All-Ireland Final countdown: Mayo exiles on a wing and a prayer (for tickets)

The excitement of Mayo reaching another All-Ireland Final is set to bring droves of enthusiastic diaspora supporters flocking home to Ireland to be here for the special occasion.

Many supporters living overseas would have been tempted to book plane tickets home after the quarter-final victory over Cork and then finally pulled the trigger, perhaps while the second-half against Louth was ongoing.

Amy Brett, a native of Claremorris living in Sunnyside, Queens, New York, did at least wait until the final whistle before clicking purchase. She will be taking a direct flight from JFK to Shannon.

“The flights were booked as soon as the whistle blew at the semi-final but I had my husband well warned that I would be on the first plane out of here weeks before that,” she said.

“With the time difference, the matches are on here in NY first thing in the morning or early afternoon. No one understands Mayo fever like Mayo people, so you’d miss the atmosphere and debrief after the game with ones from home!” 

Amy is confident of Mayo’s chances going in as the underdog against Kerry and said she has every contact in her phone “plagued” asking about tickets.

Daniel Moore, a native of Castlebar, is making what he calls a somewhat unexpected journey home from Philadelphia.

“I was joking throughout the league that if Mayo got to an All-Ireland Final, I’d come home for it. I said that not really expecting it but always the optimist,” he said.

“Around the Cork game I started to consider it and believed they might get there. Before the Louth game, I was fully locked in to coming home if they won that game.

“I’m looking forward to being home to watch it. You’d definitely miss the atmosphere of being at the game or watching with a few friends, getting the half-time analysis and the play-by-play details.” He said he is giving Mayo about a 35% chance of success if things go their way on the day against the Kingdom.

Peter Kelly from Knockmore now lives in Toronto and was fortunate to secure a match ticket through his club in Canada, St Pat’s GAA.

“I put my name in and the second I got it, I booked my flight home. It is one-way for now. If we win, there’ll be some celebrations and I’ll book a flight back then whenever I can,” he said.

“I’m going to go to the game with my Dad and sit in the Hogan Stand. I feel like I’ve been in Croke Park too many times! Three times against Dublin, against Donegal. I didn’t go to Tyrone and watched on TV.

“We always left empty-handed but hopefully that changes this year. Up Mayo!” he added.

Making the shorter yet just as meaningful hop over from London, England is Belcarra native Alan Walsh. He is travelling with his 13-year-old son Kian who, if their hunt for tickets is successful, will see Mayo play live for the very first time.

“I decided I would make the trip about 10 minutes before the final whistle. We would have been very bad to have thrown away the game at that stage,” he said.

“When Mayo played London in April, it was on Saturday but I was actually gone away until the Sunday morning so I missed that game and would have brought Kian. I’m hopeful that we can get a couple of tickets and all going well we’ll be there.

“Beating Kerry in an All-Ireland final would be absolutely monumental and Monday night in Castlebar would be crazy. We have the fingers crossed and will be supporting the team, win or lose.” 

In his day job, Alan is the Director of Operations at Premier League club Brentford Football Club and has seen parallels between what they have achieved and what Mayo is trying to accomplish.

“Being involved with Brentford, I’ve seen their story of trying to get to the Premier League and it took just over 70 years to get there,” he said.

“Mayo is chasing something similar. What I find unique in Gaelic Football and especially in this county is that all generations from the elderly to young kids are all supportive of the county, it brings us all together.

“Everyone always asks, are you going to the match? And they only mean the one type of match, it’s the match involving the county that represents the people and that’s what I love about it.”