HELPED DRIVE FAITHFUL COUNTY TO 1997 GLORY
qualify for their first provincial final in 14 years.
After beating Louth, the final was five weeks away but with three games required to separate Meath and Kildare, it was pushed back by another fortnight.
The fallout from the MeathKildare saga had left the All-Ireland champions seriously weakened with suspensions and injuries meaning that they were without their entire starting full-back line, as well as (right) key forward Graham Geraghty.
Offaly’s last stop en route to Croke Park on this day 25 years ago was Edenderry, where Cullen and his clubmates were picked up.
Fantastic
“We got a fantastic send-off in Edenderry that morning. The streets were thronged with people. Well-wishers.
“The send-off will live in the memory forever because people were willing us on to do well and genuinely wanted to see us doing well so that was special.”
Offaly preyed on Meath’s weaknesses and were 2-6 to 0-2 up early on.
A third goal in the second half sealed a famous eight-point win in which the full-forward line of Vinny Claffey, Roy Malone and Peter Brady contributed 3-8 from play.
“We went into the game in a brilliant position where there was absolutely no pressure on us,” adds Cullen.
“Absolutely no pressure and we just had to keep telling ourselves that and the management was telling us, the only pressure there was the pressure we put on ourselves.
“To go into a Leinster final knowing they had a few injuries, spirits were high, training was going really well.
“We got a lot of breaks leading up to it and on the day and we just took advantage of those breaks. Some teams don’t take advantage.”
Meath’s limitations aside, Offaly still played some sparkling football and the achievement in taking a side languishing in Division Four to provincial honours in a single season was a superb managerial feat on Lyons’s part.
They added the League title the following year and while Offaly remained highly competitive for a number of seasons, the fortune they enjoyed in 1997 deserted them thereafter.
There is no chance of a similar rags-to-riches story in today’s inter-county environment, Cullen believes.
The ground that Offaly covered under Lyons in a matter of months 25 years ago would, at the very least, take three seasons now.
Fitness
“No, it’s just not going to happen,” he says. “The gap is way too wide. Teams have years of work done now and it takes years to build up a fitness base, a culture, an ethos.
“For a county to get to that stage, the gap is way too big and takes way too long.
“You could mention a few counties there that will probably never win a Leinster football final.
“That’s the reality but that’s just the way football has gone. The bigger counties have pushed on and the smaller counties haven’t done so.”
The 1997 success remains Offaly’s only Leinster title in the last 40 years, though last year’s All-Ireland Under-20 win has raised expectations in the county again.
“You have to be positive and say something might happen, you need a break but I’m saying it more in hope because the gap is so big.
“Dublin’s pick is so vast and the resources are there whereas every other county seems to be struggling to get finances and to get organised for kit and for gear and pay for this and pay for that, so it’s hard going at the moment.
“I don’t envy county boards trying to raise money, raise funds to try and keep county teams afloat so there’s a huge amount of work going on there.
“I’m optimistic that Offaly can be more competitive. I’m not saying they’re going to win Leinster but they can definitely be more competitive in Leinster.”