I WAS still in the North Paris Arena when a couple of DMs dropped, followed by a few screenshots later. Nothing major, just gentle reminders.
Watching Armagh’s All-Ireland win on a 16-inch laptop screen, in a pre-fabricated room filled mostly with people who didn’t understand, nor care, about its significance, was an odd experience.
The strangest aspect of all was being at the Olympic Games - a quadrennial festival of sport, the greatest show on earth - and feeling like you were missing out on something monumental. That probably speaks, to some degree, of the hold the GAA has on so many of us, no matter where in the world we find ourselves.
Boxers Aidan Walsh and Grainne Walsh had both fallen victim to some shoddy judging between the ropes by the time the orange-hued, in some cases Buckfast-infused messages came, referencing a column I had written back in May.
Days after the Orchard’s gut-wrenching Ulster final defeat to Donegal, the latest in a series of increasingly cruel near misses, I posed the question: ‘Do Armagh really merit such great expectations among their own?’
The answer, delivered in the most emphatic fashion imaginable at a packed Croke Park on July 28, was a clear yes. But, guys, I am not quite ready for a full mea culpa just yet. Quick, somebody pass my Golden Cleric…
Because here’s the thing - Armagh’s All-Ireland triumph did not surprise me one bit. That was the point; nothing Armagh do could surprise me. They have been the most predictably unpredictable team at the top end of Gaelic football for years, capable of conjuring the good, bad and ugly on any given day.
In a world where so many games throw up the same constipated, risk-averse approach, Kieran McGeeney’s men always brought something different, for better or worse. There is an excitement, an edge, a what’s-going-to-happen-next quality that makes Armagh intoxicating, particularly to the merry band of supporters who follow their every move.
That’s why belief would never leave the building, no matter what hardships came – and there were plenty. This was the part I struggled to grasp; what it was, what tangible evidence they had in terms of big day results, to inspire such confidence and, in turn, deliver such crushing disappointment when things didn’t work out.
Hey, it was a simple question folks.
Ultimately, of course, those diehards were proved right. What the hell would I know anyway?
On their way to lifting Sam, a run that lifted the roof off a jubilant county in the process, the Orchard managed to harness some of those occasionally chaotic elements into something truly magnificent. On their way to the top, they found the right mix at the right time.
McGeeney’s unanimous reappointment on Tuesday night served as a reminder of what a difference a year can make. Because, for all those who had their manager’s back, there were plenty who felt his services were being retained on blind faith.
In August 2023, his position was subject to a vote, with McGeeney receiving 46 for and 16 against while the Armagh management committee unanimously recommended his retention to delegates.
Ten years earlier, his six-year tenure as Kildare boss came to an end when he lost out by a single vote. Ask those Lilywhite players about that fateful night and you won’t get words, just a shake of the head and a sigh.
The Kildare players, like those in Armagh, wouldn’t hear a word against him.
But working within the walls of your own county is a different proposition altogether, even for the man who climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand on Armagh’s day of days.
Because the closer they got, the greater the stakes, the harsher the criticism that would come his way. Then there were the occasional rumours about player fall-outs that did the rounds on WhatsApp, the handful of signs erected here and there. At times it would get petty, occasionally downright nasty and uncalled for.
After this year’s Ulster final, which brought a second straight penalty shoot-out loss in a provincial decider, and a fourth in the space of two years, McGeeney must have wondered what on earth he had done in a previous life.
Everything else that came with it, the noise, was little more than a sideshow to the hurt felt. And if it didn’t niggle enough to slip between the cracks then, it’s because he was well used to it.
McGeeney was just five seasons into his decade-long service as manager when Armagh exited the 2019 Championship after a typically helter-skelter qualifier clash with Mayo in Castlebar.
Even then he can’t have imagined the number of ‘shudda, wudda, cudda’ moments waiting down the track before the promised land was finally reached.
Standing in the tunnel at MacHale Park, McGeeney gave a non-committal answer when asked about his future. Pushed further – “why would you not stay on?” – the Mullaghbawn man dispensed with the platitudes.
“There’s 101 [reasons],” he said with a rueful smile.
“The only thing about management is when you start, there’s very few people that like you and by the time you finish they all don’t like you, so it’s a tough station.
“You have to listen to some shit, but when you work with fellas like that [the players], it can make it worthwhile.”
McGeeney might have allowed himself a smug smile on Tuesday night when his ratification passed off without so much as a whisper, years of pent up pressure released into the ether when Galway were sunk.
Back for an 11th year, retaining the management team of Kieran Donaghy, Conleith Gilligan and Ciaran McKeever, and with new rules set for audition that might just strengthen the Orchard’s hand even further, the last laugh is already his.
Will Armagh be the last men standing again by the end of July next year? Who knows - but it would take a brave man to back against them.
