Some years it has seemed like it was meant to be. Teams looked strong all year and convinced themselves that victory was their destiny only to see the whole thing turn sour at the final hurdle. Here is our ranking of the 15 Most Heartbreaking Seasons in GAA History.
15. Wexford 1993
Wexford seemed to draw 80% of their matches this year. They had Cork beaten in the first replay of the League final but John O Connor missing a simple free to win the game with the last puck. A Ger Cunningham masterclass in goal helped Cork to victory in the 2nd replay. They had Kilkenny beaten in the Leinster final but Eamon Morrissey whipped over a last minute point.
14. Kilkenny 1999
Heartbreak is not often associated with the Kilkenny hurlers but they went through a virtual famine in the latter half of the 1990s. 7 whole years without is a catastrophe. They had been beaten by Offaly in the 1998 All-Ireland final and so, working on the (rather flinty) 'you've got to lose one to win one' principle, they believed 1999 was their year. DJ had his most disastrous All-Ireland day, and in the driving rain, they were pipped late by a Cork team comprised largely of actual midgets.
13. Sligo 2010
Possibly the only year that a team had beaten both Galway and Mayo in Connacht and failed to win a provincial title. Sligo didn't handle the mantle of being heavy favourites for a Connacht final especially well. Roscommon nipped in and won one of their semi-regular provincial titles. Sligo supporters could barely believe they hadn't won the title.
12. Mayo 2004
Liam McHale was back as a selector with Mayo in '04. Mayo had swaggered through Connacht, finishing off the John O'Mahony Galway team in Castlebar and doing their usual thing and knocking out the All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the quarter final. The final against Kerry they vwent into with optimism. McHale fancied Alan Dillon to nail a goal early on and told his wife to throw money on it.
The day couldn't have started any better. Dillon rounded Murphy and slotted home. McHale had money in the bank and Mayo looked to be on their way. Then Kerry started reeling off points. And more points. And then Cooper slipped home a goal. The game was over entering the 4th quarter. A deflating defeat. And McHale's wife forgot to place the bet.
11. Limerick 1996
Limerick were beaten by a point in a drab, ill-tempered, and low scoring final, their second All-Ireland defeat in three years. Limerick had great days in 1996 and the final defeat doesn't seem to occupy the same horrific place in the Limerick pysche as their loss two years earlier, but it was still a 2nd All-Ireland final loss for that side.
10. Tyrone 1986
This was how it used to go for Northern sides in the old days (with the odd exception of Down). Tyrone had an aging Kerry beaten in the All-Ireland final of 1986. They led by 7 points halfway through the 2nd half. Eugene McKenna had a penalty which would have pushed their lead out to 9 points but he decided to clip the ball over the bar. Kerry kicked back ruthlessly. An astonishing blitz late on saw turn a 7 point deficit into an 8 point victory with goals from Pat Spillane and Mikey Sheehy.
9. Mayo 2006
So far but yet so far. Not so much heartbreaking in the agonisingly close sense, more in the sustained humiliation of it all. After their bad defeat to Kerry in the final two years before, Mayo supporters could hardly believe they were witnessing the same shit all over again. Except this time it was worse. A grinding, spirit crushing defeat.
8. Waterford 2007
Waterford were in scintillating form in 2007. They beat Cork twice (Cork actually lost three games in that championship), tore through Limerick in extra time of the Munster final and were hot favourites to reach the All-Ireland final. In a blistering game, Limerick surprised them and reached the All-Ireland.
7. Galway 1983
When Ciaran Duff became the 3rd Dublin man sent to the line early in the 2nd half, Galway surely thought the All-Ireland was theirs. It wasn't. Dublin hung on grimly as Galway fumbled and panicked badly. It finished 1-10 to 1-8.
The loss remains the most humiliating in Galway football history. The wilderness years followed shortly afterwards. Galway's Johnny Hughes, a multiple All-Star winner in the 1970s, suffered his 3rd All-Ireland final defeat that day in his last match for the county. Said later on, it took him a couple of years to be fully all-right after that.
6. Kildare 1998
Kildare GAA is just one big general heartache but this was possibly the worst. Their supporters were probably guilty of talking themselves up in 1998 to the point where they became nearly unbackable favourites. They crashed to earth with a thud and were flattered to only lose by 4 points to Galway.
5. Waterford 2008
After years of semi-final defeats, Waterford finally reached the All-Ireland final after a surprise win over Tipp in the '08 semi-final. "Would we have been better not to have got there? A match that lads had given their life for, sacraficed a lot for, and it was just the worst experience you could ever have" - Paul Flynn
4. Mayo 1996
The 1996 final is often portrayed as the sporting equivalent of Bambi's Mum dying. The romantic, free flowing, slightly naive Westerners looked to have victory in their grasp but they were reeled in and then pipped in a sour, bad tempered replay by the then pantomime villains of Gaelic football.
3. Mayo 2013
While 1996 was tough, Mayo supporters seemed to have taken this one harder. More than any other final appearance, Mayo supporters talked themselves into believing this was their year.
2. Louth 2010
This was too much for them to take. Louth had the Leinster title wrapped up. A mixture of their own jitters (the full back should have caught the ball in fairness) and Joe Sheridan's nose for a "perfect goal" denied them. It was all there for them but they succumbed to the pantomime villains of Gaelic football.
1. Limerick 1994
Limerick hurling people are almost physically incapable of referring to All-Ireland final of that year. The game has been subject to the usual mythical "sure didn't Limerick people leave the ground thinking they were All-Ireland champions" stories (who would leave a match when their team was about to win. Surely Offaly supporters would have been leaving). But the game was won. They led by 5 with a few minutes left...
