2024 will be remembered as a year for the underdog given Armagh’s unlikely rise to claim Sam Maguire for only the second time.
Here, SunSport’s Jason Byrne highlights three relative lowlights from the summer that was…
Kildare chaos
Kildare hit rock bottom this year.
They lost all seven league games to be relegated to Division 3 and Tailteann Cup football loomed if they failed to reach a Leinster final.
That is exactly what happened after Louth brushed them aside in the provincial semi-finals and the Kildare fans turned away in their droves.
They even failed to make a decent stab at the second-tier SFC as Laois ended their misery in the quarter-finals and Glenn Ryan walked as manager.
3
Fallen giants
Dublin and Kerry had hugely disappointing campaigns when it looked certain one of them would lift Sam.
The Dubs were ticking along without setting the world alight when Galway stunned them in a gripping quarter-final, as they failed to reach the last four for the first time since 2009.
The Kingdom were sleepwalking through the Championship and won an awful quarter-final against Derry before Armagh dismissed them.
David Clifford still had a decent summer and scored 2-29 but he was well off his brilliant best.
For the first time since 2003, there were no Kerry or Dublin All-Stars.
3
Walking away
Some huge stars left the inter-county fold.
James McCarthy’s Dublin departure was followed by Brian Fenton’s shock decision to retire at 31.
Derry stalwart Chrissy McKaigue waved the Oak Leafers goodbye and will go down as one of their greatest players.
Cillian O’Connor stunned Mayo fans with his decision to opt out of inter-county football in 2025. Defender Pádraig O’Hora quickly followed suit.
Carlow legend Darragh Foley hung up his boots after 15 years of service and Steven Sherlock is taking a year out of action with Cork.
Westmeath’s James Dolan and Tipperary great Conor Sweeney have retired too — and all of them will be huge losses to the cause.
