D9: Dublin trio chasing history-making ninth All-Ireland title

As Kerry returned to Tralee in 1986 after their latest All-Ireland triumph, a man in the crowd opined on what made the Kingdom so special when it came to the All-Ireland championship - "the secret is, you couldn't satisfy us".

The evidence was irrefutable. Mick O’Dwyer had just managed them to their 30th Sam Maguire success and a seventh in nine seasons. Kings of the sport.

That '86 final was notable for a few reasons. Firstly, it would be the last time the original Sam Maguire Cup, first presented in 1928 to Kildare, would be played for with a new replica to be used from the following season.

Future GAA President Seán Kelly, then chair of East Kerry, told the throngs in Tralee to bring their holy water with them the next year so they could baptise the new cup. Incredibly, it would take another 11 years before the new trophy paid a visit to Tralee.

That 2-15 to 1-10 defeat of Tyrone in ‘86 also saw the birth of ‘The Famous Five’ as a quintet of players were crowned All-Ireland champions for an eighth time.

The names - Sheehy, ‘Ogie’, Spillane, Páidí and Power – belong in the pantheon of greats, passed down to future generations with tales of their heroic exploits. Pat Spillane and Mike Sheehy would be named on the GAA’s Team of the Millenium some years later.

Signing off on their match report from Croke Park, the Kerryman newspaper scribed "we shall never see their likes again".

Few - none in fact - would have argued, but it took just 34 years for the statement to be rendered false with seven Dublin players joining that particular roll of honour after their 2020 Covid final win over Mayo in the depths of winter. The first win, in 2011, came on the same day that Kerry's 1986 team was honoured as that season's jubilee team - a