Louth seniors have mixed the good with the bad in the last couple of decades

Victory over Dublin recently would have hoisted Louth to the league’s top division for the third time since 2000. It would also have given the county a chance to lift a seventh title across all grades in the same period, taking on Derry at Croke Park on Sunday last.

And, of course, it would have been history in the making. No county has ever won National League promotion three years in succession.

In addition to six title wins in just over two decades, Louth have shared in another. But there’s also been a regular skip up and down the grades, like the proverbial yo-yo.

In his first year in charge, Mickey Harte guided the team to top spot in one section of a divided Division Four, qualifying them for a meeting with Antrim in the final. However, because Covid was still taking a toll, there was no decider. Titles in the other two divisions were also shared.

Paddy Clarke was manager for the 1999/2000 campaign, assisted by Eugene Judge and Stephen Melia. He saw his charges lose their first game to Offaly in Tullamore, but it was plain sailing after that.

Wins, most of them sizeable, followed against Antrim and Limerick before Christmas, and in the new year, London, Wicklow, Westmeath and Leitrim.

There were semi-finals at the time, and after beating Laois in Mullingar, Louth renewed rivalry with Offaly in the final at Croke Park. This was Simon Gerrard’s game, for in addition to starring at half-back, the Newtown Blues clubman scored the only goal in a 1-13 to 0-13 win. Nicky Malone was captain.

When Louth regained the Division Two title in 2006, Stephen Melia was again part of the management set-up, working with manager, Eamonn McEneaney, and other selectors, Seamus O’Hanlon and Pat Mulligan. The quartet had their team to the fore, beginning with a win over Cavan in Breffni.

Defeats of Antrim, Sligo, Wicklow, Tipperary and Waterford followed before the only glitch, a loss by Westmeath in Drogheda. This reverse did nothing to damage prospects of a place in the last four, however.

The semi-final resulted in a win over Limerick in Newbridge, and then came the final against Donegal, back in Breffni Park. Two games, both thrillers, were needed to decide the issue. In the second of them, Louth finished on the right side of a 1-12 to 1-9 scoreline.

Among the survivors from 2000 were Aaron Hoey, Christy Grimes, Martin Farrelly and the recently-retired JP Rooney. Paddy Keenan, John O’Brien and Colin Goss were beginning to make their presence felt on the county scene.

Keenan was captain when Louth won the Division Three title for the first time in 2011. This was some slight compensation for the Leinster final defeat of the previous year; but it wasn’t by any means a very convincing title-win for the Peter Fitzpatrick-managed side.

Three wins were followed by three defeats, and had the 7th round match, away to Waterford, gone to the home team instead of ending in a 1-11 to 0-11 win, Louth would have been relegated. The Reds regrouped to beat Westmeath in the final.

A place in the very lower reaches was eventually Louth’s lot, the 2016 campaign yielding just two wins. But Colin Kelly and his management team steadied the ship the following year, taking their students back to the third tier and winning the title with a win over Antrim in the final.

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There was another promotion the following year, but not a title-win. Tipperary, in the care of the recently-deceased Liam Kearns, followed their All-Ireland semi-final defeat of the previous year to win the Croke Park encounter.

It got bad again before it got better. Come 2018 and Louth were on the slide again, heading back to Division Three. And it didn’t end at that: Division Four beckoned.

It was from there where Harte began his odyssey, which would have been a record-breaker had things been better at Croker just over a week ago. There’s reason to believe the bottom half of the league won’t be revisited anytime soon.