The year of Ulster’s football domination – MASHAHER

The Sam Maguire, the Tailteann Cup, the Hogan Cup, the Andy Merrigan Cup, the Sigerson Cup, plus the rest.

All in the hands of Ulster’s teams and counties.

Ulster’s domination of men’s Gaelic football culminated on 28 July as Armagh clinched the All-Ireland in a tightly contested final against Galway.

Armagh’s triumph was their first All-Ireland since 2002.

For Ulster GAA chief executive, Brian McAvoy, the sweep of trophies is “unprecedented”.

“It has been an amazing year,” he told BBC News NI.

“Armagh’s All-Ireland win was the icing on the cake and put Ulster on the top of the tree.”

He credits the work of grassroots coaches and volunteers for the dominance men’s Gaelic football has seen from Ulster this year.

“There is a lot of work that goes into it all from the grassroots,” he added.

“These players are well nurtured and when they make it to senior level they are ready to go. This was years in the making.

“These victories are for them,” he added.

Glen’s senior club All-Ireland winning captain Connor Carville says there is a “momentum in Ulster” at the minute but with the new season starting soon “nothing is guaranteed.”

He told BBC News NI: “Other counites and provinces will be looking at this success and wanting to end it.

“They will want to shoot us down. But we are very proud of what we have achieved.

“There could be new champions and that’s the beauty of sport”.

He also credits the work of grassroots volunteers for the dominance.

“It shows the passion and attitude of people who give up their time,” he added.

It is not just clubs and counties doing well but the Ulster University team is also joined in on the success.

In February of this year, they beat University College Dublin to win the Sigerson Cup.

The win shows a “correlation” in college success and county success, according to Ulster University manager Barry Dillon.

He told BBC News NI: “It’s all connected. When you look at the Dublin team that won six All-Ireland’s in a row, the Sigerson Cup stayed almost exclusively in Dublin bar a few years.

“The dominance is similar to the early 90s for Ulster but I’ve never seen a time just as good as this.

“It’s just amazing.”

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Armagh
• All-Ireland Under 20s – Tyrone
• All-Ireland Minor – Derry
• Tailteann Cup – Down
• National League Division One – Derry
• National League Division Two – Donegal
• All-Ireland Senior Club – Glen (Derry)
• All-Ireland Intermediate Club – St Patrick’s (Armagh)
• All-Ireland Junior Club – Arva (Cavan)
• Sigerson Cup – Ulster University
• Hogan Cup – Omagh CBS (Tyrone)