Opinion: Some might say Mayo are milking it

Maitiú Monaghan

They just had to go again didn’t they? Oasis. Liam and Noel couldn’t help it. One more ‘one last dance’, tickets starting at €180 - give or take. You just have to Roll With It.

The Gallaghers, famously, trace their roots back to Charlestown, Co. Mayo, where their mother, Peggy, was born.

Since winning the All-Ireland early this year, the Mayo footballers have taken a leaf out of the Oasis playbook.

There isn’t a corner of the county that Andy Moran’s side hasn’t visited since they lifted the Sam Maguire earlier this year.

The cup has been in every town, village, school, hospital, and nursing home. There were emotional scenes when it crossed the bridge over to Achill Island, and thousands in attendance at the homecoming in Castlebar.

Last Friday, the Mayo footballers were on the Late Late Show, alongside Liam Neeson. A social media post quipped Neeson was the latest player to join the panel. He does, of course, possess a certain set of skills.

Earlier this month, Kobe McDonald et al were up on stage with The Saw Doctors at Electric Picnic, although Sam Maguire was a notable absentee.

It was probably for the best. Sam could well have been the most famous robbery in Irish sporting history, up there with Shergar and the Seán Cavanagh quarter-final.

Mayo have adopted the Saw Doctor’s To Win Just Once as their song of choice - that must drive the sports psychologists mental.

Andy Moran can’t really say ‘we want it more than them’ next season - sure his players have told anyone who will listen that “to win just once would be enough”.

Will they be punished for all that celebrating next season? Definitely. Maybe?

Even the County Board have gotten in on the act.

Last week, Mayo GAA revealed that GAA Central Council (no less) has granted Mayo and Kerry approval to play a “special exhibition game”, which in London.

The game is The Masterplan of the JRL Group, with the unheralded and never seen before fixture being described as “eagerly anticipated”.

It will be played at the StoneX stadium, which is the home of Saracens Rugby Club, on Saturday, November 28.

“The Mayo Kerry Global Series,” Mayo GAA began in a statement. “Will see Mayo return to action for the first time following their historic All-Ireland final victory, in what promises to be a special occasion for supporters in London and beyond.”

Some Might Say that it’s a thinly veiled attempt by Mayo GAA to use football and tourism to line their pockets, something that the good people of Kerry are all too familiar with.

Commercial

This, surely, is just the latest step in the ever-expanding commercial enterprise that is the GAA.

Croke Park is an equal opportunities money making machine. Man City supporters Noel and Liam are just as welcome as Sir. Jim Ratcliffe’s Manchester United.

The NFL are welcome, Katie Taylor is welcome, Leeds United, Harry Styles, the Weeknd, Bon Jovi- even Leinster rugby. Mobhli Road is awash with punters.

Croke Park aren’t the only ones.

A fortnight ago, Lacken GAA club just outside Cavan Town played host to the All-Ireland Masters Final between Dublin and Donegal.

It was a star-studded line up, with Bernard Brogan kicking 0-8 for the Dubs, ably assisted by his (other) brother Paul, Eoghan O’Gara, and Kevin McMenamin.

A large crowd showed up to watch, many of them nostalgia junkies, desperate for their fix of an era when “football was done right”.

If people are willing to spend their time watching Brogan turn back the clock, or the Mayo footballers singing with the Saw Doctors, let them at it.

And why shouldn’t the counties get in on the action? HQ are, and the players certainly are.

Galway footballer Seán Fitzgerald faced the wrath of many an old-school pint man when he went on Love Island earlier this summer.

Fitzy chose to spend his summer in a gorgeous villa with a bunch of like-minded models and influencers.

Some suggested his shenanigans took away from the Galway footballers- who haven’t won an All-Ireland in 25 years.

It seems a bit harsh, God forbid the man tries to find love on national television.

ITV must have been utterly bemused by the demographics. Never before have so many Irish men tuned into the show.

But I do wonder if Monaghan GAA could be doing more to get eyeballs on the game.

Could we sanction Conor McManus to go on tour with the Harlem Globetrotters? Or get Andrea Bocelli to sing at St. Tiernach’s Park before an exhibition game between North and South Monaghan?

We could learn from our neighbours and try and break America. It could even become a legacy event. The Polo Grounds but.... but not really.

Get the class of 2013 back together, whip them into shape, and put them back in the public eye.

Time is money in showbiz - we won’t Live Forever.