Parnell Park hosts the final of the Eirgrid U21 Football championship this Saturday. Tipperary and Tyrone (both slight underdogs heading into the semi-final) face off the final.
While Tipp, flush with minor success in recent times as they are, are new to this terrain, Tyrone have been down this road before. They ruled the U21 grade in the early 1990s and early 2000s. The bulk of the former team didn't end up winning Sam (with a few very notable exceptions) but the early 2000s side provided the backbone to the great Tyrone senior side of that decade.
Does U21 success lead onto senior success? We'll look at the winners since the turn of the millennium and find out.
Teams that built on U21 success
Tyrone (2000 - 2001)
A great U21 side that formed the spine of a great senior side. This team bequeathed an incredible inheritance to later generations of teams.
No fewer than eleven players who came through that vintage picked up All-Ireland senior titles for Tyrone later in the decade.
Writing down all the names is time-consuming but here goes: Pascal McConnell, Gavin Devlin, Ciarán Gourley, Cormac McAnallen, Kevin Hughes, Brian McGuigan, Stephen O'Neill, Owen Mulligan, Conor Gormley, Philip Jordan and Enda McGinley.
Cork 2007, 09
The Cork U21 winning sides of the late 2000s were festooned with senior stars from more recent seasons, particular the first success. While they are often maligned for their supposedly meagre haul of one All-Ireland from the modern era.
Mayo 2006
While this clique has yet to claim the ultimate prize, the U21 side of that year contained players who have become household names in the last few years.
Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins, Cathal Barrett, Tom Cunniffe, Colm Boyle, Seamus O’Shea, Barry Moran and Michael Conroy are started that day in Ennis.
It should be remembered that Aidan Kilcoyne, who has not featured at the business end of the championship in the past few years, hit 1-6 of Mayo's tally of 1-13.
Dublin 2010, 12
The Dub cubs have had even years all their own way at this grade. Many of the youngsters to come through this veritable machine have provided the engine and the exuberance behind the scintillating Dublin senior teams at senior level.
Teams that failed to transfer success onto senior level
Galway 2002, 05
Three members of Galway's 2002 All-Ireland U21 winning side did win senior All-Irelands. But they were all claimed the year before. Kieran Fitzgerald, Joe Bergin and Matthew Clancy had all been improbable run to the All-Ireland through the new-fangled back-door.
Since then, it has been a lean time at senior level. Galway continued to polish off the odd Connacht title throughout the 2000s but these failed to generate much excitement in the county.
Of Galway's even more swaggering 2005 class, who scored a barely believable 6-5 in the final against Down, the story is even more of a downer. The corner forward duo of Michael Meehan (who also won in 2002) and Sean Armstrong looked the terrible twins reincarnate as they both slammed hat-tricks that day. Galway appeared destined for more glory.
Sadly, both have now moved on having only claimed two more senior Connacht titles in the intervening period.
Dublin 2003
A grouping who were largely unfulfilled at senior level. Only Bryan Cullen and Alan Brogan soldiered long enough, enduring some very rough days along the way, to see Sam come back to the capital.
Their manager was even more unfulfilled. The team's victory that year reminds one of a time when Tommy Lyons was still flavour of the month.
Armagh 2004
A talented side who pipped Mayo to the title, they broadly failed to make good on their promise at senior level, though Armagh continued to thrive at provincial level for a few years and Aaron Kernan won Young Footballer of the year.
Kerry 2008
Kerry's U21 record in the modern era had been enlisted in the argument which said they were about to embark on a period in the (relative) wilderness. It's fair to say that this viewpoint has lost some momentum since last September.
However, the 2014 success owes little, at least in terms of playing personnel, to the 2008 U21 victory. Killian Young was already an established senior player while David Moran and Kieran O'Leary are the most impressive graduates.
See also: Who Is The Greatest U21 Football Team Of All Time - Vote Here
