Former Meath All-Ireland winner Richie Kealy says many of the county players never got over the disappointment of losing the 2001 All-Ireland final to Galway.
Dunshaughlin player Kealy first played for Meath in 1997, but was forced to retire from the game in 2004 due to a series of knee injuries and operations.
But in that seven-year career Kealy played in two All-Ireland finals with the Royals, winning the first against Cork in 1999, before Galway ousted them by nine points in the 2001 decider.
Meath has not appeared in the All-Ireland final since that loss and Kealy thinks it had a big effect on the game in the county.
“We went in as favourites, we weren’t overly confident, but you just have days like that. Unfortunately it was in an All-Ireland final,” said Kealy, who won three county titles in a row with his club either side of the 1999 success.
“In 2001 I was starting all the games, you were at the top of your game training extremely hard. We beat Dublin in the Leinster final. Then you go and play Kerry in the semi final and I think there was probably a few of the Kerry players missing, but we had a huge win [2-14 to 0-5].
“We went into the final and it was a huge, huge disappointment. It was very hard to actually get over it after it. It had a knock on effect on that team. A lot of the lads never got over it.”
Kealy went on to play another three seasons with the county team before a knee injury called a premature halt to his playing career.
There was an unfortunate end to his time with the team when he became embroiled in a protracted row with the Meath County Board surrounding his medical expenses. But looking back he thinks he was fortunate to play for the county and legendary Meath manager Sean Boylan.
“It’s probably only in the years gone by that you look back and you realise how much (we achieved) and how lucky I was to be involved with it,” Kealy said in a discussion with Meath GAA TV.
“You wouldn’t think at the time that 1999 would be the last All-Ireland Meath were going to win. that’s it at the moment. That’s 21 years ago. You think it’s going to continue.
“It’s only now that you look back and I know that I was very fortunate to be involved with them, and that I was given that chance by Sean to be involved with the Meath team. I appreciate it more now.
“I grew up looking at the team in the ’80s and early ’90s and seeing what they had achieved, the excitement around the place as a young lad following them. To eventually called up by Sean was a special moment.
“He was always good at man management and trying to get the best out of lads. He would have played lads in random positions over the years but there was reasons behind it.
"There was always something behind his methods. Some of the training we did was very enjoyable. There was random stuff as well, but when you look back he was way ahead of his time with a lot of it.”
