To win just twice

By Niall McCoy

“THE man who made space made plenty,” my uncle Kevin used to say as he fitted as many of us as he could into his car back in the non-glory days of the early and mid-90s.

Those are my earliest GAA memories, going to Mass on a Sunday morning and then back home and into a yoke as the McCoys headed off to grounds across the country for league games with a merry, but realistic, band of Armagh fans.

In many ways those were simpler times to follow the county. We knew our place, and that was very much in the middle of the pack with rare flashes of dining at the top table.

The 1994 National League final stands out.

The semi-final curtain-raiser at Croke Park, Meath and Westmeath, stuck with me given how similar their names were before the main event of Armagh and Laois.

“Laois, Laois, Laois,” the O’Moore fans around us in the Hogan Stand chanted as the Leinster side started brightly, but my memory is of Jim McConville being the man that day for Armagh as they eased to victory. The diminutive Cross man did hit 1-1, but, reading back on reports now, it was a 19-year-old by the name of Diarmaid Marsden that stole the show.

A young defender called Kieran McGeeney had already secured the centre half-back berth by that stage, although in the heavy final beating at the hands of Meath he was moved into full-back to help put out fires as Colm O’Rourke and Bernard Flynn ran wild.

The year after coming so close to a first National League title, Armagh just avoided relegation to Division Three – that was the life of an Armagh fan back then.

But we had those road trips to Markievicz Park and Tullamore and Brewster Park, and we had ‘Houli’.

‘Houli’ our goal-scoring, fence-hopping, devil-may-care superstar. You can keep your Charlie Redmonds and your Colin Corkerys, we have ‘Houli’ and “‘Houli’s’ gonna get ya!”

It’s impossible to pin-point exactly when Armagh morphed into a serious outfit, but there is a game where the fever and the colour started to kick in.

That was 1998 and a time when Ulster wins were rare never mind Ulster titles.

Down, the aristocrats who held such an upper hand in the rivalry with five All-Irelands, were beat 0-16 to 0-11 at Clones with the stand packed in orange.

Star of the show? That man Marsden, my favourite player growing up and, even now, my favourite Armagh player of all time. The other star? McGeeney.

Derry would win the semi-final battle by seven points, but they only took over in the last 10 minutes. No Ulster final, but hope.

Hope would turn to success the following season. Revenge on Derry after a controversial free handed to Paddy McKeever and converted by Cathal O’Rourke. Marsden would hit the winner.

Down in the final. Hammering match. Pitch invasions. Oisín McConville 2-7 and pandemonium. Over the next few years, and until very recently, Armagh fans would forget just how important provincial titles were.

One step forward, two steps back though. The 1999 semi-final saw this journalist in the back of an ambulance during the minor game before a Lazarus like recovery to see Armagh start like a train against Meath before losing out to more wily opponents.

Kerry the year after, down and out before magic Maurice did his work for the Kingdom in two ridiculously entertaining games.

Then the mess of 2001 and Galway when Armagh were stuck in traffic before nearly mounting an incredible comeback. Further away than ever.

Then came the glory of 2002 and the realisation that Armagh hadn’t won one before because they were timing it beautifully. The same yellow bus booked by future Armagh player Gareth O’Neill and 30 people from Dromintee and Camlough heading to games and sneaking drink on board. The best craic you could possibly ever have.

Cosgrove’s free, McDonnell’s winner, the Guards stopping us on the way home from Dublin and searching the bus for some reason.

That was the pinnacle, when ‘nearly’ became ‘now’. Nothing could top it. The years that followed brought lots of silver, albeit without a second Sam, but with it an almost arrogance, an expectancy.

The 2008 Ulster title really was the last great hurrah and soon it was back to Division Three, back to the mid-table safety net as McGeeney replaced Paul Grimley and tried to work out an identity for a side that was ripped apart by retirements and departures in 2014 and ’15.

The bandwagon never got truly going again until the post Covid world. Maybe having been denied space for some two years, people needed something bright and exciting to attach too. The fans became raucous, leading to some ridiculous – and in some cases utterly embarrassing – commentary on Geezer.

But that man is made of sterner stuff. He’s experienced it all as a player, including that ultimate win having been there for the ultimate lows.

He’s followed a similar path as manager, and all he is missing is that ultimate win and Christ Sunday would be a fine time to get it.

Following Armagh is always an experience. Those innocent days in the ‘90s to the air of expectancy in the noughties. And now in 2024? Well, let’s just wait and see.