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 passing of the torch that nobody realised was even happening.

Stephen Cluxton, Michael Fitzsimons, Philly McMahon, Kevin McManamon, James McCarthy, Cian O'Sullivan and Michael Darragh MacAuley became ‘The Super Seven' three years ago.

Five of the seven would step away soon after, before Cluxton performed a shocking – but totally in character – U-turn, leaving three players on the brink of GAA history at Croke Park on Sunday.

Forty years on from ‘The Dirty Dozen’ final, if Dublin beat Kerry then we could have ‘The Terrific Three’ as Cluxton, Fitzsimons and McCarthy would become the first players in history to win nine All-Ireland men’s titles. That would leave them level with Galway on the roll of honour and with just Dublin – literally impossible – and Kerry to hunt down.

Here we profile the trio and how their careers have panned out:

Stephen Cluxton

Age: 41

Club: Parnell’s

Championship debut: 2001 v Longford

All-Ireland wins: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

All-Stars: 6

"This does not say a lot for the rest of the senior club goalkeepers in Dublin."

You’d be mistaken for thinking this quote originated from the discourse surrounding Stephen Cluxton’s shock return to the Dublin panel in March this year, but it’s actually from former player Keith Barr writing in May 2001.

He was reacting to the fact that John O’Leary, part of Tommy Carr’s Dublin management team at the time, had been added to the Dublin bench for their Leinster opener against Longford despite turning 40. That was because regular goalkeeper Davy Byrne had picked up an injury.

O’Leary, four years after retiring, was back to keep watch in case something went wrong with their debutant goalkeeper – a certain youngster by the name of Stephen Cluxton.

Fast-forward 22 years and there’s been a real sense of déjà vu with Cluxton reversing roles.

His return four months ago was typically low-key, jogging out unannounced for their Division 2 clash with Louth at Croke Park.

David O'Hanlon stayed between the sticks though, where he was for their league final win over Derry at Croke Park and the Leinster opener against Laois.

It became a topic of hot debate on the RTÉ GAA podcast.

"What reason would Dessie have for dropping David O'Hanlon at the minute?" Peter Canavan asked, seeing no real chance of Cluxton returning to the starting team.

But he did, Dessie Farrell giving him the nod for the Leinster semi-final against Kildare and he’s remained in situ since, the player kissing the badge on his chest when walking to the Hill ahead of their provincial final win over Louth.

Cluxton has yet to concede a goal on his seven championship games since returning. Indeed, the last player to raise a green flag against him was Killian Spillane in the drawn 2019 All-Ireland final against Kerry.

Kick-outs haven’t been flawless but not far off and notable mistakes have been limited to one fumbled ball against Monaghan last time out that fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, bounced out for a 45 rather than into the net.

For a time it seemed like Cluxton may never get his hands on an All-Ireland medal. He was in his 11th season when Dublin faced up to Kerry in 2011 and was 29 years of age. A few months out from his 30th and with a lot of miles on the clock, that narrative may have gathered pace if they had lost to the Kingdom that September afternoon.

They didn’t. Cluxton struck the winner from a free and the greatest goalkeeper the game has ever witnessed kick-started the golden era of the greatest team the game has ever witnessed.

Michael Fitzsimons

Age: 34

Club: Cuala

Championship debut: 2010 v Wexford

All-Ireland wins: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

All-Stars: 3

Once asked for his sporting hero when he growing up, Michael Fitzsimons settled on Davor Šuker - the former Croatian soccer player who was one of the most feared strikers on the planet in the 1990s.

It may seem an odd choice, but the pair do share attributes. Šuker didn’t have the pace of a Ronaldo or the heading ability of a Kluivert, so much of his game was centred around anticipation and timing.

Anyone watching Fitzsimons’ performance against Monaghan in the semi-final can attest to that. In the 23rd minute, Conor McManus’ strength enabled him to manoeuvre his opponent out of the way and he was through to kick what seemed an inevitable point. Fitzsimons, however, sprinted back and with expert timing, dived in to divert the ball away.

Their duel was the highlight of the game. McManus had a stormer, but on a number of occasions the Dublin man defended brilliantly. He is a real crown jewel in Dessie Farrell’s backline.

Back in 2019, Aidan O’Rourke, formerly of this parish and a hard man to please when it comes to defending, used much of his weekly coaching column to praise the player for his performance in the All-Ireland final replay win over Kerry.

"Standing head and shoulders above everyone in leading Dublin's resistance is Mick Fitzsimons – the most complete defender in the game at the moment and, for me, the footballer of the year," he said.

"Fitzsimons’ footwork and changes of direction are not only scarily quick but also instinctively perfect to close off space and take options away from an attacker."

That instinct may be different to Šuker in terms of both sport and position, but such quality is manna from heaven for a manager.

Fitzsimons played plenty of hurling growing up down by the Bay with Cuala, and given their reputation for the camán, his career easily could have veered that way, especially after failing to make the Dublin minor squad. Heck, in his second year of minor football with Cuala he started the season as a substitute until somebody had the idea to try him at corner-back.

Things flourished from there, obviously, and after success with the Dublin juniors and then the U21s, he has become a bedrock of the senior team’s defence.

The Dublin career has certainly flourished since his first few championship appearances too. His 2010 debut against Wexford saw Paul Curran describe the first-half action as "without doubt the worst 35 minutes I have seen from any Dublin team" as Pat Gilroy’s side snuck through after extra-time. In the semi-final, they conceded five goals against Meath with Cian Ward giving him a difficult time of it.

From the following season through to this weekend though, Dublin have lost just four championship games, semi-final defeats to Mayo in 2012 and 2021, Donegal in 2014 and Kerry in 2022.

Fitzsimons is a major reason for that.

James McCarthy

Age: 33

Club: Ballymun

Championship debut: 2011 v Laois

All-Ireland wins: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

All-Stars: 4

"Startled earwigs", Pat Gilroy was less than a year into the job when he realised that the Dublin panel was full of them.

Looking shell-shocked in the corridors of Croke Park, he uttered that famous phrase that found its way into GAA folklore minutes after Kerry had absolutely humiliated Dublin in a 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final.

After that 17-point loss, Gilroy decided the team needed steel and he would dig deep into Jim Gavin’s Under-21 side that claimed the All-Ireland title the following season.

Only eight players who started in that Kerry drubbing were in the first 15 for the Sam Maguire triumph against the same opposition two years later. From Gavin’s U21 side, James McCarthy and Rory O’Carroll quickly became starters. Dean Rock and Jonny Cooper wouldn’t have long to wait either even if it was under Gavin that they earned starting spots in the senior side.

No startled earwigs there, just young, hungry players with a taste for success and the steel to match, something McCarthy has proven more than any other.

While in 2009 Dublin players hid when things were going wrong, McCarthy is possibly the game’s greatest go-to man for shifting momentum and driving the side on. He was doing it as recently as this year’s semi-final, taking the game by the scruff of the neck in the final quarter alongside Brian Fenton as a sticky Monaghan pushed hard for a shock and had drawn level with 10 minutes remaining.

The 2011 final didn’t actually go to plan for McCarthy. He struggled when going up against Kieran Donaghy for a few kick-outs and found Donnchadh Walsh too hot to handle at times, but he still earned a Young Player of the Year nomination.

By 2013 he was coming alive in the second half against Mayo as the game was there to be won and his driving runs were a key asset as he claimed a third Celtic Cross in 2015.

He’d collect All-Stars in three of the other five title-winning seasons – 2017, 2018 and 2020 – and looks nailed on for another this term.

A warrior, a combatant, a champion – that steel that Kerry must try and break through. Few have penetrated it before.

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