‘The dream is realised’ for Mayo as fans gear up for historic homecoming

“The dream is realised” for Mayo fans as they prepare for a homecoming 75 years in the making, celebrating the county’s history-making Gaelic footballers.

Rain in Castlebar did not stop hundreds of fans donning red and green apparel of every variety from entering the MacHale Park stadium hours before the team was expected to arrive with the Sam Maguire cup.

The team’s dramatic triumph against Kerry in the men’s senior football final at Dublin’s Croke Park on Sunday finally ended one of sport’s most famous and long-running curses, sparking scenes of mass jubilation in Mayo.

Denise McMahon, from Ballina, one of the eager first cohort of fans, said they have been “waiting on Sam 75 years”.

“The panic is over now,” she said.

“We’ve done it, and we’re here, and we cannot wait for the bus to pull up and see the lads bring the Sam McGuire rightly back to Castlebar and Mayo.”

Repeated all-Ireland final losses down the years have seen the hopeful rallying cry of “Mayo for Sam” become part of the popular lexicon across Ireland – it was even chanted by former US president Joe Biden during a visit to his ancestral home county in 2023.

The myth of the curse ensured Sunday’s victory transcended Gaelic games and sent reverberations well beyond the island of Ireland.

Before Sunday’s remarkable scenes inside Croke Park, Mayo had not won the all-Ireland title in 75 years despite reaching the final 11 times since 1989.

The losses were put down to a myth that the 1951 winning team had not shown respect to a funeral they passed on their homecoming route.

It is said a relative of the dead person placed a curse on Mayo that the county would not win the Sam Maguire until every member of the 1951 team had died.

It was reported that the last