Every inter-county star's sporting journey begins with the club, rooted with their family, community and friends. For the Mayo quartet of Alan Dillon, Cillian O'Connor, Diarmuid O'Connor and Jason Gibbons, Ballintubber is their place and the club is rightly proud of their county men.

Ballintubber's emergence as a force to be reckoned with in Mayo club football at the start of the decade coincided with a resurgence in the county team's fortunes. Despite being consistently one of the top teams in the country since 2011, however, the Sam Maguire remains elusive.

On Sunday, the Mayo hordes will make the now familiar September pilgrimage to Croke Park in search of a first All-Ireland in 65 years. And there is every chance that three Ballintubber players will feature. Team captain Cillian O'Connor and his younger brother Diarmuid are certain starters, while veteran attacker Alan Dillon is also vying for a starting berth. Jason Gibbons would also be in the reckoning but for his season being interrupted by a serious shoulder injury he sustained in Mayo's shock Connacht SFC semi-final loss to Galway in June.

Cillian O'Connor of Ballintubber  ©INPHO/Donall Farmer

"We're very proud of the lads. They're a credit to their club and county," says Ballintubber coaching officer and former Mayo minor and U21 manager Tony Duffy.

"It's nice to think that the club has played some part in their development. It was football, football, football all the way with each of them when they were growing up. I'm not surprised to see them now playing at the highest level. They're really, really good clubmen who I'd fully expect to get involved with coaching our underage teams when they finish with Mayo. They're role models for the youngsters in the club.

"If there isn't county training at the same time, they're down in the pitch supporting their club-mates. I know from talking to Diarmuid that his proudest moment in football was winning a county championship with his three brothers in 2014. Maybe he'll be saying something different after the All-Ireland final - we'll have to wait and see!"

Having managed all four at various stages of their football careers, Tony knows them better than most. This is his first year since he hung up his boots in 2004 not to be involved in management. A Dublin SFC medallist with Ballyboden St. Enda's in 1995, he managed the Mayo minors for three years between 2010 and '12, winning a Connacht title in the first of those years. They lost the 2012 Connacht final to Roscommon, but bounced back to dethrone All-Ireland champions Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter-final before suffering a controversial defeat to Meath in the semi-final.

Ballintubber's Jason Gibbons lifts The Moclair Cup  ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

He subsequently managed the Mayo U21s in 2013 and Ballintubber in 2014 and '15, masterminding a clean sweep of Mayo senior championship, league, county cup and Michael Walsh league titles in '14.

"Alan was the first of the four lads I coached," the secondary school teacher remembers.

"I had him at U14 and U16 level and again at intermediate level in the early noughties. He was and still is a brilliant footballer with a great attitude. I would like nothing more than to see him win an All-Ireland medal on Sunday after all the disappointments he's had in the past (losing four All-Ireland senior finals, two All-Ireland minor and one All-Ireland U21). He fully deserves an All-Ireland medal at this stage.

"Cillian and Diarmuid O'Connor are both incredibly talented. I managed Cillian when he was a county minor and U21, and also during my two years as Ballintubber senior manager. It would be the stuff of dreams if he was to bring Sam back to Ballintubber. I brought Diarmuid onto the minor panel as an U16 in 2011 - he was that good. He won an All-Ireland minor medal in 2013 and an All-Ireland U21 earlier this year. All that's missing now is a senior. He emulated Cillian by winning the Young Footballer of the Year award last year and is only going to get better."

The Ballintubber team that contested the 2014 Connacht Club Senior Football Championship Final ©INPHO/James Crombie

Tony continues: "Jason Gibbons didn't play county minor, but played U21 under Ray Dempsey and isn't far off being a Mayo regular. He was a serious force at midfield for the club when we won our first senior championship in 2010. At times, he can be the best midfielder in Mayo."

Ballintubber enjoyed a meteoric rise at the end of the last decade to establish themselves as a major football power in Mayo. A rural club situated a few miles from Castlebar, they haven't looked back since beating Kiltimagh to capture intermediate honours and secure their ticket to the senior ranks.

"That was our breakthrough year. Jason Gibbons, Padraic and Ruaidhri O'Connor (Cillian and Diarmuid's older brothers), Alan Dillon and his brother Gary were all there. We went on to reach the Connacht intermediate final, only to lose to Moycullen of Galway," recalls Tony, who served as joint-manager with James Horan before taking the Mayo minor job in 2010.

"In our first year up senior, we lost the quarter-final to the eventual champions Ballaghaderreen after a replay. We made further progress in 2009 by reaching the semi-final. Then in 2010, with James in sole charge, we beat our neighbours Castlebar Mitchels to win the Moclair Cup for the very first time.

Ballintubber's Diarmuid O'Connor ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

"On the back of that success, James was appointed Mayo senior manager and Anthony McGarry replaced him. Under Anthony, we retained the senior championship in 2011 - defeating Castlebar again in the final - and also won the league. We lost the county final to Ballaghadereen in 2013, but made amends the following year by winning our third senior championship, once more at Castlebar's expense.

"We also won the league, county cup and Michael Walsh league and reached the AIB Connacht club final after beating St. Brigid's in the semi-final. Unfortunately, we lost the final to Corofin who went on to win the All-Ireland and were managed by Stephen Rochford (the current Mayo boss).

"Last year, we were beaten by an Aidan O'Shea-inspired Breaffy in the county semi-final. Hopefully we can put that right this year."

Ballintubber is in the same parish as Carnacon, which is famous for its ladies football team and the legendary Cora Staunton. The club has two pitches, the main one being Ray Prendergast Memorial Park. The other pitch is also used by the Carnacon ladies.

Tony sees his role as Ballintubber coaching officer as "trying to maximise the young talent that's available and keeping the production line going".

He concludes by saying: "We've won three senior championships in the last six years and would obviously like to win a few more. We have a five-year plan in place at underage level which we hope will lead to further success and as many players as possible continuing their playing careers into adulthood. While we compete mostly in the 'B' and 'C' underage grades, it hasn't been a barrier to us succeeding at senior level."

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