For years, Finbarr Cullen was at the butt of sneers about his dedication to the Offaly football cause.
The decline following the All-Ireland win of 1982 had been sharp and, by the mid-90s, Offaly were an established Division Four team.
Cullen’s first three summers as an Offaly footballer ended with heavy defeats to Dublin, Meath and Kildare. An unheralded Wexford team beat them in Tullamore in 1994, they failed to score in the second half of another Meath trouncing the following year and Louth scored their first victory over them in 32 years in 1996.
