“To every young boy and girl across Mayo and our diaspora across the world: never stop dreaming, stick your chest out and be proud to be from Mayo.”
In an instant, 75 years of heartbreak were over.
As Jack Coyne became the first Mayo man to hoist the Sam Maguire Cup over his head since Sean Flanagan 1951 following victory over Kerry, his voice seemed a mix of emotion and delirium, for this was no ordinary All-Ireland title win.
It took Mayo 48 years to get back to Gaelic football’s biggest day when they fell three points short against Cork in 1989 and they were not to know it – how could anyone? – but it would begin a sequence of 11 defeats in All-Ireland finals, ranging from the chastening, the near misses, replays and the downright bad luck.
Manager Andy Moran was a player in six of those from 2004’s emphatic defeat by Kerry until 2017 when Dublin’s Dean Rock broke Mayo hearts with a last-gasp free.
The Yew County would go onto fall in a couple more finals before they final scaled the mountain on a day in which they wore all white due to a colour clash – the same they wore back in ’51 and when, as legend has it, a curse was placed on the county’s footballers due to their over-exuberant celebrations when passing a funeral.
Whether fact or fiction, it was another albatross around the neck of a county whose football fortunes mean so much and it showed as Mayo players, fans and the management team led by Moran finally got to taste the victory they craved.
“It’s a bit surreal,” said Moran as he tried to make sense of it all.
“I think of other people that are sick at home and missing out on this. It’s amazing. I think of the managers, the great people [who have represented Mayo in the past].
“John O [Mahony] got honoured here today, 25 years from Galway [2001 win] – just great, great people who sadly are no longer with us. I just think of them guys and I’m just deeply honoured to be representing the people of Mayo.”
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