Former Mayo player in Mount Temple savouring Sam win

The great songwriters can sometimes say everything using just a few words. One of them, Joni Mitchell, sang of how "something's lost, but something's gained, in living every day".

For the people of Mayo, whatever was lost on Sunday, July 26, was dwarfed by a gain so enormous they're still trying to wrap their heads around it.

As magnificent as winning Sam Maguire felt for the ordinary people of Mayo, it perhaps meant even more to those, like Mount Temple resident John Madden, who had tried and narrowly failed to bring an All Ireland to the county in years gone by.

John, who works as a product manager for Ericsson in Athlone, was the Mayo goalkeeper in the 1996 All Ireland final which ended in defeat to Meath after a replay.

He has been to every one of Mayo’s All Ireland finals since, even the 'Covid final' against Dublin in an almost-empty Croke Park in December 2020, and he said the feeling at full time of this year's decider was impossible to explain.

"I don't think anybody's going to be able to fully articulate what it means," he said. "There were around 50,000 or 60,000 Mayo people all sharing the same emotion and releasing it.

"Over the last 15 years we've been labelled as chokers and bottlers. We were the first county, for any context or reason, to be bullied on social media, and slagged off, and people don't let you forget that.

"It was the relief of, now we've won the damn thing, we've achieved a dream we've all been seeking. That outpouring of emotion was genuine and real.

"It was a remarkable few moments, and on top of that you had the speech delivered by (team captain) Jack Coyne, which was incredible."

John is married to Edel and the couple have three children, Isabelle, Tom and Conor. He and Tom were in the Hogan stand for the final, while Isabelle was on Hill 16.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent on Thursday last, John said it was an occasion the likes of which will not be seen again.

"It was a moment that we'll never have in our lives again and something that we'll never see in the GAA again," he said.

"Even if Westmeath - and please God it happens - go on to win an All Ireland next year, is there that same level of 100% buy-in, where every person in the county has fully embraced the football team?

"I don't think there is going to be any other team that has the same hunger, the same experience, the same history and the same repeated final losses in the GAA."

He said he went into the final against Kerry with hope, rather than expectation, of a Mayo win.

"You could pinpoint things and say what you thought needed to happen for us to win, but maybe in your heart of hearts you thought it was a bit of a long shot that those things were going to happen and we were going to be able to sustain that chaos and the high-tempo game we normally play.

"But all the things that we needed to happen did happen, and more. They were awesome, in fairness."

Why does he think this Mayo side was able to achieve the ultimate goal, when so many other great teams from the county came up short?

"I think it was the confidence they were given by Andy Moran to just have a go at it, and keep shooting. You don't score the ones you don't kick," he said.

"It was a combination of the confidence of the team, and the way we played it tactically, coupled with that team not having any hangups that came from the experiences of previous teams.

"You then had the x-factor of a few young players coming through, like the two corner forwards, Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald. When you looked around the team there was no weak link, nobody that you could say had a poor game."

John was aged 22 when he was the Mayo goalkeeper in the '96 final against Meath, having reached under-21 All Ireland finals the two previous years.

He picked up an injury in 1997, and was replaced for that year's championship, before going on to sustain an even more serious injury the following year.

"At the end of '98, I had a horrific leg and ankle break... it was a question of whether or not I was going to be able to walk properly again," he said.

"I did come back and play a little bit after it, but that (injury) put paid to serious football.

"When I was playing, 'Mayo for Sam' wasn't a phrase that was used, and 'the curse' wasn't a thing. Those are relatively new things over the last 15-20 years."

After moving to the Athlone area, he managed the Tubberclair minors to a county title in the early 2000s and was involved with the Garrycastle seniors.

“Then kids came along, circumstances changed, and going back wasn't really an option.

“But this year I am helping out with the Caulry minors as best I can, when time allows, and we'll see what the future brings,” he said.

John greatly enjoyed following the Westmeath team's Leinster championship success this year, and he said the Lake County should be considered a realistic contender for an All Ireland.

"Nobody can tell me that Louth, who were in an All Ireland semi final this year, are a better team than Westmeath. Not a notion of it," he said.

"If you were picking the best football team in the country, Ronan Wallace and Matthew Whittaker would be on that team, and they will have Luke Loughlin coming back next year.

"So it's a great starting position to be in, and I believe the next step for Westmeath is up."

Originally from Ballycastle in North Mayo, John was off work last week and was able to take in some of the celebrations in his native county.

On Wednesday he had a long journey to and from Belmullet, and he spoke to us on Thursday afternoon shortly before getting in the car for another spin to Mayo.

Inevitably, thoughts began to turn to what the county's future will look like now that the All Ireland quest has been completed.

"We have now delivered Sam. We have ticked the box of the Saw Doctors' song To Win Just Once, and 'Mayo for Sam' is done. What comes next?" John said.

"It was funny that, on Monday evening, a WhatsApp group I'm in called 'Mayo for Sam' was updated by one of the lads with a new name: Mayo for Sam '27!

"So we're not going away," he laughed, "but hopefully it will be Westmeath's turn next year."