The 2012 All-Ireland Football Championship final, the 125th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park, Dublin, on 23 September 2012. Donegal and Mayo, widely considered "one of the most novel final pairings of all time",[3][4][5] met to decide the destination of the Sam Maguire Cup, with Donegal ultimately emerging victorious as Mayo were yet again undone by "the curse".[6]
The match was screened live internationally, including in Australia, India, South Africa, Thailand, the United States, and elsewhere, while cinemas also showed the game.[12] More than a quarter of Ireland's population watched the match live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Online, the second highest audience in eight years.[13] Donegal's success spawned a controversial interview with Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show the following week, as well as the documentary Jimmy's Winnin' Matches—its title derived from the similarly named anthem that celebrated Donegal's 2012 Championship success.
Donegal progressed directly to the All-Ireland quarter finals after retaining the Ulster Senior Football Championship following victories against Cavan,[14]Derry,[15]Tyrone[16] and Down.[17] They defeated Kerry at this stage; it was the first Championship meeting between the sides at senior level. Kerry had been defeated at this stage only once before.[18] Donegal played Cork in the semi-finals. Cork were favourites to win both the match and the championship,[19] but Donegal reached the final following a 0–16 – 1–11 (14 points) victory. Tyrone's Mickey Harte, a BBC analyst that day, expressed his shock: "To be honest, I could not see that coming. Donegal annihilated Cork, there is no other word for it."[20]Martin McHugh, a member of the successful 1992 side, said it was the best ever performance by any Donegal team, including his own.[21]
Mayo defeated Leitrim[22] and Sligo[23] to win the Connacht Senior Football Championship and also progress directly to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. They then defeated Down to reach a semi-final against Dublin.[24][25] They went into the game as underdogs, but won on a 0–19 – 0–16 scoreline. It had the highest attendance of the season prior to the final (81,364).[26]
History
Donegal had not contested the final since their victory in 1992. Mayo last reached the final in 2006, although they had not won the championship since 1951[27] despite contesting the final five times. The two counties had never previously met in an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final; their only previous Championship meeting was a semi-final in 1992.
This was the first final between counties from the provinces of Connacht and Ulster since 1948.[28]
Pre-match
Player death
Andrew Duffy, a player on the Termon football team in Donegal, drowned in Dublin after watching Donegal defeat Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final.[29][30][31] He had only decided to stay in Dublin at the last-minute, to celebrate Donegal's victory.[32] More than one thousand people attended his funeral, including Donegal players Michael Murphy and Mark McHugh. Members of the Termon club paid tribute to him at the place of his death ahead of the final and a moment's silence was held in his memory before the game at Croke Park.[33] There would be further tributes after the final, particularly from the Donegal manager and players.[32]
Team selection
Two days before the final, Donegal announced that the same team that played Cork in the semi-final would start the final. Ryan Bradley had sufficiently recovered from his shoulder injury to be included, while Karl Lacey and Neil Gallagher had also overcome concerns.[34]
Mayo captain Andy Moran missed the final having ruptured his cruciate knee ligament in the quarter-final.[35] Mayo made one change to their team from the semi-final — Colm Boyle replaced Chris Barrett at half-back.[36]
Prior to the senior final, Dublin defeated Meath in the minor final, winning their first title since 1984.[37]
Match
Summary
First half
Donegal captain Michael Murphy scored a goal after 2 minutes and 25 seconds, having collected a high ball delivered by Karl Lacey. Championship Matters named it "Goal of the Championship".[38] After 10 minutes, Patrick McBrearty's attempt at scoring a point struck the post and the ball fell to Mayo's Kevin Keane. He dropped it into the path of Colm McFadden, who took advantage of the error to score Donegal's second goal.[39] McFadden was soon through on goal again, only for Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke to save on this occasion. Mayo scored their opening point, from a free, after 16 minutes. Colm McFadden scored 1–03 (6 points) for Donegal in the first half.[40]
Second half
After Michael Murphy fisted a point with eight minutes remaining, only narrowly missing the Mayo goal, photographers surrounded Donegal manager Jim McGuinness and his assistant Rory Gallagher.[41] Donegal led the entire game.[40] As referee Maurice Deegan blew the final whistle, Karl Lacey caught the ball and threw it into the crowd.[42] Mayo had lost their sixth consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, a run stretching back to 1989.[43]Mark McHugh ran to embrace his father Martin, who was on the sideline as a pundit for the BBC's television coverage. Martin burst into tears.[44][45] The emotional moment became one of the iconic images of the victory.[46] From Chicago to Dubai fans of the winning team celebrated.[47][48]
Liam O'Neill later revealed that Murphy, as they exchanged the trophy, had offered his condolences on the sudden death of his sister the previous day. He expressed his admiration for Murphy and called him an exceptional young captain.[49]
At the post-match press conference Jim McGuinness declined to answer questions until reporter Declan Bogue was ejected from the room. Bogue was responsible for the book This Is Our Year which resulted in Kevin Cassidy's expulsion from the Donegal panel in 2011. When Bogue was removed from the room McGuinness explained,
There was a book written. There were a lot of untruths in the book. There was a lot of things said about me. I've never broken court on it since the whole thing happened. I've held my dignity. I've let myself be castigated. And I done that because I gave somebody an agreement that I wouldn't break my court on it. There were a lot of things said in the book that were incorrect and untrue, some of it possibly lies about me personally and about some of my players. It was all-out attack for a couple of months on my character. I know what I've done, I know what I've coached, I know what I am as a person. And that's the situation. So I'm not going to let somebody sit in a room and fill their pages tomorrow on the back of what we done today when they in their wisdom degraded me as a person and some of my players.[50][51]
Awards
The official GAA man of the match was unveiled on RTÉ's The Sunday Game programme on the evening of the match. The winner was picked by a three-man panel of Martin McHugh, Kevin McStay and Ciarán Whelan with the award being presented to team captain Michael Murphy at the team reception in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. Also on the shortlist were Eamon McGee and Frank McGlynn.
Eight Donegal players were named on The Sunday Game Team of the Year—Paul Durcan, Neil McGee, Frank McGlynn, Karl Lacey, Mark McHugh, Neil Gallagher, Colm McFadden and Michael Murphy. Karl Lacey was given The Sunday Game Player of the Year Award.[52]
Michael Murphy was named September's GAA/GPA All-Stars Player of the Month.[53][54]
On 2 October 2012, twelve Donegal players were shortlisted for All Star Awards—compared to ten for Mayo, seven for Cork, six for Dublin and just one (Colm Cooper) for Kerry. Nomination for Footballer of the Year were from Donegal only—Karl Lacey, Colm McFadden and Frank McGlynn—, while Paddy McBrearty was nominated for Young Footballer of the Year, against Donal Keogan of Meath and Cillian O'Connor of Mayo.[55]
Scotland issued the following statement, "The Parliament congratulates County Donegal on winning the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, defeating what it considers was an impressive County Mayo team by 2–11 to 0–13 in front of a crowd of 82,000 at Croke Park in Dublin; congratulates coach Jim McGuinness and staff on ending a 20-year wait to take the Sam Maguire trophy back to the county, and notes that Jimmy is indeed "winning matches and bringing Sam back to Donegal again." A large number of curious Scottish parliamentarians signed a motion asking if they might be given the chance to catch a glimpse of the Sam Maguire Cup at the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly in March 2013.[59]
Homecoming
The homecoming events lasted throughout the following week, as the team embarked on a "World Tour of Donegal", that consisted of 40 different stops.[60] The team's arrival into Donegal on 24 September 2012 was broadcast live on RTÉ Online.
Jim McGuinness and Michael Murphy crossed the Border from Kesh into Pettigo at exactly 8 p.m. with thousands of people watching on, including children given the day off school.[63] The Donegal team arrived into The Diamond late on a wet and miserable evening where they met with a rousing reception from as many as 20,000 people.[64] McGuinness duetted with Daniel O'Donnell on "Destination Donegal" and star player Mark McHugh sang when he joined in on "Jimmy's Winning Matches".[65]
On 25 September 2012, the victorious Donegal team were scheduled to visit Letterkenny, Donegal's largest town, and nearby Glenswilly, the home club of All-Ireland-winning captain Michael Murphy—however, the Glenswilly visit was postponed due to time constraints which arose due to the huge crowds eager to catch a glimpse of the team.[66] They also did Bundoran, Ballyshannon, Mountcharles, Killybegs, Kilcar, Carrick, Ardara and Ballybofey on the same day.[67] Originally due to arrive in Letterkenny around 8 p.m., they hadn't even reached Ardara at 9 p.m. after being overwhelmed by thousands of fans throughout the county.[68] Such was the delay that the Donegal County Board had to dismiss rumours that the Letterkenny homecoming had been cancelled, and said it would go ahead "probably around midnight".[69] In the end it was nearly 1 a.m. when the team arrived into Letterkenny. Mayor Dessie Larkin used his own version of the famous alcoholic slogan, saying on stage: "Carlsberg don't do All-Irelands, but McGuinness does." Rory Gallagher finished the night with a rousing rendition of "Jimmy's Winning Matches".[70] The players looked like they were going to fall asleep after their exhausting day.[71]
On 27 September, the "World Tour of Donegal" concluded with stops at Carndonagh, Malin, Urris, Buncrana, and, eventually, the postponed visit to Glenswilly—the home club of All-Ireland-winning captain Michael Murphy.[74][75][76]
Tubridy interview
On 28 September 2012, manager and team appeared on The Late Late Show, the world's longest running chat show, hosted by Ryan Tubridy.[77] The "interview" was criticised by many—its shortness was contrasted with the full sit-down interview Tubridy conducted with Dublin the previous year—, with UTV broadcaster Adrian Logan calling it a "disgrace".[78]
Post-homecoming
Jim McGuinness vowed that the Sam Maguire Cup would be taken to every school in the county.[79]
RTÉ aired the documentary Jimmy's Winnin' Matches on Thursday, 3 January 2013 at 9.35 pm, concerning Donegal's Championship success.[85]
Mayor Cllr. Frank McBrearty Jnr and members of Donegal County Council honoured the Donegal Team and Management with a civic reception in the County House Lifford in February 2013.[86]
^Duggan, Keith (24 September 2012). "Sam heads for the hills as Donegal turn perceived football wisdom on its head". The Irish Times. In what was one of the most novel and highly anticipated All-Ireland finals for years, nothing turned out quite the way people thought it would. In the hours before the throw-in, the streets and pubs around the Jones's Road cathedral were heavy with expectation from both sets of supporters.
^"Donegal Topple Kerry to Set up Semi with Cork". 98FM. 5 August 2012. Karl Lacey's injury-time point booked a date with Cork for the Ulster champions, who handed Kerry only their second-ever All-Ireland quarter-final defeat.
^Hannigan, Mary (27 August 2012). "Donegal may be in a league of their own, but no it's not rugby". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2012. Over on BBC Northern Ireland they were no less befuddled... "Predictions?" asked Austin O'Callaghan. Jarlath [Burns of Armagh]: "Cork". Mickey [Harte of Tyrone]: "Cork". Paddy [Bradley of Derry]: "Cork". [...] Final whistle. "Well?" asked Austin, but his guests didn't really know where – or how – to start.
^"Dublin 0–16 Mayo 0–19". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
^"Time mayo did more than talk the talk". Irish Independent. 1 September 2012.
^Maguire, Stephen (31 August 2012). "Duffy funeral told Donegal win would honour memory". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2012. Among the 1,500 mourners at yesterday's funeral at St Columba's Church were Donegal GAA players Michael Murphy, Karl Lacey, Mark McHugh and Brendan Boyle. [...] Members of Mr Duffy's club Termon provided a guard of honour to and from the funeral Mass, as did a number of other clubs including Glenswilly and Gaoth Dobhair.
^"Dublin 0–14 Meath 1-05". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
^Roche, Frank (24 September 2012). "Dazzling Donegal's day". Evening Herald. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
^"Karl Lacey struggling to take in Donegal's All-Ireland triumph". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2012. "It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Lacey, who had the match ball in his hands when the final whistle was blown on Sunday at Croke Park.
^Foley, Alan (29 September 2012). "Jim's journey around Donegal was as much about the tragedies of the past as the glories of the present". Irish Examiner. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2012. Normally, the distance from the Burlington Hotel to Glenswilly is 260 kilometres or so – but this was no normal week in Donegal. Jim McGuinness said after the All-Ireland final that the journey home would be the best of their lives. So, at 11.35pm on Thursday night, the bus driven by Kevin McAnaney made its 40th and last stop after 867 kilometres to Michael Murphy's home ground.
^"Top broadcaster brands Donegal's interview on Late Late a "disgrace"". Donegal Daily. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012. ...[Logan] tweeted that RTÉ should forget about interviewing All-Ireland champions if this was the best they could do. He tweeted "Ryan Tubridy's so-called interview with Donegal was a disgrace. If that's the best he and RTÉ can do then forget about it". Many of Donegal's army of fans are outraged after their team's very brief appearance on RTÉ's Late Late Show... Fans have jammed social media sites complaining about the Donegal side's treatment.
^Duggan, Keith (29 September 2012). "Hills are alive as carnival of goodwill continues". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2012. The tour continued until Thursday evening. Last night, the Donegal side were due to appear on the Late Late Show and this weekend, they are involved in club championship games – the game between current county champions Glenswilly and Gweedore is the pick of the bunch.
^Bannon, Orla (5 October 2012). "Armagh board agrees to delay Donegal club clash". Irish Examiner. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2012. It's great to see an Ulster county win an All-Ireland and we certainly weren't going to do anything to upset the whole progress of the Donegal team, which we're all delighted about. But we're equally fond of the Donegal clubs and the Donegal players and their right to be represented in Ulster. So there was a little bit of leeway there, which was made because of the goodwill of Armagh.
