All-Ireland final countdown: When Kerry became football’s brand leaders

1941 All-Ireland semi-final replay, Tralee

Kerry 2-9, Dublin 0-3

An All-Ireland semi-final replay might appear an obscure episode from the rich history of Dublin and Kerry but it had great significance. It was unusual for a couple of reasons. One, the match took place in Tralee after Kerry had been fortunate to draw the first day out, in Croke Park.

They were on the third leg of a three-in-a-row having won the All-Ireland in 1939 and ‘40. Dublin were still in the throes of the county’s longest All-Ireland famine, 19 years, which wouldn’t end for another season.

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By this stage the tendency in the early years of the GAA to spread semi-finals around the country was dying and the 1941 replay in Tralee would be the last played outside Croke Park until 1983 when Dublin memorably went to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to take on Cork in an All-Ireland semi-final replay.

Two, there was also a subtext to the match. Kerry had caught up with their rivals on the All-Ireland roll of honour and by this year, both had 14 titles. The lines on the graph would cross in 1941 when Kerry went on to win and although Dublin responded the following year, the county would never again nudge ahead of the new brand leaders.

A week later after the drawn semi-final, 17th August, there were 20,000 in Tralee for the replay and Dublin hadn’t the best preparation with half of the team deciding to overnight in Limerick and ending up arriving late after an interminable journey on one of the wartime turf-trains.

On the field, according to Pat’O in The Irish Times they were “outclassed” 2-9 to 0-3 and once Gega O’Connor scored a 20th-minute goal, it was “the beginning of the end”.

Corner back for Dublin was Peter O’Reilly, who went on to have a significant coaching career, effectively player-coach a year later when Galway were beaten in the All-Ireland final and trainer of the team that reached the 1955 All-Ireland against Kerry and that finally won the Sam Maguire in 1958.

The season ended happily for Kerry, who completed the three-in-a-row by defeating Galway 1-8 to 0-7.

Numbers game: 1

The difference between Kerry (8) and Dublin (7) in terms of All-Ireland final victories. Should Dublin regain the title on Sunday it will level the number of finals each for the first time since 1955.

Word of Mouth

“It wasn’t a scare, we knew it was going to be that way,” – Dublin manager Dessie Farrell goes all clairvoyant after Kildare ran his team to two points in the Leinster football semi-final – the closest-run thing the champions had experienced in the province for 12 years.

Kerry four warned

This year’s final marks an unusual sequence stretching back nearly 20 years. It is the fourth time that the counties have met in championship at a four-year interval. Four years ago the replayed 2019 final took place whereas the sequence continues in 2015 when Dublin last relieved Kerry of an All-Ireland title.

Go back another four years and it’s the breakthrough final of 2011, which was broken open by Kevin McManamon’s goal and decided by Stephen Cluxton’s injury-time free.

It takes another four years before Kerry find any relief from the sequencing in another tight match that didn’t go as happily for the Dublin goalkeeper, who turned over possession for a late Seán O’Sullivan score to restore a two-point lead.

Kerry made good the opportunity by going on to defeat Cork in the final.

Royal refereeing

David Gough’s appointment as referee for Sunday’s final maintains a strong tradition of Meath referees taking charge of this fixture at All-Ireland final stage. Gough himself took charge of his first All-Ireland in 2019, which ended in a draw, allowing Cork’s Conor Lane take then replay. Four years previously, another Meath ref, David Coldrick took charge of the 2015 final between the counties and 30 years previously, Paddy Cavanagh officiated between the same pairing.

So, four of the past five Kerry-Dublin finals have had a Meath referee appointed – good going given that in history, just five All-Ireland referees have been from the county. The other two are well-known. Captain of the 1954 All-Ireland winners, Peter McDermott, took charge of the 1956 final between Galway and Cork whereas back in 1894, former GAA general secretary Dick Blake officiated at the Dublin-Cork final.