Sunday, September 22, 2002 is a day that will live long in the collective memory of Armagh fans across the country.
Now, 20 years on, their remarkable journey from Championship also-rans to All-Ireland Senior Football champions is recalled in ‘Kings for a Day’ - a new book by RTÉ and Gaelic Life journalist Niall McCoy.
It charts the rise of the Orchard County from the late 90s through their glory years to the end of Joe Kernan’s tenure at the end of the 2007 campaign.
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While the book centres on Armagh’s victory over Kerry in the 2002 decider, it is also peppered with moments of heartbreak as their host of near-misses are revisited as well as the glory days.
“I’ve had the notion of doing a book for a long time - pretty much since I started journalism,” said McCoy.
“I started thinking about ideas, but nothing really jumped out. I then looked at the dates and it was approaching the 20-year anniversary of Armagh's All-Ireland and it is something I have a real passion about.
“Everything came together well. It was an enjoyable experience to relive.
“I was at all of those matches and I followed the team. I remember going to Division Two and Division Three games in the early 90s when Armagh weren’t going so well, but that’s all we knew.
“At the weekend, we just jumped in the car and headed off to an Armagh match.
“The book covers 1997 to 2007 and is centred on 2002 and it charts the story on the rise of that team with Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan and then with Joe (Kernan) taking over.
“The years after 2002, it wasn’t so much the fall of the team as they won plenty after that, but I suppose that team came to its natural end after the 2007 season when Joe Kernan stepped down.
“A lot of that team were still playing when Armagh won Ulster in 2008, but the defeat to Derry in 2007 felt like the end of that era.”
McCoy began the project last year and, with some help and inspiration from his former colleague Neil Loughran (The Irish News), he submitted the finished work in January of this year.
Armagh’s 2002 success has been well-documented, but McCoy’s book delves deeper into the backstory and shines a light on some characters whose stories aren’t as well-known.
“It is a collection of interviews with people whose stories are intertwined. I can’t remember how many different Armagh people I spoke to in the end,” said McCoy.
“Some of their stories are known, but others aren’t so well documented.
“I spoke with Shane Smith from Annaghmore who was number 30 on the Armagh panel in 2002.
"He was a sub who didn’t play a single minute with Armagh that season - not even in the League. He only had one year on the panel too - he was dropped for 2003!
“There’s a famous scene when the full-time whistle goes against Kerry, there is a man in a Down jersey and he is the first man onto the pitch at Croke Park.
“I tracked him down via social media and got his perspective.
“I obviously touch on the Crossmaglen story and the Troubles, but also the Mullaghbawn story. If you look at the pre-match parade in 2002, the first four players for Armagh were from Mullaghbawn - McGeeney, Benny Tierney and Enda and Justin McNulty. They had a huge impact on that 2002 team.”
While the temptation for the author would have been to halt the book at the end of 2002, there were more twists and turns to come - not least the dramatic all-Ulster, All-Ireland final the following year when Tyrone annexed the title from their rivals.
He added: “On the 2003 final, we covered the Philip Jordan and Diarmaid Marsden incident.
“Your view on that incident probably comes down to whether you are a Tyrone or an Armagh fan.
“Diarmaid Marsden was very kind and gave me an interview. It is an Armagh book, but it was only fair that Philip had his say. I didn’t expect him to get back to me, but I really appreciate the fact that he did.
“That’s the thing about the book. A lot of it is about moments of heartbreak. It is centred on a triumphant story, but that Armagh story is littered with heartbreak.
“You think of Ger Reid’s red card against Meath in 99, Barry O’Hagan against Kerry in 2000 when his shot dropped short. In 2001, Justin McNulty getting blocked down, 2003 the Jordan incident, 2005 Joe taking off McGeeney against Tyrone.
“There are a lot of standout moments in those seasons and several of them didn’t end well for Armagh.
“It wasn’t easy for all those players to talk about those moments, but it isn’t an easy story- Armagh endured plenty of bad days too.
“It is almost reminiscent of the Mayo story with the difference being, in one year in 2002, the stars aligned and everything came together.”
Armagh are renowned for bringing a large and colourful support wherever they play, but their fans have endured plenty of heartache as well.
By the time they reached the 2002 final, Armagh had already been beaten in the 1953 final to Kerry and the 1977 decider to Dublin back when Kernan was a player himself.
Armagh missed penalties in both games with Bill McCorry (1953) and Paddy Moriarty (1977) spurring chances in the respective finals.
Even the most ardent fans had their patience and loyalty tested by an Armagh team who hit the crossbar time and time again.
In 1999, 2000 and again in 2001, Armagh were defeated by the team who would go on to lift the Sam Maguire - Meath, Kerry and Galway.
Some questioned whether the county would ever reach the holy grail.
McCoy’s book opens with a verse dubbed ‘Unscrewing the Cap’ and the cap in question is on a 12-year bottle of Jameson Redbreast whiskey placed behind the bar at McKeever’s in Portadown in before the All-Ireland final in 1977.
‘The whiskey, their victory dance, sat patiently as the days counted down to the team’s game against the mighty Dublin.
‘However, those Sam Maguire dreams would again be shattered.
'Paddy Moriarty joined McCorry in missing an All-Ireland final penalty for Armagh, but that error mattered little as Dublin steamrolled the Ulster champions.
‘The whiskey wouldn’t be opened to provide solace. ‘Leave it until we do win the All-Ireland; it’ll not be long.’ Next season maybe.
‘Back into the shadows the bottle went, waiting, almost forgotten, regulars wondering would its contents ever be poured and savoured as they should. As the years – the decades – went by, the bottle’s dust cover grew thick.
‘On Tuesday, 24 September 2002, two days after Oisín McConville had joined McCorry and Moriarty in missing a penalty for the Orchard County in the All-Ireland final, the Armagh squad were handed a glass each. The dust was blown off the whiskey bottle; the cap was unscrewed.’
The celebrations that followed their historic All-Ireland triumph are something that fans throughout Armagh will savour for life. The McCoy family is no different in that regard.
“There are maybe people who lived in 1953 and 1977 and thought they’d never see Armagh win an All-Ireland. In the 1990s, we seemed as far away as any team from winning an All-Ireland,” added McCoy.
“I’m forever grateful that one of the photos we have in our house is of my grandparents with the Sam Maguire and that means a lot to me.
“They toured in the county with the cup in 2002 and households throughout Armagh will have photos with relatives with the cup and maybe those people aren’t alive now and those photos are a great source of comfort.
“Whatever happens or regardless of how many All-Irelands they won or could have won, those memories will live on.”
McCoy insists he has no plans for a sequel, although he feels the current crop of Armagh players have what it takes to clinch the Sam Maguire once again.
“I genuinely do think the current team can add a second All-Ireland in the next couple of years purely because there’s not that many outstanding teams out there at the moment,” added the Dromintee native.
“It will take a bit of luck. At some point during this season, I thought I might have to add another chapter!
“You could have easily had a Kerry versus Armagh final again 20 years on. Armagh were very unlucky, albeit Galway were the better team on the day. Penalties are a lottery and Armagh were very close to facing Derry in the semi-final, which would have been a 50/50 game.
“When the McKenna Cup comes around next year, you’ll have fans there who are now Armagh supporters for life after those few weeks in the summer of 2022.”
While a new generation of Armagh fans can dream of further All-Ireland success, the iconic 2002 team will forever be able to say they brought Sam Maguire to the county first.
‘Kings of a Day’ by Niall McCoy, published by The O’Brien Press is in bookshops on October 3, priced €19.99/£17.99.
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