One hundred years ago this November Kerry won the All-Ireland senior football title for the first time with a 0-11 to 0-3 final victory over London at Jones's Road. The losing captain was one Sam Maguire. Now a century on we are marking a notable milestone - the 75th anniversary of the first time the Sam Maguire Cup was presented, to Kildare captain Bill Osquires Gannon following the 2-6 to 2-5 win over Cavan on September 30th, 1928. Maguire was born near Dunmanway in west Cork in 1879 and moved to London at the age of 20 to take up a position in the British civil service. He had not played any football in Ireland but was probably influenced by the fact that his local team, Doheny's, reached the 1897 All-Ireland final. In those early years club champions represented their county with the winners of the London championship getting a bye into the All-Ireland final. Maguire captained Hibernians in three title deciders but victory eluded them each time. After his playing career ended, Sam Maguire became a prominent GAA administrator and served as chairman of the London as well as becoming a trustee of Croke Park. Incidentally his vice-chairman was Liam McCarthy, who is commemorated by the All-Ireland hurling trophy. Maguire became a prominent figure in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and in 1909 he swore a young man from Clonakilty called Michael Collins, later to become one of the most influential men in Irish history, into the movement. Maguire rose to the rank of lieutenant general of the IRB and director of intelligence in Britain and was often jokingly called you bloody south of Ireland protestant by Collins. With Scotland Yard on his trail, Sam Maguire returned to Ireland in the early 1920s, living in Dublin for a while. Failing health forced him to return to west Cork and he died of tuberculosis on February 6th, 1927 at the age of 48. Shortly after his death a group of his friends formed a committee in Dublin to raise funds for a permanent commemoration of his name. They decided on a cup to be presented to the GAA. The cup cost 300 and was modelled on the Ardagh chalice. Kildare, were winning the All-Ireland title for the second year in succession in 1928 (it seems strange to imagine a cup not being presented after a final!) but remarkably they have not celebrated with Sam since. Kildare achieved a rare feat when winning the last final without a presentation and the first with one as they started the same 15 players in both deciders. One of the 15, wing forward Joe Curtis, came very close to not lining out in the 1928 final and the circumstances in which he did play were quite bizarre. Curtis was not selected for the game against Cavan because he broke three ribs in a collision with a goalpost during the semi-final against Cork and Peter Pringle was selected to take his place. However, shortly before the teams took the field a Cavan official went into the Kildare dressing room with an alleged picture of Pringle playing illegally in Laois. The accused player denied that such was true although rumours suggested that he attended a dance run by a hockey club which could have made him liable for suspension under the infamous ban rule. Anyway the Kildare selectors had Curtis ribs strapped up and he was given a baby Power before being sent on to the pitch! Those were the days before pain-killing injections. A Bill Mangan point near the end was the winning score but the main talking point was whether Paddy Loughlin s goal in the second half was hand passed or thrown to the net. Cavan hotly disputed the score and they had to wait a further five years before getting their hands on the Sam Maguire Cup. The cup was brought to Newbridge where it was put on display in a shop window. The celebrations ended early for captain Bill Gannon, who is said to have milked 14 cows that evening! When the Sam Maguire Cup was first played for, Kerry trailed Dublin in the roll of honour by seven titles to 14. But the Kingdom quickly set out about the task of redressing the balance. They lifted the new trophy for the first time in1929 with a final victory over Kildare and then also claimed it in each of the next three years. Kerry has lifted the coveted trophy 25 times to establish themselves as the ruling dynasty of Gaelic football. There has been a close tussle for second place on the Sam roll of honour with Dublin and Galway joint second with eight successes each and Meath next on seven. Joe Barrett became the first Kerryman to be presented with the Sam Maguire Cup in 1929 and three years later he became the first double winning captain when Mayo were defeated in the decider. It was Mayo s turn for outright glory in 1936 and another Connacht county, Roscommon, rejoiced with triumphs in 1943 and '44 with Jimmy Murray the inspiring leader both years. In 1942 Dublin lifted the trophy for the first time when bridging a gap of some 19 years.Cavan, Meath and Mayo were the dominant forces in the late 40s and early 50s. Cavan triumphed in 1947, 48 and '52 with the first of those being registered over Kerry in the famous Polo Grounds, New York final. The legendary John Joe O' Reilly led the Breffni County to that victory and to retain the title the following year. No captain has lifted the Sam Maguire Cup on more than two occasions and John Joe O' Reilly was denied a treble in1949 when Meath triumphed for the first time. Then in 1950 and 51 the great Mayo leader Sean Flanagan became the fourth double Sam recipient. Louth were a strong force in those years and their turn for All-Ireland glory arrived in 1957 with well-known singer Dermot O' Brien receiving the trophy after the victory over Cork. The 60s was a decade of change on many fronts and such was the case in Gaelic football with the mighty Down team emerging to become the first champions from the six counties. They scored a famous final success over Kerry in 1960 and retained the title the following year before adding another in 1968. Offaly had lost to Down in the 1961 decider but their patience was rewarded in 1971 when taking the title and the most coveted trophy in Irish sport for the first time. Kerry and Dublin dominated between 1974 and '86 and Tony Hanahoe became the fifth double winning captain when leading the Dubs to glory in 76 and 77. Meath returned to the top of the tree after 20 years in 1987 when Mick Lyons had the honour of being the last captain to be presented with the old Sam Maguire Cup. A shiny new trophy was brought out for the 1988 final and Meath prevailed again with Joe Cassells the first player to be presented with Sam Og. The 90s was a remarkable decade with three different Ulster counties triumphing in successive years. Down started the ball rolling in 1991, Donegal won on their first final appearance in 92, Derry were first time winners in 93 and Down claimed a fifth title in 95 to make it a remarkable five wins from the same number of final appearances. Twelve months ago Armagh became the 15th county to celebrate with Sam and the new back door system has paved the way for a first ever All-Ireland senior football final between two teams from the same province. Incidentally three counties, Limerick, Tipperary and Wexford, have won the title but never lifted the Sam Maguire Cup. The Sam Maguire Cup has been presented 75 times and the roll of honour (wins in brackets) is: Kerry (25), Dublin, Galway (8 each), Meath (7), Cavan, Down (5 each), Cork (4), Mayo, Offaly (3 each), Roscommon (2), Kildare, Louth, Donegal, Derry, Armagh (1 each). Tweet

Most Read Stories