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Replying To The_DOC: "Are we the idiots for trying to be a dual county? Just do what Kerry, Mayo, Donegal //Limerick , Kilkenny, Clare etc do and focus on one sport, throw a small bit of effort into the other one just so its looks like ya care. Then get the entire county behind one sport? I dunno, I assume all of Mayo will be supporting Galway next year so we can end our 26 year drought?" All Ireland finalists in ladies football, camogie and hurling in 2026, our footballers aren't too far away either. It's a record other counties could only dream of and I think we as a county lose sight of the significance of this too easily. Good luck to our ladies footballers and camogie team, and well done to our neighbours over the road. ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1793 - 27/07/2026 21:54:03 2687648 Link
Replying To minor77: "Agree they should use the train like most countries straight to galway city and stop these crazy bus journeys" Yeah the craic of stopping in Ballinasloe just messes up the time for arriving into the main homecoming in Galway city. Always throws it off by another hour. Can they carry it over the Shannon and jump back on the train? jam83 (Galway) - Posts: 238 - 27/07/2026 22:19:51 2687652 Link
Replying To Galwayforsam26: "Watching mayo homecoming I think Galway should just have one big homecoming in the stadium if they ever win an All Ireland again the atmosphere would be way better" Nothing will beat Tuam in 98. The roads were literally lined with fires the whole way through Galway, villages and towns hopping. Absolutely savage. Atmosphere not near as good at these sanitized events now, some MC waffling over a bad sound system and asking questions that have been asked a hundred times since the end of the game. All part of the record the event on the phone culture. There was a wildness and spontaneity with that tradition of stopping in the villages. FullOfPorter (Roscommon) - Posts: 552 - 27/07/2026 22:41:59 2687663 Link
Replying To smallfrank: "And something people often overlook is that traditionally Galway City was hurling country. Fr Griffins relied on workers from other counties, James', Salthill, Michael's all relatively new clubs. Mellows, Cashel around since the beginning and there was another club based around Claddagh called Fr Tom Burke's(I think)" Correct, College Rd won some county hurling titles in years and may have become 98s later. Claddagh had a team Fr Tom Burkes which ceased in the late 60s or early 70s but an off shoot still survives in Boston USA. I think Liam Mellows came into existence around the time of the 2nd world war. Castlegar, Rahoon and Ballindooley were teams on the out skirts of the town.Football teams consisted mostly of rural shop boys in the earlier years. These are bits of information I recall hearing from a generation who have now passed online the back of of a vehicle on the way to matches in Pearse Stadium Clarinbrdge Athenry and Carnmore. backtooldwall (Galway) - Posts: 249 - 27/07/2026 23:26:49 2687676 Link
Replying To ahsure.: "All Ireland finalists in ladies football, camogie and hurling in 2026, our footballers aren't too far away either. It's a record other counties could only dream of and I think we as a county lose sight of the significance of this too easily. Good luck to our ladies footballers and camogie team, and well done to our neighbours over the road." U20 lady footballers won the All-Ireland a few weeks ago. Probably no county in Ireland so strong across all the codes, grades and genders. Including Cork. You're right in that I don't think people appreciate how tough it is to be so consistently competitive across the board like that. Senior men's All-Ireland's get the headlines but a lot going on elsewhere. Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2565 - 27/07/2026 23:34:49 2687678 Link
Kerry felt a lot like Galway v Armagh. Looked like a lot of guys struggling with fittness or injured. Style of play less driven more slow pace. I know Cian O'Neill is highly rated but tally has a better record and probably suits the new rules. Cian O'Neill lost Armagh in 2024 and mayo in 2026 both times as favourites. Andy Moran changed the goal keeper and moved on from Aidan ose after they lost roscommon which is something Galway have struggled to do. Andy Moran probably not getting the credit he deserves as he made the calls in year 1 that Galway still can't make in year 7. All the mayo full forward line can pressure a kick out whereas Galway aren't as focused on it. Kew (Galway) - Posts: 354 - 28/07/2026 06:54:39 2687689 Link
Replying To The_DOC: "Are we the idiots for trying to be a dual county? Just do what Kerry, Mayo, Donegal //Limerick , Kilkenny, Clare etc do and focus on one sport, throw a small bit of effort into the other one just so its looks like ya care. Then get the entire county behind one sport? I dunno, I assume all of Mayo will be supporting Galway next year so we can end our 26 year drought?" Lads this was (mainly) in jest, relax. My point is its twice as hard for us to in a football as it is say Kerry or twice as hard to win a hurling as say KK. Imagine if the two Mannion's, Daithí and C Whelan (for example) ONLY played football.............. or say Shane Walsh, Comer, McDaid etc. ONLY played hurling. I dont think it will ever change NOR do I ever want it to change, but we're always putting out a diluted COMPARED to most of the others. The_DOC (Galway) - Posts: 862 - 28/07/2026 09:06:05 2687696 Link
Replying To Kew: "Kerry felt a lot like Galway v Armagh. Looked like a lot of guys struggling with fittness or injured. Style of play less driven more slow pace. I know Cian O'Neill is highly rated but tally has a better record and probably suits the new rules. Cian O'Neill lost Armagh in 2024 and mayo in 2026 both times as favourites. Andy Moran changed the goal keeper and moved on from Aidan ose after they lost roscommon which is something Galway have struggled to do. Andy Moran probably not getting the credit he deserves as he made the calls in year 1 that Galway still can't make in year 7. All the mayo full forward line can pressure a kick out whereas Galway aren't as focused on it." Some good points there...we are stuck playing the same players playing the same way not learning from past mistakes and getting the same reward....no Sam. Fair play to Moran he made changes, had a great gameplan, especially in the forward press, had young legs and got the job done. conordee (Galway) - Posts: 472 - 28/07/2026 10:12:50 2687708 Link
Replying To backtooldwall: "Correct, College Rd won some county hurling titles in years and may have become 98s later. Claddagh had a team Fr Tom Burkes which ceased in the late 60s or early 70s but an off shoot still survives in Boston USA. I think Liam Mellows came into existence around the time of the 2nd world war. Castlegar, Rahoon and Ballindooley were teams on the out skirts of the town.Football teams consisted mostly of rural shop boys in the earlier years. These are bits of information I recall hearing from a generation who have now passed online the back of of a vehicle on the way to matches in Pearse Stadium Clarinbrdge Athenry and Carnmore." Yeah, heard the same stories. Turf lorries out to Loughrea and lads wearing flat caps. A real insult to a fella apparently was to knock the cap off him. I won't name names but by all accounts some dangerous boyos hanging around full back lines very common at the time. smallfrank (Galway) - Posts: 619 - 28/07/2026 10:23:15 2687710 Link
Replying To smallfrank: "Yeah, heard the same stories. Turf lorries out to Loughrea and lads wearing flat caps. A real insult to a fella apparently was to knock the cap off him. I won't name names but by all accounts some dangerous boyos hanging around full back lines very common at the time." Yes so you can understand why the town or (city) hurlers decided to pursue safer options and forego hurling following such attacks.Thankfully such primitive carryon has practically disappeared in modern times. backtooldwall (Galway) - Posts: 249 - 28/07/2026 11:24:17 2687726 Link
Congrats to Mayo. Hard to stomach given the players at our disposal at the moment and our underachievement. However they totally deserved it. They played without fear. We will play them in the league, I hope our players give them a guard of honour, respect what they have done........ and then beat them. At times this year we looked like world beaters, but it was only for phases in games. We would start slow, then cut loose, get a lead and then go back to the slow play again. We need to back ourselves. Re underage, other than Shane McGrath and possible Oisin McDonagh, I am not sure if any of the others took their chance this year. I thought Fionn McD was disappointing. Hopefully he will improve. He looked to be lacking S&C for his big frame. Could have a lot to offer yet. Can take a while. Do we have any special talent coming through? I now we have lots of good underage, but anything really special??? Mayonman (Galway) - Posts: 1975 - 28/07/2026 11:59:51 2687743 Link
Replying To Mayonman: "Congrats to Mayo. Hard to stomach given the players at our disposal at the moment and our underachievement. However they totally deserved it. They played without fear. We will play them in the league, I hope our players give them a guard of honour, respect what they have done........ and then beat them. At times this year we looked like world beaters, but it was only for phases in games. We would start slow, then cut loose, get a lead and then go back to the slow play again. We need to back ourselves. Re underage, other than Shane McGrath and possible Oisin McDonagh, I am not sure if any of the others took their chance this year. I thought Fionn McD was disappointing. Hopefully he will improve. He looked to be lacking S&C for his big frame. Could have a lot to offer yet. Can take a while. Do we have any special talent coming through? I now we have lots of good underage, but anything really special???" Colm Costello was part of the minor side that won in 2022 I think it was and was regularly putting up good scores yet he only got a look in against Monaghan. Jack Mullen from claregalway is another young player that came back into contention from the Westmeath game. Shay McGlinchey from what I've seen has really good potential, really good at fielding and picking passes. In the backs there's Ross Coen who I think will come into the panel soon enough pacy wing back who make runs and another player who'll hopefully play Gaelic again is Tomás Farthing. ColmFlaherty (Galway) - Posts: 200 - 28/07/2026 13:43:21 2687780 Link
Replying To Mayonman: "Congrats to Mayo. Hard to stomach given the players at our disposal at the moment and our underachievement. However they totally deserved it. They played without fear. We will play them in the league, I hope our players give them a guard of honour, respect what they have done........ and then beat them. At times this year we looked like world beaters, but it was only for phases in games. We would start slow, then cut loose, get a lead and then go back to the slow play again. We need to back ourselves. Re underage, other than Shane McGrath and possible Oisin McDonagh, I am not sure if any of the others took their chance this year. I thought Fionn McD was disappointing. Hopefully he will improve. He looked to be lacking S&C for his big frame. Could have a lot to offer yet. Can take a while. Do we have any special talent coming through? I now we have lots of good underage, but anything really special???" We haven't been winning anything at underage for years now. There are still some good young players coming through but I don't see any Shane Walsh or Kobe MacDonald types emerging. A player you could tell from very early on is going to be top class. A lot of good to decent players but no potentially great players. There are always players that kick on and improve drastically from underage to senior though. Comer was a bit like that. Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2565 - 28/07/2026 13:44:04 2687781 Link
Replying To Mayonman: "Congrats to Mayo. Hard to stomach given the players at our disposal at the moment and our underachievement. However they totally deserved it. They played without fear. We will play them in the league, I hope our players give them a guard of honour, respect what they have done........ and then beat them. At times this year we looked like world beaters, but it was only for phases in games. We would start slow, then cut loose, get a lead and then go back to the slow play again. We need to back ourselves. Re underage, other than Shane McGrath and possible Oisin McDonagh, I am not sure if any of the others took their chance this year. I thought Fionn McD was disappointing. Hopefully he will improve. He looked to be lacking S&C for his big frame. Could have a lot to offer yet. Can take a while. Do we have any special talent coming through? I now we have lots of good underage, but anything really special???" I was thinking about this. Andy Moran to be fair did make some big calls, went with a rookie young goalkeeper, dropped a multiple winning All Star(for good) and went with teenage forwards. The special talent, Colm Costello is older than Kobe and Byrne but has not been blooded at all. Shay McGlinchey has had injuries but again has not been trusted. James McLoughlin, huge man and was a huge prospect but hasnt kicked on due to injury Sam O'Neill was given a chance in 24, taken off and not sure if hes even on the panel. Patrick Egan has been on and off the panel. Tomo Culhane was given chances but left the panel. Cian Hernon has become a starter. Johnny McGrath seems to have lost form and is out of favour. Daniel O'Flaherty hasnt developed and has been given chances. Cathal Sweeeney got chances but opted out this year. Matthew Thompson was an outstanding find but got injured. Not in anyway writing off anyone above. Others that are serious prospects. Ciaran Mulhern(on the panel), Ross Coen, Mikey Mulryan, (on the panel) I think Eoin Gannon(Breathnachs), Ciaran O'Donnell(Headford) and Evan Burke(Tuam) have huge potential also. smallfrank (Galway) - Posts: 619 - 28/07/2026 13:54:15 2687785 Link
Replying To smallfrank: "And something people often overlook is that traditionally Galway City was hurling country. Fr Griffins relied on workers from other counties, James', Salthill, Michael's all relatively new clubs. Mellows, Cashel around since the beginning and there was another club based around Claddagh called Fr Tom Burke's(I think)" To the best of my knowledge Fr Tom Burke's was a hurling club for Claddagh & Westside, it disbanded after a few years and became St,Michaels and concentrated on football only. I stand corrected but I remember hearing this before 1951andwaiting (Galway) - Posts: 105 - 28/07/2026 14:52:02 2687812 Link