All-Ireland Final countdown: The Mayo men also playing a beautiful game
Jack Livingstone punches clear for Manulla against Claremorris in one of his numerous Mayo Super League outings for the Blues. Picture: John Corless
There are several of the current Mayo GAA panel who have excelled on the soccer pitch over the years.
Before his breakout performances in goal against Monaghan and Tyrone, Jack Livingstone was minding the net for Manulla in the Elverys Sports Super League. In fact, it’s an incredible thing to say about a player preparing to play in an All-Ireland SFC Final but Livingstone has made far more Super League appearances with Manulla than he has senior competitive starts for the Breaffy senior football team.
The Carramore side have found themselves fighting battles at the wrong end of the table in recent years but in the past three seasons, have avoided the drop with some crucial results. Livingstone was the Blues first choice goalkeeper throughout this time and was generally quite impressive, helping the team out of some tight spots during this ongoing flirtation with relegation.
One of his finest hours in a Manulla jersey came against Westport United on the opening day of the 2025 campaign. It was the first game at the newly developed United Park and Westport were keen to lay down a marker ahead of a title challenge but Livingstone and company would spoil the party.
He made a number of crucial saves, including a double save to deny Aidan McHale and a fingertip save to keep out Dylan O’Malley at the death. It ended 0-0 and was the only time Westport would drop points all season other than two defeats to champions Castlebar Celtic.
Due to Mayo commitments, Livingstone has stepped away from Manulla this season and his number one jersey is now occupied by Matthew Flanagan, an All-Ireland U21 winner with Mayo in 2016.
Livingstone had the last laugh against current Mayo teammate Cian McHale when Manulla travelled to face McHale’s club Conn Rangers in March 2024. The early-season game ended 2-0 to Manulla but did little to take away from the superb season McHale, a lively central midfielder with a keen eye for goal, had for Conn Rangers.
The Moy Davitts man had joined the club over the winter from Straide & Foxford United and had hit the ground running with a hat-trick of assists against Crossmolina in his second league game for the club. Cross’ had taken an early lead but after an equaliser, McHale provided Colm Rutledge with an assist out of the Kevin De Bruyne playbook to put Rangers ahead. He teed up Eoin Prendergast to make it 3-1 and assisted David McHale from a corner to put the icing on the cake.
In his one full season with Conn Rangers in 2024, Cian McHale scored nine goals across 15 games in all competitions. By the following February, he was lining out for Mayo in the National Football League and has since stayed in and around the starting team, scoring 0-2 in his All-Ireland semi-final cameo against Louth last Saturday week.
Ardagh forward James Carr has recovered from injury to be named as one of Mayo’s four standby players for the match-day squads selected against Cork and Louth. He featured sporadically for Crossmolina AFC in the 2025 season, scoring seven goals in five competitive games for the club.
Mayo’s sharpshooter Ryan O’Donoghue has been lauded for his scoring exploits over recent weeks but played in the more conservative role of a right-back while in the underage setup with Sligo Rovers. The Belmullet man joined the Bit O’Red from Iorras Aontaithe and played up to U19 level with the Showgrounds club before opting to pursue an inter-county career.
O’Donoghue also played for Mayo in the prestigious U14 Kennedy Cup, a competition that Stephen Coen, Aidan O’Shea and Diarmuid O’Connor also all featured in over the years.
Kobe McDonald is also among the players who showed promise in soccer. In more recent times, he led the line for his school Gortnor Abbey, scoring seven goals in five games as they claimed this year’s Connacht FAI Schools Senior A2 title. Kobe was among the goals and set up Jack O’Brien’s winner in a dramatic 4-3 final victory against Headford. After defeats with Mayo to Roscommon at both senior and U20 level earlier that same week, the victory will have come as a relief to the young forward.
