{"id":544244,"date":"2026-07-11T09:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T09:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/544244\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T09:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T09:33:13","slug":"rock-bottom-to-genuine-contenders-louths-glorious-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/544244\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock-bottom to genuine contenders: Louth’s glorious rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s 2021 and the vaccines for the Covid-19 virus were being distributed at a pace.<\/p>\n

We still weren’t out of the woods but a return to normality was on its way. The GAA played its part in the normalisation process, with Croke Park half-full for the All-Ireland finals which took place in August\/September.<\/p>\n

Before all that a truncated league series was played out on a regional basis. And it was that campaign where Louth footballers were getting accustomed to life under Mickey Harte.<\/p>\n

After Harte ended his long tenure with Tyrone, then Louth chairperson and former manager Peter Fitzpatrick wasted no time in contacting the three-time All-Ireland-winning boss.<\/p>\n

Harte was prompt in accepting the new challenge.<\/p>\n

“I wanted a top man managing Louth and we have that now,” Fitzpatrick told RT\u00c9 Sport upon the appointment.<\/p>\n

Antrim, Leitrim and Sligo were Louth’s opponents in the bottom tier in the 2021 league. Promotion was expected. It was delivered.<\/p>\n

\"Louth
\nPeter Fitzpatrick at Croke Park in 2023<\/p>\n

The race for Sam Maguire reverted to a pre-2001 scenario; the back door never opened that year. Louth’s campaign ended with a preliminary round defeat to Offaly in Leinster. And at the end if it all it was Tyrone who claimed the big prize, defeating Mayo in the decider. Victory was for the underdogs on the day as the Green and Red faithful were again casting sorrowful gazes at the walls of their house of pain.<\/p>\n

Mayo were used to dining at the top table, desperately wanting to sit in the big chair. Just the three All-Irelands to their name, placing them alongside Offaly and…..Louth, whose last win came in 1957, in the roll of honour. The Wee County have a tradition, maybe not as storied as their Connacht rivals, but a tradition nonetheless in a geographic boundary consisting of two large towns – Dundalk and Drogheda – where the garrison game has a firm grip.<\/p>\n

Five years on and it is time to get the thoughts of Fitzpatrick again, who, while being a fan of Dundalk FC, firmly believes that “Louth was always a GAA county”.<\/p>\n

\"Mickey
\nMickey Harte and Gavin Devlin arrive at the Geraldines Club in Haggardstown ahead of Louth’s league meeting with Antrim in 2021<\/p>\n

His masterplan for the Louth football has reaped notable dividends. After Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin came Ger Brennan, who delivered a first Leinster title for the county in 68 years. Now Devlin is at the helm and on Saturday evening will oversee Louth in an All-Ireland semi-final. Mayo will provide the opposition.<\/p>\n

A pairing that was unthinkable in 2021; All-Ireland contenders and the basement dwellers. So a nice symmetry to things ahead of the last-four encounter at Croke Park.<\/p>\n

Louth’s rise has been steady, helped by Under-20 and minor success, and their seniors getting experience of playing for Sam Maguire. They are also well used to lining out in Croker on the big days.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick is taking satisfaction that the plan that he initiated has come together. It was a blueprint where all the stakeholders are now pulling together but that wasn’t always the case, says the man who came so close to bringing silverware to the county in 2010.<\/p>\n

“Louth have always have had good players but those good players didn’t always play for Louth”<\/p>\n

That Meath ‘goal’ down at the Davin End and the confusion and chaos that followed!<\/p>\n

“Louth have always have had good players but those good players didn’t always play for Louth,” Fitzpatrick remarked.<\/p>\n

“Back in the 80s and 90s we had an opportunity to get Mick O’Dwyer in, to get Joe Kernan in, and we didn’t do it. We were in Division 4 when I became chairperson of the county board. In 2020, Louth were at rock-bottom, things were really, really bad. I wanted to change the mentality of the whole set-up in the county. For years and years we lacked ambition.”<\/p>\n

And then came that phone call to Mickey Harte. The start of a reawakening, with the now former Red Hand boss promising an exciting addition to his planned backroom team.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick recalled that initial face-to-face meeting with Harte, saying: “I met him and he told me ‘I’m coming and I’m taking another individual with me. This man is the best coach in the country’.<\/p>\n

“That man was Gavin Devlin. I wouldn’t have known much about him but the work that Mickey and Gavin done for the next three years in getting us up to Division 2 and then getting us to a Leinster final was the makings of the Louth team.<\/p>\n

“We got in ex-players to start coaching underage teams and to give them squads the respect they deserve.”<\/p>\n

Harte and Devlin then headed north to Derry. And Fitzpatrick endured a nerve-wracking 24 hours as to who to turn to next.<\/p>\n

“I rang Jim Gavin and I rang Pat Gilroy and the name that kept popping up was Ger Brennan,” he recalled.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nDelight for Ger Brennan after leading Louth to Leinster glory<\/p>\n

“At the time he was thinking of going for the Laois job but we had a chat and he came on board. He was the man that would bring us that long-awaited Leinster title. The passion and belief that he instilled really rubbed off on the squad. Winning the Delaney Cup caught the imagination of the whole county at a time when our academies were thriving.<\/p>\n

“You have James Maguire, Se\u00e1n Callaghan, Dara McDonnell and Tadhg McDonnell – all products of that system. More and more young lads now want to play for Louth and we have talent on the pitch that we haven’t had for a long, long time. Ger told me that the conveyor belt in Louth is much stronger than the conveyor belt in Dublin.<\/p>\n

“We have a team now that will be around for the next number of years. First goal was to achieve the Delaney Cup; we did that at the third attempt. This team believes. We now have two games to win the Sam Maguire.”<\/p>\n

\"James
\nJames Maguire of Louth (R) in action against Ryan McAnespie of Monaghan during the Leinster semi-final<\/p>\n

Heady days indeed, with Fitzpatrick impressed by the manner in which Devlin’s charges responded to what was a limp Leinster semi-final showing against Dublin at the start of May.<\/p>\n

“I think on the day against Dublin we got our tactics wrong; we sat back and let Dublin come at us. And there is one thing about Dublin – they will come at you.<\/p>\n

“After that players and the management team sat down together and said ‘let’s give the All-Ireland series a good crack’. And in fairness they beat Dublin in Croke Park, beat Armagh in Inniskeen and last week I had a tear in my eye after the win over Monaghan<\/a>, an experienced team, whom we got the better of playing with 14 men after the fifth minute.<\/p>\n

“Se\u00e1n Callaghan got sent off but you had to admire the dignity he showed in not shouting or roaring, as he knew the referee was not going to change his mind. The players then got stuck in; I’ve never seen anything like it<\/p>\n

“It made the hair stand on the back of your head. And so we have an opportunity now, as do Mayo, to reach an All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n

\"Louth
\nLouth supporters in the Cusack Stand after the victory over Monaghan<\/p>\n

“It’s great to say now that Louth are not going to Croker anymore to make up the numbers. For years and years there was a big laugh about Louth doing their annual trip to Croke Park. Them days are gone in Louth football.”<\/p>\n

Is Fitzpatrick daring to dream of being the last team standing on 26 July?<\/p>\n

“I’m afraid of my life to ever think about it,” the somewhat pithy response.<\/p>\n

The man, who played for his county in the 1980s, sees the battle with Mayo as “50-50”, adding that “Andy Moran and Gavin Devlin are pinching themselves” at the prospect of still being involved deep into this championship.<\/p>\n

He hopes the Louth players “play to their full potential, leave everything on the pitch, and when the 70 minutes are over are ready to collapse on that pitch”.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick, in his time as Louth chair, brought a strong business acumen to the role, stressing the need for having the right people in the right roles. The new stadium in Dundalk is coming on. Ireland’s smallest county has a lot to shout about the moment and their fans will be in full voice at GAA HQ on Saturday.<\/p>\n

A new name in the final would add greatly to the build-up.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick concluded: “The team has worked so hard to get there, all I hope is that they reach their potential and hopefully beat Mayo.”<\/p>\n

For a man who in 2021 hoped Louth would “win a Leinster final in my lifetime”, witnessing it deliver the ultimate prize would be the full realisation of his masterplan for football in the county.<\/p>\n

Watch the Tailteann Cup final, Down v Wicklow, on Saturday from 3.15pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow our live blog on all matches on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and RT\u00c9 News app and listen to commentary on RT\u00c9 Radio 1<\/p>\n

Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals, Louth v Mayo on Saturday from 5.30pm and Dublin v Kerry on Sunday from 3.15pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow our live blog on all matches on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and RT\u00c9 News app and listen to commentary on RT\u00c9 Radio 1 <\/p>\n

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