What is the main difference since he became involved with Armagh four years ago? McKeever insists it is squad depth. Ask him about those who moved against manager Kieran McGeeney and he’ll dispense with the pleasantries.
The year before McKeever linked up with McGeeney he’d been put in charge of the Armagh minors with a clear brief to find and develop the sort of players the senior team required. And in time, the Orchard grew a depth of talent that’s become the envy of many and displayed its full force in extra-time of the All-Ireland semi-final win over Kerry.
“Geezer [McGeeney] has been hammering that drum since I was there,” he says. “We didn’t have the squad. Truth be told, we weren’t at that level. That’s just the harsh reality of it. We felt over the last five/six years that we’ve potentially had that squad but we just weren’t getting it going down the stretch in big games.”
Sunday’s final is set against the backdrop of how things could have went very differently for Armagh in the close season.
McGeeney had served nine years and there were grumblings of a move against him. The timing seemed odd. The early years of his reign – when they didn’t win a game in Ulster for four successive years – were the dark times. But in 2023, they were literally a kick of the ball away from an Ulster title.
It felt like Armagh were in the ‘grain of rice’ territory but rumours of a heave gathered momentum. When it came to it, McGeeney was comfortably retained, though McKeever admits he wasn’t sure what way it would go.
“You’re thinking the worse because you have helmets voting and that’s just the truth. You’ve people who’re in clubs that have agendas potentially, just don’t like his personality, who’re going to have a say on what way the county team is going to go and what the players are going to get.
“Lucky enough, we have really strong players who weren’t willing to allow that happen. A couple of strong clubs stood up and he got the vote, and we are where we are today – that’s probably no coincidence.”
Much of the criticism around Armagh centred on the fact that they’d yet to win championship silverware or take the scalp of a big team in championship in Croke Park, but that changed against Kerry.
“There’s no doubt about it that it gives you confidence but the big thing is a lot of Kerry’s name at the minute is based on history. Yes, they won the All-Ireland two years ago but they’re not the force their name carries anymore,” says McKeever. “We were fully aware of that leading into it and confident that we could execute what we were going up to do, once we didn’t play the occasion or that it was Kerry. We were trying to deliver that message a lot over the last fortnight and thankfully we went up the road and did the job because we’d really good confidence that we could turn them over.”
Galway stand in their way now.
“They’re exceptional. If I’m putting my hand on heart, they’re probably the best team we’ve played over the last four years and how they structurally set up – they set up like an Ulster team. They’re really athletic, big and powerful and obviously they’ve the boys inside, Comer and Shane Walsh who’re exceptional finishers. They’re a really dangerous team.”
