A community effort to recreate the buzz of 2003 has seen Crossmaglen residents come together to bring the club’s tallest fan to life.
Constructed of round bales, metal rods, wood and fabric, Sam the teddy bear can be found at the Carron Crossroads near the town and has quickly become a local icon.
Susan Deery, a resident involved in the project said: “He’s been up now a few days, and the crowds that are coming to see him are unbelievable.”
Susan said bringing Sam to life was a true community effort.
“We have a great neighbourhood community around here, everyone got involved. The men built it, the children decorated it and the women dressed it,” she said.
She added that the job was “no easy task” and said: “It took six men and two teleporters almost five hours to put Sam together.
“The children painted pieces of wood to make his feet and to make his eyes, and the women dressed him with his jersey and the crest on his breast pocket to make him the Armagh footballer that he is.”
As well as marking Armagh’s place in this weekend’s All-Ireland final, Sam is helping the community raise funds for Crossmaglen player Caolan Finnegan’s battle against cancer.
Susan shared that the children have set up a stall at Sam’s selling “lemonade and baked goodies, baked by the mothers on a daily basis”.
The community has also set up a donation bucket for Care for Caolan.
“We’re just looking for people just to give a donation if they’re coming down for a picture with Sam,” said Susan.
But Sam’s biggest purpose is creating memories for the community and especially young Armagh fans.
“We’ve got a whole big community event organised this Friday [July 26], we have a coffee truck coming in, we’re going to have a little bit of music, games and things like that.
“It’s just a day for all the children to come together to have a little picnic with Sam the teddy bear and to remember this, we haven’t had this in 21 years.
“There’s a whole new generation of children, including my own son who weren’t around in 2003 or don’t remember it, but now that whole generation has this memory.”
Anticipating success this weekend, Susan added: “We would love to welcome Sam Maguire to come and meet Sam the teddy bear next week. That’s our big plan, we will hold Sam there until Sam Maguire comes home and sits proudly in his paw.”