Frank McNally: A history of the Mayo football famine in 75 moments

1952: Mayo start the year as reigning All-Ireland champions, confident of retaining the title.1953: the county wins an Academy Award (shared with Galway) for The Quiet Man.1954: novelist Heinrich Böll arrives in Achill.1955: Böll discovers many new ways to describe rain.READ MORE1956: nothing much happens.1957: Böll publishes Irisches Tagebuch.1958: a suspiciously high number of German tourists arrive in Mayo. Nobody knows why.1959: quiet year.1960: mostly rain.1961: “Mayo men in Camden town/Kerry men in Kilburn”.1962: Charlestown-born journalist John Healy introduces the word “Latchiko” to the English. 1963: derived from the Irish leath-tiochóg, it is later said to have been popularised as a term of abuse by Mayo builders in London, meaning “half bollocks”. 1964: more rain.1965: Atlantic depression.1966: teenage sensation Matt Molloy wins an All-Ireland, but only in the flute championships.1967: John Lennon buys an island in Clew Bay.1968: via an English translation of Böll’s Irish Journal, the phrase “Mayo God help us!” goes international.1969-71: all quiet on the western front.1972: Böll wins Nobel Prize. Mayo win nothing.1973: Mayo join the EEC.1974: thanks to David Bowie and other trendsetters, Mayo acquire the unique distinction of having a peninsula with the same name as a bad men’s hairstyle: the mullet. 1975: Enda Kenny (24) becomes baby of the Dáil.1976-1980: the west’s a wake.1981: another strange star in the December sky. Cora Staunton is born.1982: Belmullet weather station records tremors from Offaly’s last-minute goal in Croke Park.1983: archaeologists make exciting finds at Céide ...1984: ... but still no sign of Sam.1985: Knock airport opens.1986: in an increasingly Americanised Ireland, many young Dublin people now think of “Mayo” primarily as a cool abbreviation for a type of salad cream.1987-8: a US brand of that mayo is popularised with the advertising slogan: “Heavy on the Miracle, Harry!” No sign of miracles with the other Mayo, meanwhile.1989: everybody in the county is delighted to be in the All-Ireland final again for the first time since 1951. Defeat to Cork requires no supernatural explanation.1990: Mary Robinson elected president.1991: Mayo minors emulate the seniors from two years earlier, losing the final to Cork.1992: the Saw Doctors record The Green and Red of Mayo.1993-4: Biddy Early’s is still the most famous curse in GAA.1995: Cora Staunton makes her senior county debut, aged 13.1996: Mayo take on Meath in the All-Ireland mass-brawling championships, but lose on points.1997-8: with Biddy Early’s retired, rumours emerge of a possible Mayo curse. Something to do with a funeral.1999: Pádraig Flynn laments the cost of owning three houses.2000: Cora Staunton-inspired Mayo make it two-in-a-row in the women’s All-Ireland, but those don’t count. 2001: Galway celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mayo’s last Sam Maguire by rubbing it in.2002-5: as low-cost airline travel rapidly expands, the phrase “Mayo for Sam” turns up in record numbers of holiday photographs all over the world.2006: Mayo’s men lose another final. It’s getting to a be a habit now.2007: reports emerge in December of a strange star in the sky over Crossmolina. Kobe McDonald is born.2008 – 11: McDonald increasingly recognised as a child prodigy, but Mayo GAA resists pressure to throw him in with the seniors.2012: Donegal joins the growing list of counties to beat Mayo in finals.2013-2019: pain and more pain.2020: the All-Ireland final is played at Christmas, behind closed doors. Meanwhile, Mayo’s habit of losing reaches epidemic proportions – 10-in-a-row now – with yet another defeat to Dublin.2021: as the final is moved back to September, Mayo make GAA history by losing two All-Irelands in nine months. 2022: The Banshees of Inisherin puts Achill on the international cinema map.2023: then it cruelly mimics the fate of Mayo football by getting nominated for nine Academy Awards and not winning any.2024: Mayo lose grip on White House ...2025: ... but declare Canada a colony as Mark Carney elected prime minister.2026: a Mayo All-Ireland final falls on Reek Sunday for the first time and Mayo miraculously win. With a record 21 assists, St Patrick is named man of the match.