Higgins handed Mayo's most crucial job

Last week brought news of Peter Mandelson’s latest fall from grace, handing him the unwanted and strange record of being forced out of a job by three UK governments across three different decades. By now, the act of leaving must feel less like misfortune and more like a ritual.

And you can’t help thinking - had the timing been right, the Mayo county board might have given him a call. If there is a county that knows something about scandal, sudden departures and the art of picking itself up for another go, it’s Mayo. Mandelson would hardly notice the difference. Cabinet intrigue or county board rumour – both thrive on whispers in corridors and the occasional dagger in the back. It might even feel like home.

Few men alive know more about turbulence in high office, brief honeymoons and sudden endings. In short, he would have been just at home in Castlebar as in Westminster. If only he had been sacked a few days earlier, he might have been unveiled as Mayo’s latest experiment. But the county board passed on Mandelson, and turned instead to Keith Higgins.

And so the job of bringing regular silverware back into underage Mayo football falls to the Ballyhaunis man. Before this year's Connacht title, Mayo's last under-20 provincial title came in 2018, which doesn’t sound too long ago until you notice who played that day: Oisín Mullin, Jordan Flynn, Ryan O’Donoghue, Tommy Conroy. They're all now seasoned players in their prime, all reminders of how far the years have slipped.

Since then, Sligo have had their breakthrough, Roscommon their resurgence and Galway their continuation. Mayo, meanwhile, have often lingered on the margins. And that matters. Because underage titles are not just baubles for the county board’s mantelpiece; they are evidence of a pipeline. Fail to win and fail to compete, and five years later your senior team pays the price.

There is always a debate in these grades: is it about developing players, or is it about winning medals? But the truth is glaringly simple: what better way to develop players than by winning titles?

The proof is written in Mayo's own history. Higgins himself captained the side that won the All-Ireland under-21 title in 2006. The vast majority of players that played that day pulled on a senior jersey in the years that followed. Success didn’t stunt development; it accelerated it. The experience of winning together, of living through those pressure days and lifting silverware, left its mark long after the medals had been tucked away.

These competitions are a rehearsal for the main stage. You don’t sharpen players by teaching them how to lose gracefully; you sharpen them by giving them days when the stakes feel real. If you’re not winning, you’re learning how to lose. Mayo, more than most, cannot afford another generation learning the latter.

Which is why this appointment matters. Higgins knows from the inside what underage success can yield. His job now is to turn Mayo’s conveyor back on, to make sure that development and winning should be one and the same.

So what sort of manager will he be? The honest answer is that nobody knows yet. He has been around the under-20 setup for a couple of years, lending his voice and experience, but this is the first time he has the team to himself. It is the first time he can put more than advice on a session – he can put his stamp on the whole thing.

And if his recent championship games in the Ballyhaunis jersey are any guide to go by, then we can expect a style that sees a team quick on its feet, sharp in transition, never waiting for the game to come to it. Higgins, even now, still plays like the game owes him one more sprint, one more chase, one more turnover. It’s the sort of defiance you usually only see in old dogs who snarl when you try to take away the bowl. And it's difficult not to imagine him demanding that same attitude from lads half his age.

There was even the prospect – snatched away too soon – of him lining out against new Mayo senior manager Andy Moran in the club championship. Under-20 boss versus senior boss, Higgins tracking Moran stride for stride. Alas, it wasn't to be.

It should be said that Higgins didn’t walk into this job by default. The county board had options – and strong ones at that – and he came through ahead of them. That in itself is telling. For once, the Mayo under-20 role has been treated not as a stepping stone but as a prize worth fighting for.

And perhaps rightly so. Because if you ask around the county today, this may be the most important job in Mayo football. Expectations for the seniors have sunk following a number of poor championship campaigns. What Mayo need is an injection of talent, a fresh line of players who can lift the county not just for a season, but for a decade.

In that sense, the under-20 post carries more weight than the so-called hot seat at senior level. It is not about firefighting or patching holes; it is about planting something that will outlast the present mood. Higgins inherits responsibility not only for results, but for renewal. He is tasked with sketching the future, line by line, in a county tired of redrafting the same old story. He will be judged on what Mayo’s next generation look like a year or two from now.

Of course, that comes with its own tension. Appointing a beloved ex-player is a romantic choice, but that romance can sour quickly when the football fails to deliver results. Legendary status buys you goodwill, but in a county like Mayo goodwill has the shelf life of a pint of milk.

Though should it all go wrong, there’s always a certain Westminster consultant available to provide a workshop in the art of leaving amid the chaos.