'We proved ourselves' — Mayo's 2000 stars reflect 25 years on

Picture this. It’s October 20, 2000. U2 had released their most recent hit, and ‘Beautiful Day’ was soaring to the top of the charts.

TV shows ‘Gilmore Girls’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ were in their infancy, with their first episodes hitting the screens just days before.

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There’s plenty of significant sporting moments, too. Didi Hamann’s goal a fortnight earlier was the last at the old Wembley Stadium in a 1-0 win for Germany over England.

More importantly, the Mayo Senior Ladies had just won the All-Ireland title for the second year in succession.

Just one year before, history was made as the Green and Red became the eighth team to etch their name onto the Brendan Martin Cup in their first ever final, bringing to an end a Waterford stranglehold and their aspirations of a three-in-a-row.

For the team’s captain, Maria Staunton, the relative inexperience of the youthful 1999 troops proved to be a blessing rather than a curse.

“I think there were only about three or four ladies over the age of 20, sort of thing,” she told The Mayo News. “The majority of our team were around 15 or 16.”

“We beat Waterford, who were the pinnacle of Ladies Football, and that was a shock.”

Indeed, it was. No one expected to see the trophy heading West, and come the turn of the millennium, the Deise were gunning to make sure that this Mayo side were no more than a one-season wonder, in the mind of the ‘99 captain, Diane O’Hora.

“The 2000 final was crucial for them to have some level of vengeance and take back the title again.

“We looked at it in the exact same fashion. Back-to-backs were what made you a great team, as opposed to what just made you a flash in the pan.”

The stage was set for a captivating joust between two star-studded sides, in a rivalry exacerbated by the significant number of Carnacon and Ballymacarbry players lining out in their respective county colours.

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The game was a spectacle that befitted the sense of anticipation within the two counties as a crowd of 14,995 onlookers in Jones’ Road saw a tight and frenetic encounter.

In the midst of the chaos, one player stood tall, announcing her entry onto the biggest stage in a way that the country later became accustomed to seeing on a regular basis.

A 17-year-old Cora Staunton was gutted to have broken her collar bone in training mere days before the 1999 decider, and was determined to show her stuff 12 months later.

That she did, and then some.

“Cora was a huge addition to us in the 2000 final, so it was like just another string that we had,” her teammate O’Hora proclaimed.

Those sentiments were welcomed by her skipper on the day, Maria Staunton.

“She gave us that extra bit of power; she was player of the match, actually.”

There were plenty of powerful performers that day for the eventual champions. Denise Horan’s save from Geraldine O’Ryan early on to maintain the lead was vital, while Yvonne Byrne’s ability to score from the spot when pressure was at a premium was paramount.

Both O’Hora and her captain were vital in earning the penalty kick. O’Hora’s jinking run saw her offload to Staunton, who was fouled in the square.

With three minutes left to play, Cora Staunton pounced for her second goal of the day, when her effort dipped under the bar and rattled the net, providing a lead which in the end proved unassailable.

A last-gasp effort from Waterford’s Mary O’Donnell to level the tie beckoned, but her effort sailed wide and Mayo jubilation filled the Drumcondra air as they retained their title.

However, the fact that the new Hogan Stand was under construction led to a peculiar set of post-match circumstances.

“We had to receive the cup on the pitch that year, so that was a little bit different as well,” Staunton reminisced. “It added a little memory as well.

“It was amazing, and even to this day, we were saying it doesn't happen too often when you're a captain of a team and you win the All-Ireland. People thought we might be just a young team, but thankfully, we were able to come back and prove that we weren't.”

Inevitably, weeks and months of celebrations followed. First up was an evening in the Burlington Hotel.

“We just had one of those nights where you don't really sleep, and you come back the next day, and you just celebrate for so many more weeks to come, months even,” Staunton recalled.

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For O’Hora, the abiding memory were the scenes as they made their way back West with the Brendan Martin Cup in tow.

“I just remember loads of cars following us and being together with all our families. There's nothing like the homecoming in the entire world.”

Everywhere they went, the same anthems followed. The Mayo bus was regularly turned into the Venga Bus at the request of Marcella Heffernan, while ‘To Win Just Once’ by The Saw Doctors and (of course), ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’ constantly rang out.

In 2025, the memories of those halcyon days of Mayo football seem distant, but the chosen few who made the journey to the Mecca of Gaelic games are still bound together. According to their captain that day, they still keep in touch regularly despite the fact they may occupy parts of the world far from the Atlantic shores.

“We have a WhatsApp group and we're all on it, which is nice. So usually around Women's All-Ireland weekend, we're all communicating with each other.”

This Sunday, Jonathan Mullin and Finbarr Egan’s troops will reconvene as the jubilee team at the scene of their greatest battle, looking back on the pinnacle of their sporting achievements.

They may be keeping in touch, but getting to meet in the place where their dreams came true is a special moment for Diane O’Hora.

“It's going to be really really good to meet everyone again. There's probably no other way this would ever happen if it wasn't for this sort of reunion. Being honoured at Croke Park as a 25-year team, it’s a great privilege to be part of it. I can't wait.”