Joe Carroll: Is it better for the county team if there’s a variety of local winners?

Does a county team have a better chance of success if its premier competitions, the championship in particular, are hugely competitive, throwing up different winners year after year? The thought occurred to me as I scanned the records for the recent tribute to the late Jim McArdle.

Jim played most of his football in the 1950s and it was during this period that there was a greater number of different county senior football championship winners than in any decade since.

The ‘50s was also part of the golden era for Louth on the inter-county scene. The seniors won three Leinster titles and appeared in another final along with figuring in two All-Ireland finals; the minors won two titles, while the juniors were successful at provincial level on one occasion, and early in the following decade won an All-Ireland.

Two years after winning their first championship in the era under review, the under-18s collected again, beating Kildare in the ’53 final. On the same day at Croke Park the seniors got the better of Wexford, collecting their second championship in three years.

Both sides were again in action together on All-Ireland semi-final day, neither of them enjoying any luck. Clare ended the youngsters’ dream, and Kerry beat the seniors, whose second half Fr Kevin Connolly-inspired comeback narrowly failed.

Two of the county’s provincial winners were also in action on the same programme in the historic year of ’57. In the game before the seniors’ All-Ireland semi-final with Tyrone, the juniors went down to a Mayo side that included future GAA President, Mick Loftus.

Defending their provincial and All-Ireland titles in 1958, the seniors were beaten by Dublin in a final played in Navan, and on the same day the minors also went down, they, too, missing out to the Dubs.
A similar fate befell the same county representatives in 1960, Offaly the conquering county in both matches. But there was more than a kick left in the juniors.

After beating Dublin in the 1961 Leinster final and Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final, Louth got the better of a Galway team – which included a number of those who went on to become part of the great three-in-row senior side – in the ‘home’ final at Croke Park.

The final proper was played in Leeds, and here Louth beat Yorkshire, the British champions, by 1-13 to 1-10. By the time the Gussie Shelan-captained side brought the title back to the county for the first time since 1934 – and fourth in all – Newtown Blues were beginning to put what would prove to be an indelible mark on the county championship.

Before the decade was out, the Drogheda side won the Joe Ward Cup seven times and were beaten in another final.

There were just two other winning clubs in the 1960s, St Mary’s (twice) and O’Rahilly’s. Compare that with the previous decade. Here, as many eight clubs were successful, St Mary’s the only one to win the title more than once.

The others included three based in Dundalk, Young Irelands, Gaels and Clan na Gael, along with Drogheda’s Naomh Mhuire and Oliver Plunkets, Stabannon Parnells and first-timers, Roche Emmets. Among the beaten finalists were Drogheda’s St Magdalene’s and Dowdallshill.

You wouldn’t have to be told that competition back then in all grades was fierce. This along with the keen rivalry that existed, especially at senior, between clubs – in particular, St Mary’s and Stabannon, Gaels and Young Irelands, and Naomh Mhuire and Oliver Plunkets – brought the very best out in players.

There was also the incentive to impress the county selectors, with the reward for making the team having the strong possibility of a trophy win.

The 1970s belonged to Cooley Kickhams, and while there was a more even spread of the senior title in the decade that followed – six clubs claiming the big prize – there was no major improvement in the senior team’s fortunes.

Nor has there been since, save for the 2010 final appearance. The juniors have won a provincial title, while Wayne Kierans led the minors to a rare appearance in a provincial final.

Kierans’ students were beaten by Dublin, but still qualified for the All-Ireland series. This gave them a game against Kerry.

Another tough one, especially as Kerry were the holders and had a chap by the name of David Clifford playing for them. The green-and-golds went on to win another title.

A random examination of other counties’ records in the years from 2010 to 2019 shows there is no definitive answer to the question posed in our opening paragraph.

Kerry, for instance, had a seven-time winner, Dr Crokes, while in contrast, Tyrone, another All-Ireland winner in the period, had eight different champions.

In Mayo there were two 4-time winners, Ballintubber and Castlebar Mitchels, and in neighbouring Galway, Corofin dominated with eight wins. During Dublin’s unprecedented run of All-Ireland success, St Vincent’s won the county championship four times.

Vincent’s are way ahead in the Dublin all-time list with 29 wins, but, interestingly, in Kerry’s there’s a far greater spread, Dr Crokes joint-leaders with Austin Stacks on 13.

In the counties in which one club has been supreme, Down stands out. The Mourne County was near the top of the country’s pile in 2010, losing out to Cork in the All-Ireland final by just one point. In that year Burren were county champions, and they won the title twice more.

In all other years Kilcoo were the dominant force, and by winning the O’Hare Cup in the last two years – along with an All-Ireland – are almost untouchable.

Yet, Down, once the game’s aristocrats, never had it so bad in league and championship. It could be different next season with a new Kilcoo-influenced management team.