Keegan will go down as one of the all-time Mayo greats

TYNAN'S TAKE

THE news that every Mayo fan feared came to pass yesterday (Monday) when Lee Keegan confirmed his retirement from inter-county football.

His comments in recent interviews, especially with regard to spending more time with his young family, appeared to suggest he was leaning towards calling it a day, and that is exactly what he has done.

It is a major blow for Mayo, as compared to recent retirees who had played little to no football, with the exception of David Clarke, Keegan was still playing at a very high level and was one of Mayo’s most impressive performers in a disappointing championship last year.

His popularity speaks for himself. He’s adored by the Mayo faithful and widely respected across the country and we all have our favourite Keegan moments. My one, which would be very high among many Mayo supporters, is his performance against Dublin in the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final. Mayo looked dead and buried at half-time but he was the main driving force behind that famous comeback win in the second half and extra-time.

His propensity for big scores in big games was second to none, especially when you factor in that he has also been faced with man-marking some of the game’s top forwards, including Michael Quinlavan, Ciaran Kilkenny and most infamously Diarmuid Connolly. His battles with the latter will go down in folklore.

While Sam Maguire proved elusive, seven Connacht titles, a National League in 2019, nine All-Star nominations and a Footballer of the Year award in 2016 demonstrates his incredible talents, and we may never see his like again.

All we can say is thank you for the memories you have given us all as supporters.