Mayo team stops in Athlone after historic win, but platform closed off to waiting fans

By Rebekah O'Reilly

The All-Ireland winning Mayo team stopped in Athlone Train Station this afternoon on their journey on their Castlebar homecoming.

Mayo captain Jack Coyne greeted fans from the platform, showing off the Sam Maguire Cup from the door of the train as fans chanted "We want Sam! We want Sam!"

After the ending of the county's 75-year wait for senior All Ireland success, more than 100 fans gathered at the station in Athlone at around 3.30pm.

However, many were disappointed to find the doors to the platform closed, and the shutter down, meaning they couldn't get out on the platform to greet the team close-up.

Fans then lined the fences of the station, adorned in the green and red of Mayo, with a sea of jerseys, flags, and posters as they sought to catch a glimpse of their heroes - and the team captain duly obliged by coming to at open door of the train to hold aloft the famous cup.

When contacted by the Westmeath Independent, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said the decision not to allow supporters onto the platform in Athlone was taken for "safety and crowd control" reasons.

"Iarnród Éireann are delighted to be able to support the Mayo team to bring Sam from Heuston to Castlebar today and facilitated a worthy send-off for the champions from Heuston Station earlier this afternoon," said Irish Rail spokesperson Niamh Horan.

"The train stopped for two minutes at Athlone to facilitate a driver change and the decision was made for supporters to remain in the car park area at Athlone during this brief stop for safety and crowd control reasons."

During the train's stop in Athlone, pizzas from local business Pizzeria Il Basilico were delivered to the train to feed the victorious team ahead of their arrival in Castlebar this evening.

In Mayo, tens of thousands of fans have gathered in McHale Park for the homecoming event.