youth. Tyrone have already had a micro-taste of the effects of underage success recently. Joel Kerr of Tyrone during the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship semi-final match between Tyrone and Roscommon at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile They won an U20 title in 2015, and Kieran McGeary, Pádraig Hampsey, Rory Brennan, Conor Meyler, Frank Burns and Mark Bradley all enjoyed senior success in 2021. That final was against the head, coming in the second Covid season and in a knock-out championship. In keeping with the spectral feel of those years, that Tyrone side dissolved. Key components of it remain, not least many of the names mentioned above, as well as an imposing midfield, but there was no sense at the time that this was a generational force emerging. Subsequent events proved that instinct correct. The rise of Derry and the enduring competitiveness of Armagh meant Ulster remained fraught for them in the years after the 2021 win, while the stroke suffered by joint manager Fergal Logan in early 2024 was another serious complication. If there was enough residual talent left in that group to convince O'Rourke of the potential for success, the other clear calculation was around what is coming through from the minor and U20 ranks. Pádraig Hampsey of Tyrone during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Dublin and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile Yet the manager has, in public at least, been keen to set that talent against the greater need for application. Some might suggest that's in keeping with O'Rourke's tradition of well-drilled teams, but it's also likely to be about tempering expectations around what remains, at senior level, mostly potential. 'There's no doubt there's a lot of talent there because they obviously had great underage success, but I suppose I've said to them and everyone else that talent only gets you so far,' he said earlier this season. 'It's about working really hard, it's about maximising what you have and it's about learning to work really hard as a team. Shea O'Hare of Tyrone during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Tyrone and Mayo at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile 'I think that's the process we're going through and trying to make sure that we do that. 'There's no doubt there is a lot of really good players there. There's good experience there as well, there are lads who have been there a number of years who have had success at the top level, and then there are lads in between as well. 'But we're just concentrating very much in the short term.' That has been his challenge this year. Tyrone were flagged from his appointment as contenders for the All-Ireland, and have duly arrived in Croke Park in mid-July. Tyrone supporters are used to success and want more of it. Sporting wisdom has it that the only competition to target is the next one, so potential won't figure much in Red Hand discussions on the way to Dublin tomorrow. But Tyrone are coming down with it. No county looks better equipped to compete in the coming seasons — and some of their promising youths could yet tilt tomorrow their way.
Irish Examiner
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Tyrone pip Kerry to minor crown to keep treble bid on track
Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC final: Tyrone 1-16 (1-1-14) Kerry 1-15 (1-2-11) The Tyrone treble remains in play - on both fronts. Kerry's suffering at the Red Hand remains unbroken. A pulsating All-Ireland minor football decider ended with a Ben Kelliher challenge not earning a Kerry free and Tyrone holding out for a one-point triumph. Added to U20 All-Ireland glory in late May, the Tyrone clean sweep of minor, U20, and senior success still has a pulse and a chance. Added to the county's All-Ireland U20 semi-final win over Kerry, the clean sweep of minor, U20, and senior knockout championship victories over the green and gold still has a pulse and a chance. The senior semi-final clash to decide one treble and keep another alive throws-in in six days time. Kerry will question if Kelliher should have been awarded a free past the allotted four minutes of second-half injury-time. Tyrone, in reply, can point to the fact that they should have had red ribbons attached to the silverware long before that late, late non-call. Trailing 1-13 to 0-12 on 47 minutes, the final quarter was theirs. It was a final quarter where they threatened to kick the title straight into Kerry hands. After 1-2 in three minutes to seize a 1-14 to 1-13 lead - the goal a Peter Colton penalty following a foul on influential sub Matthew F Daly - the wides and misses flowed. Ben Kelliher of Kerry in action against Padraig Goodman of Tyrone during the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship final match between Kerry and Tyrone at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, Kildare. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile Elliott Kerr was off target, then Colton, then Thomas Meenan. Colton hit the post, James Mulgrew's effort was short. Daly added to the wides collection spiralling out of control. In between this flood of not taken opportunities, Kerry pair Danny Murphy and Kelliher, the latter a superb point considering the attention of three white shirts in right corner, snuck the Kingdom back in front 13 seconds shy of the hour. Colton brought stalemate for the ninth time with a free brought forward for Kerry dissent. There'd been an earlier second half breach of the new rules that also cost them a white flag. The 63rd-minute winner was almost no winner at all. Colton again rattled the post. Diarmuid Martin gathered the breaking ball and brought Tyrone to nine on the All-Ireland minor roll of honour. An eight-year gap bridged without the presence of West Ham's Joel Kerr, a multi-code talent who contributed 2-13 on the road to Newbridge. Operating into a not insignificant breeze in the opening half, Kerry boss Wayne Quillinan and his young crew wouldn't have sniffed at the three-point deficit facing them on 25 minutes pertaining to the break. After five times level, Tyrone had built momentum and a lead of such size that had not existed up to then. James Mulgrew landed the sole two-pointer of the half on 23 minutes. There followed a Kerry attack being turned over, a foul on Pearse McDonald, and an Eoin Long converted free for an 0-8 to 0-5 lead. No greater did the lead extend, though. It went, in fact, in the opposite direction. 1-2 without reply. A five-point swing. A two-point Kerry half-time lead. The burst began with a Ben Kelliher foul and Gearóid White converting. Kerry's Mark O'Carroll claimed the resultant kickout, Danny Murphy claiming the point. The minimum between them. And, then on 29 minutes, the lead. Kelliher had charged in along the endline earlier in the half only to be called for overcarrying. There was no calling or catching him here. Kelliher again charged along the endline in the final play of the game. Nothing came from it. More Ulster-inflicted misery. In four of the last six minor campaigns, Kerry have been knocked out or beaten in the decider by Ulster opposition. In their last two U20 campaigns, Tyrone bettered them at the semi-final and final stage. In the last two Hogan Cups, Ulster opposition bettered Mercy Mounthawk of Tralee at the semi-final and final stage. Need we say any more. The upper hand is the Red Hand. SCORERS FOR TYRONE: P Colton (1-2, 1-0 pen, 0-1 free); E Long (0-5, 0-3 frees); J Mulgrew (tp), D Martin (0-3 each); A Quinn, D McAnespie (free), MF Daly (0-1 each). SCORERS FOR KERRY: B Kelliher (1-2); G White (0-4, tp, 0-1 free); K Griffin (0-3, tp, 0-1 '45); D Murphy, T O'Connell (0-2 each); J Curtin, A Tuohy (0-1 each). TYRONE: R Donnelly (Eglish); E Kerr (Errigal Ciaran), P Goodman (Fintona Pearses), C McCrystal (Loughmacrory); T Meenan (Killyclogher), J Daly (Eglish), A Quinn (Errigal Ciaran); J Mulgrew (Kildress Wolfe Tones), P Donaghy (Carrickmore St Colmcille's); C Farley (Beragh Red Knights), P Colton (Fintona Pearses), D McAnespie (Aghaloo O'Neill's); D Martin (Fintona Pearses), P McDonald (Loughmacrory), E Long (Cookstown). SUBS: MF Daly (Eglish) for McAnespie (44); V Gormely (Carrickmore St Colmcille's) for McDonald (48); M Kennedy (Glenelly St Joseph's) for Long (59). KERRY: R Kennedy (Kerins O'Rahillys); R Sheridan (Duagh), E Joy (Ballymacelligott), T Ó Slatara (Churchill); D Murphy (Listry), D Sargent (John Mitchels), M Clifford (Firies); M Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht), J Curtin (Ballyduff); M O'Carroll (Dr Crokes), G White (John Mitchels), A Tuohy (Austin Stacks); B Kelliher (Dr Crokes), K Griffin (St Michael's Foilmore), T O'Connell (Tarbert). SUBS: N Lacey (Kerins O'Rahilly's) for O'Connell (44); J Kissane (Moyvane) for Ó Sé (52); P Ó Mainnín (Lios Póil) for O'Carroll (54). REFEREE: T Murphy (Galway).
Irish Daily Mirror
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Family silverware: Incredible story of Markham family and their minor miracle
TOM Markham is making his way up the steps of the Cusack Stand. The two-year-old has just escaped from a photo with his grandad Tom Markham and his dad Tom Markham and the Tom Markham Cup — all pictured together for the very first time. 'It's a special moment for us,' says grandad Tom (or Tom III) as he heads after the youngest. This is the story of five Tom Markhams and a trophy that's played for the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship every year. The first was as a gun-runner and spy for Michael Collins, the second played for the Dublin minors for five years, the third played with some of the biggest names in Irish sport, the fourth works with some of the biggest names in soccer, film and video games. The fifth? Well, he's just getting going… But let's start with the trophy. On Sunday Kerry and Tyrone meet in Newbridge in the 2025 minor decider. The winner will collect the Tom Markham Cup. It has passed through some famous hands — from future All Stars to TV presenters and movie stars with everyone from Sean Cavanagh and David Clifford to Paddy Kielty lifting it down the years. Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was even pictured with the cup after partying with the 2012 victorious Dublin minor team. But there was little contact between the Markham family and the trophy for decades. 'I was invited to the Roscommon celebration dinner in 2006,' says Tom III. 'And that happened by accident really. I just happened to meet a Roscommon man on a building site and he contacted the Roscommon PRO. 'It was an amazing night. They put myself and my wife Deirdre at a table with the only living survivors from the last Roscommon minor team that won the All-Ireland in the early 1950s. 'These men were all in their 80s by then and they were seriously emotional. They were all wearing their medals pinned to their lapels and it was such a memorable night. 'That was what sparked me to start finding out a bit more about my grandfather.' The first Tom Markham was born in Ballynacally near Ennis in 1878. In a 2020 lecture for Clare County Library, the writer Joe Ó Muircheartaigh described his colourful life and times: 'He was a British civil servant, but an Irish Volunteer and an IRA man. A gun runner, a veteran of Easter Week, a social activist, a champion of the sick during a global pandemic, an Irish language activist, a youth worker, a newspaper editor and a writer.' Tom Markham I was in Croke Park with the Dublin team on Bloody Sunday and set up GAA clubs in the city. He also worked in Dublin Castle and became one of Collins' key intelligence men during the War of Independence. 'My grandfather died 13 years before I was born, but I'm immensely proud of him,' says Tom III. 'I think it was an extraordinary era to be living through. 'My dad was quite a quiet man and there is only one story from that whole era that he ever mentioned to me. 'My grandad was bringing my father home from school and they came to a British checkpoint somewhere near Ballybough. 'My grandfather actually had a pistol on him and it wouldn't have been an option to turn around or whatever. So he slipped the pistol into my dad's school bag. 'They searched him, but they never searched the school bag. 'The hair is standing up on my neck thinking about that and how people lived on their wits. It's extraordinary. 'Imagine the pressure of dealing with that on a day-to-day basis if you were involved.' Tom Markham I was the chairman of the Dublin Minor Board and founded the Desmonds and Crokes clubs. He died in 1939 and the Tom Markham Cup was presented to the All-Ireland minor football winners for the first time the following year. By this point, the second Tom Markham had already carved out his own little piece of history by playing minor football for the Dubs for five consecutive years from 1929 to 1933. He also played in a match at Croke Park in the 1930s to raise funds for 1916 veterans and the medal from that game is something Tom III holds dear. 'An old boy came up to me at his funeral and said, 'Do you know your father at 13 used to take the 50s with an old leather ball and could put them over the bar,' says Tom III. 'I just couldn't believe that. 'There's a great photo in Humphrey Kelleher's book 'GAA Family Silver' of the Dublin minor team in 1930. My dad is in the front and my grandfather is in the back.' As a kid, the third Tom Markham was brought to Croke Park and knew about the cup and the connection, but went to rugby playing schools in Cork and Dublin and amazingly never played GAA. Instead, Tom III played rugby for Clontarf alongside Dublin GAA legends David Hickey and Brian Mullins and with Brian O'Driscoll's dad Frank before lining out with former Ireland captain Ciaran Fitzgerald on the Army team. 'I played with Dave (Hickey) in UCD and in Clontarf. He was unbelievable,' he says. 'He would run flat at somebody and they would just bounce off him. He was so strong. 'I lived on St Lawrence Road and Brian Mullins lived on the next road. We played soccer together in one of the street leagues where the two streets combined. 'He was playing centre-half and he was about two years younger than me, but he was more than holding his own with the older kids. 'In the air he took everything out and he was a talented rugby player too.' Tom III ended up playing rugby for Athlone and was selected for Connacht, only for injury to deprive him of the chance to play. But he got to play alongside Triple Crown-winning captain Fitzgerald during their time together in the Army. 'His ability to motivate players was exceptional. He seemed to be able to get into people's heads,' he says. When the fourth Tom Markham was due in 1982, Tom III and his wife Deirdre discussed the topic of names. There was an obvious choice, but he wasn't convinced. 'I remember saying, 'You know, maybe we've had enough of all this Tom Markham stuff. Maybe we should call him something else,' he says. 'Deirdre obviously mentioned that to her mum and I got a phone call about two or three days later saying, 'Tom, it's not for me to say, but this is a very important family name and I think he should be called Tom.' 'So it was probably my mother-in-law who was the biggest driving force.' And along came the fourth Tom Markham. He's a huge Arsenal fan — there's a family connection on his mother Deirdre's side through her uncle Billy Duffy who was at the club in the 1940s — and he lives in the grounds of the old Highbury Stadium. After working for a bank in Dublin, he did a PhD in football finance and has become one of the most respected figures in the business side of the beautiful game, brokering deals between major clubs and prospective owners. Tom IV even had a spell as CEO of Wigan Athletic. He was also head of strategic business development at the company behind the Football Manager video game and more recently has been producing hit documentaries about Brazilian footballers — Kaiser in 2018 and The Phenomenon, the story of Ronaldo in 2022. 'He heard this story about a footballer in Brazil who had a long career without ever playing a game,' says Tom III. 'Tom actually went into the favelas and found him and got him to agree to tell his life story for Kaiser. 'Then he was involved in a film about Ronaldo. We went to the premiere in Madrid and that was a great night. (Carlo) Ancelotti was there and quite a few other big names.' Tom III served in Lebanon with the UN in the 1980s before setting up his own business as an engineer. He's still working, but his current job for Ballyboughal GAA club might be his last before retirement. That will leave more time for researching his grandfather Tom I and for trips to London to see his grandson Tom V. The fifth Tom Markham covered the back seat of the car with his breakfast on arrival at Croke Park, but then he wouldn't be the first to have a jittery stomach before taking to the famous field. Thankfully his dad, Tom IV, had a change of clothes at the ready. On the side of the pitch the famous cup has caught the eye of Tom V. It's gleaming in the morning sunlight after a fresh lick of polish. Maybe he'll be back to pick it up again one day as a player... 'That really would be something,' says Tom III, laughing. 'We might need Tom (IV) and his wife Eleanor to move back from London for that to happen. But you never know.' With his name, anything is possible.
