As the dust settles on the first round of the Mayo club championships, we hear from some of the people who were involved across last weekend’s matches and spoke to us after their games had ended.
Mike, John and our roving reporter, Paddy Finnegan were all out and about and spoke to Crossmolina manager, Brian Benson; Paddy Durcan of Castlebar Mitchels; Fintan Forde, one of the Garrymore management team; Westport's Rory Brickenden; Liam Lavin of Aghamore; Claremorris manager Kevin Beirne; and Breaffy manager Seán Deane. 

There are so many different perspectives to Mayo's All-Ireland victory and so many fascinating stories to be told.

James Carr from Ardagh is one of the members of the Mayo squad who ticks both of those boxes, being the first man from his club to wear the Green and Red at senior level and the only player from a Junior club to win a Celtic Cross last Sunday week. 

Mike caught up with James to hear about Mayo's season from his perspective, as he reflected on the joy and emotion of bringing the Sam Maguire Cup back to Ardagh, the frustration of being injured for much of the season, the satisfaction of playing his part in Mayo's training sessions during the summer, and the rollercoaster of emotions he experienced on the All-Ireland Final weekend. 

Press play, close your eyes and enjoy. There's a host of voices, emotions and stories. Mayo are All-Ireland Champions for 2026. To quote Con Houlihan "all heaven has broken loose."

A huge crowd of Mayo supporters gathered at The Oxford Arms in Camden Town in London on Thursday evening for an All-Ireland Final fundraiser organised by Cairde Mhaigheo London.
Mike was there for MFT to sample the atmosphere and to talk some of the assembled audience, which ranged from seasoned Mayo supporters to young fans who are looking forward to the novelty of an All-Ireland Final after a five-year break.
It was a wonderful evening of chat, craic and camaraderie and a lovely way to start the build-up to the biggest football weekend of the year.

As the countdown continues Billy Joe Padden and Edwin McGreal join Rob Murphy to take a detailed look at what to expect from the game on Sunday week.

The numbers behind Mayo’s forward play, the challenge of the aerial battle with Kerry’s midfield and the monumental task of curtailing their attack.

There are loads of reasons for hope but there is no hiding from the talking about challenges either, as we preview of the 2026 all Ireland final.

As the countdown continues Billy Joe Padden and Edwin McGreal join Rob Murphy to take a detailed look at what to expect from the game on Sunday week.

The numbers behind Mayo’s forward play, the challenge of the aerial battle with Kerry’s midfield and the monumental task of curtailing their attack.

There are loads of reasons for hope but there is no hiding from the talking about challenges either, as we preview of the 2026 all Ireland final.

It's going to be a fast week for Mayo supporters with all roads leading to Croke Park on Saturday evening for the All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Louth. 

John, Mike and Rob meet up to start the week as MFT means to go on — by talking football and whetting the appetite for the days ahead. 

The lads also catch up with Dan Bannon of the 'Louth & Proud' podcast to get a sense of the mood in the Wee County. 

The focus this week may be mainly on the senior footballers' exploits, but there is still plenty of work to be done behind the scenes by Ruairí Conroy, the newly-appointed CEO of Mayo GAA. 

The Tourmakeady native chats to Mike about why he took on the role, what his first priorities are, and what he would define as a success as Mayo GAA's first CEO. 

Ruairí also outlines the remit of his position, how he intends to approach the mammoth task of building a Mayo GAA Centre of Excellence, and why he believes that clubs and volunteers must be at the foundation of everything he intends to do. 

Of course, over the coming days we’ll be building up to the big match across all our MFT platforms — with podcasts, columns and news articles. 
We’ll be starting with a chat with Billy Joe Padden on Tuesday as we get ready for Mayo’s biggest game of the year – so far!

If Mayo want to stay in the championship and book their place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, they will have to beat Meath in Castlebar on Saturday evening.
Billy Joe Padden joins Mike and Rob to look back on what we learned from Sunday’s narrow defeat to Tyrone, reflect on the displays of some key players, and discuss some of the match stats to see what they tell us about where the game was won and lost.
The lads also look ahead to the Royals’ visit next weekend and try to predict what might happen.

Mayo are off to Omagh on Sunday to face Tyrone in Round 2A of the All-Ireland football championship. With both Tyrone and Mayo having recovered from provincial disappointment to record Round 1 wins over Roscommon and Monaghan respectively, the significant prize now on offer for the victors at Healy Park this weekend is a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, while the losers will be left with one last chance to progress via a Round 3 knockout tie the following weekend.

In this podcast show we kickstart the countdown to what will be the eighth ever championship meeting between Mayo and Tyrone. Rob and John discuss the challenge and the opportunity facing Andy Moran's team this weekend and they run the rule over a Red Hand side made up of a mix of veterans from the All-Ireland winning team of 2021 augmented by a number of newer faces who have tasted All-Ireland success at underage level with the county in recent years. 

Rob also chats with podcast regular Nigel Reape, who points to the pluses and minuses from Mayo's win over Monaghan and argues why a more coherent defensive structure will need to be in place if the visitors hope to emulate the county's achievement of twelve months ago by coming away from Healy Park with a win. 

The draw for Round 2A of the All-Ireland Series has pitted Mayo against Tyrone in Omagh for the second summer in a row. 

Billy Joe Padden joins Mike and Rob to discuss the draw, reflect on Sunday's win over Monaghan, talk about the way the team selection is evolving, and what issues need to be addressed before Mayo arrive in Tyrone.