So, after all the huffing and puffing, it will be a Mayo-Kerry National Football League final. Just like everybody predicted, right?
On a manic last day of drama, from among the realms of head-spinning permutations and overloaded spreadsheets, Kevin McStay’s Mayo footballers – with a scoring difference of minus one – somehow finished top of the Division One table and unlocked a portal to next weekend’s decider.
Kerry entered the final round of group games mainly hoping not to be relegated, but Jack O’Connor’s side are now planning for a trip to Croke Park.
At the other end of the table, Derry and Tyrone have slipped through the trapdoor to Division Two for next season. Tyrone finished the league with seven points, Mayo topped the table with nine.
Stuffed between them were four teams on eight points (Kerry, Galway, Donegal and Dublin) and Armagh on seven. Armagh’s victory over Tyrone sees them finish ahead of their neighbours on the head-to-head record, while Kerry claim second place because of a superior scoring difference to Galway, Donegal and Dublin.
In truth, there was hardly a string of dental floss separating the teams this season.
“If you offered me a point this morning I’d have taken it. I think that would have kept us safe and put Galway in the league final,” said O’Connor after his side’s 3-23 to 2-17 victory in Salthill.
“It was a helter-skelter game, huge scoring, so we’re delighted to come out the right side of it. The game took on a life of its own.”
Which was in keeping with a league like no other, one viewed through the prism of the new rules but which ends with a repeat of the 2022 Division One decider.
The winter talk around Mayo had been dark and gloomy, the outlook pessimistic, so when they lost the opening two rounds of the league all that glass half-empty stuff seemed justified.
But after all that noise, Mayo – who were fourth in the table before Sunday’s final round of fixtures – quietly put together a run of five games unbeaten to snatch a league final spot.
“Pre the league, we all agreed it was the most competitive eight teams in the history of that league. Therefore, the natural consequence is it’s going to be as tight as hell,” stated McStay after his side’s 1-18 to 1-16 win over Donegal.
“That’s exactly how it turned out. We understood that a one-point win could put us northerly, but a one-point defeat could have us looking at relegation.”
Up in Omagh, Malachy O’Rourke watched his Tyrone side outplay and outfight Dublin but their 2-20 to 1-14 triumph wasn’t enough to avoid the drop.
“We knew coming into it the only thing we could control was our own performance, we weren’t going into any of the permutations or anything else, that was out of our control,” said the Tyrone boss.
“Teams have gone down to Division Two over the last number of years and bounced back up, it hasn’t done them any long-term damage. Hopefully that’ll be the same with ourselves.”
Because what goes down has tended to come back up again. Monaghan (10pts) and Roscommon (9pts) finished in the promotion spots in Division Two – just 12 months after both dropped down from the top flight.
Louth’s 1-19 to 0-17 win over Meath saved the Wee County from the drop, with their head-to-head record over Down relegating Conor Laverty’s side along with Westmeath.
In Division Three, Kildare and Offaly claimed the promotion spots with Antrim and Leitrim relegated to the basement division of the league for 2026.
Kildare’s 1-26 to 1-15 win over Antrim was enough to see them finish top of the table, while despite losing to Clare, Offaly secured second spot.
In Division Four, Wexford maintained their record as the only team to have won every game this season in overcoming Longford, 2-18 to 1-10. Limerick claimed the second promotion spot in the division, with James Naughton scoring a remarkable 4-12 as they beat Waterford, 4-24 to 1-17.
The four football league finals will take place at Croke Park next weekend, the Division Three and Four deciders expected to be a double-header on Saturday, followed by the Division One and Two showdowns on Sunday.
“Of course we would have tried to make it,” sighed Galway manager Pádraic Joyce after watching his side’s march towards the Division One final derailed. “It’s a national title, we could do with one here.”
But after all the debate on rules and the state of Gaelic football, the 2025 league title will go to Mayo or Kerry.
It was such a tight campaign that a two-pointer here or a buzzer-beater there could have changed everything. As leagues go, it’s been a hoot!
Division One
Final: Mayo v Kerry
Relegated: Tyrone, Derry
Division Two
Promoted: Monaghan, Roscommon
Relegated: Down, Westmeath
Division Three
Promoted: Kildare, Offaly
Relegated: Antrim, Leitrim
Division Four
Promoted: Wexford, Limerick
