Twenty years on from their greatest day, Armagh GAA players and supporters have been reliving their golden memories from Croke Park.
It was the day that Armagh finally broke down the door and claimed All-Ireland senior football glory - still the only time in their history the county has managed to claim the game's ultimate prize.
While Oisin McConville's second half goal (after an earlier penalty miss), Joe Kernan's iconic celebration or the mass pitch invasion spring to mind immediately, one secretive aspect of their preparation that day stood out for one of the stars of the team.
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Justin McNulty, an Armagh defender that day and now an SDLP politician, took to Twitter on the anniversary of the success to share a package that was slipped under the door of all the players on the morning of the final.
"About this time 20yrs ago I woke up in a City West Hotel room. Under the door was a letter from a sporting hero & global icon. To say I was inspired is an understatement. I went down for my All Ireland Final breakfast bouncing and brimming with confidence & determination," he stated.
The envelope contained a personally signed letter from boxing icon Muhammad Ali explaining his Irish roots and passing on his best wishes to the team. Ahead of the biggest day of their lives, the players had been touched by the most recognisable global sports star of all time.
Ali wrote: "It is with great pleasure that I write to each and every one of you today, wishing you the best of luck in the All-Ireland Football Championship final.
"I understand how much this means to you and am honoured if I have provided some inspiration to you along the way. But you are also an inspiration, to the thousands of people who will be watching you and who have followed the Armagh team all season.
"As one who has heritage from Ireland (my great grandfather Abe O'Grady was an Irish emigrant), I know that the 'luck of the Irish' is not just a saying. Best wishes to you on a successful match.
"Your co-countryman, Muhammad Ali."
So just how did the message come about?
Sports psychologist Hugh Campbell had been brought in by Armagh manager Joe Kernan and he used a contact to reach out to Ali's organisation, having used quotes and clips of the boxing legend all the way through the 2002 campaign. Campbell sent on a team shirt and newspaper clippings to explain the team's journey to that point.
"When they rang to tell me that they would send letters to each player with Muhammad Ali's signature, I was electrified," Campbell told the BBC years later.
"The evening before the match I didn't tell the players about the letter as I wanted to surprise them in the morning, but in my presentation I did ask say 'If Ali was here in his prime right now, what do you think he would say to you?'
"Amazingly one of the players thought the letter was a joke and threw it in the bin, before realising it was real and had to go rummaging for it."
Star forward Stevie McDonnell also recalled what the inspirational message meant to the players as they chased historic success after years of falling short.
"Ali always believed that he was the greatest and we wanted to be the greatest," he said. "His letter helped us believe that we were."
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