Tickets, suits and hype - Dublin and Kerry have seen it all

Ten days out now from the dream final. It's always a great buzz in the few days after an All-Ireland semi-final win. You'd be bouncing into training on the Tuesday afterwards, knowing you were winding up for the biggest game of the year.

I suppose it's no great secret that we've had ample experience of the All-Ireland final build-up in Mayo.

Typically in my career, there was a three- or four-week gap between semi-final and final, which back then gave a little more leeway for post semi-final celebrations (there was a four-week gap in 2021 as well for reasons we don't need to dwell on here...).

Certainly back in 2012 and 2013, we'd get a couple of days on the beer after a semi-final victory. Sure, why would you play if you can't enjoy it and celebrate success?

It was fairly new to our generation then and when you're young, it's all exciting. Even stuff like getting suits fitted was cool. We never wore suits (wisely, we didn't go down the cream-coloured route like Liverpool in the FA Cup final years ago). There'd be a big party planned afterwards, all the rest.

Managing the logistics and the extra trimmings that surround an All-Ireland final was always a challenge.

The tickets shenanigans was one headache. You'd have your allocation to dispense among family and friends. The one good aspect of the Covid final in 2020 - which was an eerie and weird experience in many respects - was that this was taken out of the equation.

Sure enough, you'd get these random texts from people you hadn't heard from in 12 months. 'Jaysus, you wouldn't keep me in mind for... etc, etc.' That b******t was always part and parcel of it. I tended to just to hand that responsibility onto friends and family members and from 2016 onwards, I had absolutely