Pat Spillane Points To Mayo’s All-Ireland Win To Expose Flaw In Hooter Rule

Pat Spillane has called for the GAA to restore the 2025 hooter rule, arguing that the closing moments of Mayo’s All-Ireland final victory over Kerry exposed what has been lost under the current system.

Under the version introduced with the new football rules in 2025, play continued after the hooter until the ball went dead.

That was changed for 2026. Aside from a free being taken or the ball already being in flight, the hooter now brings the game to an immediate end.

Writing in his Sunday Independent column, Spillane said the previous rule created the possibility of one final passage in which a match could still be won or lost.

He pointed to the closing stages of this year’s All-Ireland final as the clearest example.

Pat Spillane Points To Mayo’s All-Ireland Win To Expose Flaw In Hooter Rule

Tommy Conroy fisted over to move Mayo three points clear, before Kerry regained possession from the resulting kick-out. The hooter sounded shortly after and Mayo’s 1-20 to 1-17 victory was confirmed.

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Under the 2025 rule, however, Kerry would have been allowed one last attack and would have needed a goal to keep their hopes alive.

Mayo supporters would have been on tenterhooks. Kerry would have been charging forward desperately seeking a goal. Every pass, every tackle, every bounce of the ball would have mattered.

What excitement. What drama. Instead, the game simply stopped.

Pat Spillane also wondered whether Conroy, knowing Kerry would still receive another opportunity, might have attempted to find Kobe McDonald across the square for a goal rather than taking the point.

The eight-time All-Ireland winner believes the GAA reacted to the wrong problem when changing the rule after Kerry’s win over Donegal in the 2025 final.

Late in the first half that day, Kerry retained possession until the hooter sounded before eventually working the ball to David Clifford, who kicked a two-pointer.

While that passage attracted criticism, Spillane argued that Kerry were entirely entitled to use the time available to them. In his view, Donegal’s decision to sit in a low block and decline to press the ball created the spectacle that prompted the subsequent rule change.

Spillane described the change as a “knee-jerk reaction” to Donegal’s approach and questioned whether it would ever have happened had Andy Moran’s Mayo been Kerry’s opponents that afternoon.

He believes Mayo would have pushed up and tried to force a turnover rather than allowing Kerry to control possession unchallenged.

Spillane wants Kevin McStay’s Expert Advisory Group to place the hooter back on its agenda and restore the rule used during the 2025 season.

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