Mayo Football Talk

Next month marks 48 years since St Colman’s College, Claremorris became the first Mayo school to win the All-Ireland Colleges Senior ‘A’ championship title.Next Monday, St Colman’s will compete in the Hogan Cup Final at Croke Park trying to emulate the achievements of the 1977 group.Mike sat down with three members of that famous team, Eugene Macken, the captain, and Charlie Gilmartin and Padraic Coyne for a stroll down memory lane.

The EirGrid Mayo Football Podcast Club Stars awards were a great success back in December.This week the Club Stars’ charity partner - Down Syndrome Mayo - were presented with their proceeds from the night.Colm Boyle and James Carty from DS Mauro joined John, Mike and Rob at Knockranny House Hotel for the cheque presentation, to reflect back on the night and talk some football.

There were emotional scenes at Croke Park on Sunday as Crossmolina beat Ballinderry in the All-Ireland Intermediate club final in the most dramatic of circumstances. A penalty from Conor Loftus six minutes into added time won the day and sparked scenes of bittersweet emotions and celebrations. Mike and John were there to witness history being made, and we also hear from Crossmolina manager Brian Benson, man of the match Níall Coggins and Fionan Duffy.

Our decision to bring back the Club Stars awards was well and truly vindicated on Friday night when a capacity crowd turned up at Knockranny House Hotel in Westport.This show brings you behind the scenes and into the midst of a great night’s entertainment.Rob and John caught up with some of the award winners over the course of the night, including James Maheady, Conor Loftus, Janette O'Malley and Sam Callinan. They also chatted to special guest, Oisin McConville.You can also hear some audio from Aidan O'Shea, Sam Callinan, Niall Heffernan, Justin Healy, Alan Dillion, Tommy O'Malley and Liam Breheny.

Books are always a good Christmas present choice and Edwin McGreal's 'Our Finest Hour', in which over 50 Mayo GAA clubs reflect on their own individual day of glory, has the makings of a fine festive gift. Ed joins Rob and John on the pod to chat about the book and the many stories and photos it contains within its covers.Also on this pod, ahead of Friday's now sold-out Club Stars event Mike chats with Seán Regan of Ballina Stephenites and Tooreen. Seán will be presented at the Club Stars event with an Outstanding Achievement Award (sponsored by Connacht GAA), having won back-to-back county medals in football and hurling with Ballina and Tooreen respectively.      

The final countdown is on to the Club Stars awards on Friday, December 13th.John, Mike and Rob look ahead to the big night and we hear from the now former Kilmeena manager, John Reilly, who will be presented with a Special Achievement award on the night.Mike sat down with John recently to talk about his time managing his home club, which coincided with winning Mayo Junior and Intermediate championships, as well as an All-Ireland Intermediate crown.They also talked about what makes club players tick, why John loves coaching, and what he plans to do next.

Fresh from winning a Mayo Junior club championship title with Cill Chomain, Nigel joins Mike and Rob to reflect on a famous day for the North Mayo club.The lads also chat about some of the people who will be picking up awards at the Club Stars banquet next month and Nigel gives some great insight into why the likes of Niall Heffernan, John Reilly, Tommy O'Malley, Seán Regan, Aidan O'Shea and the Westport ladies are all worthy winners.

With five weeks to go until The Mayo Football Podcast Club Stars with EirGrid, we announce the nominees for the Team of the Year.Colm Boyle, one of the Club Stars judges along with John Casey, Martin Carney and Nigel Reape, joins Mike and Rob to talk through the list of players who will be in the running for awards on Friday, December 13th at the Knockranny House Hotel in Westport.The lads also chat about some of the players whose club form might lead to a county call-up.

The official launch of The Mayo Football Podcast Club Stars with EirGrid took place at Knockranny House Hotel in Westport on Tuesday.It was a who’s who of Mayo football with everyone from Lee Keegan to Colm Boyle to Aidan O’Shea coming along to help us get the ball rolling. We were also delighted to have the likes of Ballina Stephenites manager Niall Heffernan and coach Cora Staunton in attendance; as well as Westport ladies manager Pop Geraghty and players Janette O’Malley, Aoife Kennedy and Noirin Moran there. We also chatted to Ciara Galvin from EirGrid, the main sponsors of this year’s Club Stars, and James Carty from Down Syndrome Mayo, our charity partners. 

With the dust settling after an incredible weekend of drama and draws in the Mayo club championships, we hear from some of the players and managers involved. This show features Darren McHale, Seán Deane, Niall Heffernan, Conor McStay, Tomás Morley, Chris McGlynn, Liam Nyland, Joe Burke, Nobby McLoughlin and Johnny Lavelle.

The curtain came down on the Mayo club championship quarter-finals on Sunday. John, Mike and Rob were out and about in Foxford, Breaffy and Ballina to see some of the title contenders in action while we also round up the stories of the other games of the day. 

The action, drama, thrills and spills were all in plentiful supply as the third round of the Mayo club championships came to a climax. John, Mike and Rob round up another hectic day across the county as the quarter-finalists and relegation candidates were all confirmed.

The second round of the Mayo Senior and Intermediate club championships threw up plenty of talking points as the groups start to take shape.  Rob and Mike were out and about again and they round up the day’s events and also look at how the Junior championship is shaping up. 

The Mayo Senior and Intermediate club championships swung into action this evening.Mike and Rob were around some of the grounds and met up after the games to give podcast listeners this round-up of the day’s events.

The passing of the legendary ‘Johnno’ has cast a long shadow across Mayo, the West of Ireland and the GAA world this week.Mike is joined by Edwin McGreal, Martin Carney, Andy Moran and Stephen Drake to talk about John’s life and his legacy, and why he will always be remembered as both one of the great Gaelic football managers and a gentleman.

John, Mike and Rob meet up for a quick chat about a big week for the Mayo senior team. The lads look back at last Sunday’s draw with Dublin and look ahead to next Saturday’s All-Ireland prelim quarter-final against Derry in Castlebar. Plus, they shoot the breeze about some of the talking points that have cropped up in recent days and tell you why so many people are subscribing to the podcast every week. 

In the wake of Mayo’s win over Roscommon, the focus has shifted to a date with the All-Ireland champions. The venue has been decided, the tickets are on sale, and the conversations about injuries, match-ups and the spread have already started. So John, Mike and Rob gathered for a chat about the mood on the ground, the likely talking points, and to tell non-members what they have been missing over on Patreon for just €5 a month.

In this new Recently on the Podcast show, we look back at audio our Patreon club members will already have heard from the latest Connacht Championship game involving the Minors. We also review some of our podcast coverage that was recorded leading up to and after Sunday's Connacht SFC final against Galway at Pearse Stadium.From the Final Whistle show recorded after the Minors' win over Leitrim, we hear Colm Boyle describe the co-ordinated way in which the team defended. Next it's Colin Sheridan and Finian Hanley, with the former chatting about the occasion that is the Connacht final, while the latter talks about Galway's favourite Mayo man, John O'Mahony. From our Here Comes the Weekend show Stephen Drake opines on his favourite spud. The focus then turns to the fallout from Mayo's one-point defeat to Galway and the voices we hear providing analysis on the game and what it mmeans for both teams include Colm Boyle, Barry Cullinane, Colm Keys and Billy Joe Padden.      

Every so often, we provide a taster of the podcast content we make available on an ongoing basis to our club members on Patreon. In this latest Recently on the Podcast show, Rob and John review audio from Mayo/Roscommon Minor Final Whistle pod, where Martin Carney points to prominent performers in that game; from the Mayo/Sligo U20 Final Whistle show, where Mike reflects on Mayo's Championship elimination and where Mayo manager Peadar Gardiner and Sligo manager Paul Henry provide post-match reaction and from our Mayo/Roscommon Senior Final Whistle show where Colm Boyle and Lee Keegan chat with Rob and John following Mayo's five-point win at Dr Hyde Park.   

Mayo have beaten New York by a scoreline of 2-21 to 2-6 in the Connacht championship quarter-final at Gaelic Park in the Bronx.Rob, Mike and John were joined at Gaelic Park by Colm Boyle, John Casey and Seán Reilly. There’s also post-match reaction from Mayo manager Kevin McStay, New York manager Alan O’Mara and Mayo captain Paddy Durcan.To get access to all of the podcast episodes, join the club at Patreon.com/mayopodcast, where annual membership is now available for just €1 per week (plus VAT).