Kerry v Tyrone - the old money and the 'nouveau riche'

These two have been jabbing at each other for the guts of two decades now.

"A Tyrone win equals about three wins in the eyes of Joe Public and when Kerry win it is forgotten at 6pm," one of our regular 'X' interlocutors wrote in the wake of the semi-final draw (@WestKerryLad, in case you're wondering).

A case in point - this week, when considering previews for another Kerry-Tyrone knockout game, thoughts immediately drifted back to the (delayed) 2021 All-Ireland semi-final, when an allegedly Covid-stricken Tyrone side delivered the most audacious of their many ambushes of Kerry in Croke Park. We were almost inclined to forget that the teams had met two years after this at the quarter-final stage - Kerry won by 11 points.

It's one of the prices of winning so regularly that, over time, a team's successes almost melt into the landscape and become nondescript in the wider public imagination.

On the eve of the 2012 All-Ireland final, the Irish Independent issued a pull-out supplement ranking the All-Ireland finals in the previous quarter century from 1-25. Unsurprisingly, four of the top five in the ranking were Kerry losses - the Galway-Kildare '98 final being the odd one out - while three of the four lowest ranked finals were Kerry victories - 2004, 2006 and 2007.

Kerry's 1986 All-Ireland final win over Tyrone was no doubt thought to belong in that humdrum category. We were, it turned out, in the twilight of the golden years and Kerry All-Ireland wins probably never felt as routine as they did then. As far as these things go, the celebrations were comparatively muted, though the Kerry players might have taken a different approach if they knew that would be it for 11 years.

Paidí Ó Sé's primary concern on full-time was making sure he got hold of the match ball rather than pausing to savour his eighth medal. He mounted his fastest sprint of the day to outpace Jack O'Shea and seize the ball before the smallish invading crowd. We're assuming it's on display in the pub in Ventry.

Kerry and Tyrone met in the 1986 final

The '86 final is ancient history in the context of the Kerry-Tyrone rivalry, which has taken on a very different flavour in the 21st century. Back then, it was medal-laden aristocrats against long put-upon minnows, the former seeing off the latter without any rancour.

That year marked Tyrone's first ever All-Ireland final appearance after only their fifth ever Ulster title. We know the history at this stage. Cavan had it all their own way in the province in the early decades of the new state, winning 25 of the 33 Ulster titles between 1923 and 1955. By the time Cavan won their fifth and last All-Ireland title in 1952, Tyrone still hadn't even won a provincial title.

Near the end of that period came the 1947 Education Act, Clement Atlee's Labour government introducing free secondary school education a full 20 years before Donagh O'Malley did the same south of the border. A decade on, Tyrone, Derry and Down had all won their first Ulster titles, and the latter made the breakthrough at All-Ireland level in the early 60s.

While Cavan won't be supplanted at the top of the Ulster roll of honour for decades yet, it is Tyrone who have become the most consistent powerhouse in the north. Since the mid-80s, they are the only county not to experienced a double-digit famine in Ulster, never going longer than six years without an Anglo-Celt win. A perusal of recent results at the Under-20 grade indicate this will certainly be sustained and that Tyrone are now a more or less permanent fixture at Gaelic football's top table.

These days, most Kerry-Tyrone arguments quickly get stuck down a noughties rabbit-hole, with the 'team of the decade' debate inevitably re-aired.

No other decade is subject to such a back and forth - you rarely hear Galway and Down supporters at each other's throats over who was the team of the 60s.

Of course, the main reason why the debate has resurfaced so often is due to its potential for winding up Kerry fans. This is an especially popular past-time up north where the softness of the Munster SFC is invoked every five minutes.

"At least this puts to bed one argument... don't give me any more crap about team of the decade, Tyrone," Pat Spillane said following their loss to Cork in the 2009 All-Ireland semi-final. But it wasn't near put to bed.

Owen Mulligan and Tom O'Sullivan get to grips with one another in the 2005 final

On a purely numerical level, it's hard to argue against Kerry's claims. They won five All-Irelands and appeared in three other finals.

On the other hand, Tyrone won the three big games the teams played in the 2000s, two of them All-Ireland finals and the other a semi-final. For those whose sporting sensibilities were reared on professional boxing and the concept of 'lineal champions', it is thus Tyrone who hold the bragging rights.

They may not be the team of the decade in statistical terms but on a deeper spiritual level, they've earned the tag. Or so goes the argument. They also tend to be given added points for overcoming the psychological hurdle of breaking the county's duck at All-Ireland level.

As far as the Tyrone crowd were concerned, Kerry's celebrations after finally beating a clapped out Tyrone side in an early round qualifier in 2012 were akin to boasting about beating Mohammad Ali in 1980.

Kerry at the time were weighed down by a different sort of historical baggage, of the type which made clear that their best was never going to be good enough.

In real time, in the 2000s, there was no real recognition that we were living through any sort of golden era for Kerry. Rather they were always trying desperately to measure up to the previous golden era.

After the big-time grudge matches of the 2000s, the rivalry petered out in the 2010s. Tyrone, in particular, retreated into the pack for a time and though they appeared regularly in the last-four, they struggled to re-assert themselves as proper All-Ireland contenders.

In that sense, Mickey Harte's long reign in Tyrone followed a similar-ish trajectory to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Kerry beat Tyrone in All-Ireland semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, two games which didn't live long in the memory.

Then came Tyrone's opportunistic, bolt-from-the-blue All-Ireland victory in the second Covid campaign of 2021. They were even bigger underdogs for that game than they are this weekend, amid talk of 'long Covid' and having shipped six goals in the league in Killarney a few months earlier.

The Ulster champions' daring game of brinkmanship in the run-up is well recalled, their threat to forfeit an All-Ireland semi-final leading Kerry to issue a statement, agreeing to a request to play the game a week later.

Tyrone hit three goals and won after extra-time on a 3-14 to 0-22 scoreline. Kerry themselves were undermined by some bizarre cock-ups that afternoon. Most notably, Paul Geaney rounding the keeper in the first half and, when losing his balance, opting to pass to Stephen O'Brien, who had, incomprehensibly, positioned himself in the square.

It was as galling a loss as Kerry have suffered in Croke Park, a bitter re-hash of the 2000s. It prompted the swift re-appointment of Jack O'Connor for his third term, with a remit to win an All-Ireland as quickly as possible.

Based on the respective quarter-final displays, Kerry are clear favourites and almost universally tipped by the pundit class this weekend. But the legacy of the 2021 ambush, in particular, hangs over Saturday's game.

As usual, whether the 2025 semi-final is remembered or quickly forgotten will probably depend on the outcome.

Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals with RTÉ Sport. Kerry v Tyrone on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and Meath v Donegal on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow live blogs on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 10.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player

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