By Shaun Casey
THERE are no guarantees in Division One football and just because Armagh currently have a hold of the Sam Maguire Cup, they are certainly taking nothing for granted on their return to the top tier says All-Ireland winner Ethan Rafferty.
Looking ahead to the 2025 season and the upcoming National League campaign, the Grange clubman believes that next year’s Division One is the toughest there has been in “a long, long time” but says the Orchard County are looking forward to giving it their best shot.
A quick glance at the teams competing in the division rubberstamps the idea that there are no easy points to be picked up anywhere along the line, so each team will need to be at the top of their game to ensure safety and avoid relegation to Division Two.
Kieran McGeeney’s men competed in the topflight in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before suffering relegation to Division Two on the final day. They bounced back at the first time of asking however, gaining promotion right back to Division One alongside Donegal last year.
Rafferty, Armagh’s sub goalkeeper for last season’s historic All-Ireland journey, looks tailor-made for the new Gaelic Football playing rules that will come into action for the league, and he will once again battle it out with Blaine Hughes for that number one shirt.
The All-Ireland champions begin their campaign with a difficult away day voyage to Galway, in a repeat of last season’s All-Ireland final and Rafferty insists his side are expecting a massive challenge in Pearse Stadium.
“We have obviously won the All-Ireland and we are going into what is probably the best Division One there has been in a long, long time and there’s no bigger test than going down to Salthill now at the end of January,” said the 2023 All-Star nomination.
“It probably is a good thing in that we’re going into such a tough contest, and we know what to expect, we’re not going into it with our eyes closed, we are going in looking straight ahead and hopefully we can push on again.”
Armagh have only one Division One league title on their record which came back in 2005, when McGeeney captained the side to glory. In more recent times, Armagh’s best finish came in 2022 when they earned third place, just missing out on a league final appearance.
Along with their lengthy trip to Galway in round one, the Orchard men will also be on the road against Kerry and Donegal while Armagh will enjoy home advantage against Ulster rivals Tyrone and Derry along with Dublin and Mayo.
Since capturing the Sam Maguire cup and bringing it back to Armagh for only the second time in their history, the Orchard County have consumed all the celebrations and enjoyed the unbelievable success.
But with the team back in training mode, attentions have swiftly switched towards the new season and the prospect of defending their crown. “It’s easier to refocus now I suppose since we’ve been allowed back into training,” Rafferty added.
“At the time you’re obviously enjoying it in the moment for a couple of weeks after whenever everybody was out together and having the craic.
“We’re only a few weeks out from the Galway game now so it has definitely settled in at this stage and we’re back training again and we’re looking forward to maybe trying to put two medals in the back pocket this time.”
Reflecting on a summer to remember, the former forward-turned-keeper says his side are “extremely proud” to have climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand but hopes that they can back it up again in 2025.
“It was great, and I suppose it’s something that we’ve all been dreaming of since we were children, but we’ve been working towards it over these past 12 years so we’re extremely proud of what we did last summer,” Rafferty continued.
“We’re just really looking forward to maybe backing it up again. It’s great that we’ve had so many people enjoying it with us and the crowds that have followed us over the past couple of months.”