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"We were being called 'the troublemakers'" - Cora Staunton recalls rocky years for Mayo's Ladies team

On Sunday, Mayo will win their fifth All Ireland Ladies football title provided they beat Dublin ...



"We were being called '...
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"We were being called 'the troublemakers'" - Cora Staunton recalls rocky years for Mayo's Ladies team

On Sunday, Mayo will win their fifth All Ireland Ladies football title provided they beat Dublin at Croke Park. 

However, significantly it is Mayo's first final since 2007 when they lost to Cork and also 14 years since they beat the Dubs and won their last All Ireland.

That was the last piece of major silverware as Mayo won four finals in five years but since then an outstanding talent like Cora Stuanton has not been able to reclaim a trophy those four times as an emerging star by the age of 21.

Part of that fallow period was marked by issues between the former county board and the team as Staunton explained to Joe in an in-depth interview about her illustrious career. 

You can listen to the full interview on the podcast player or stream/download on iTunes:

"We were being called 'the troublemakers'" - Cora Staunton recalls rocky years for Mayo's Ladies team

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"In 2004, we got to an All Ireland semi final. We went to a replay and then to extra time. So we were that close again in 2004," she said, before explaining how things in the ensuing period were "mismanaged".

"In the next five years, from 2005 to 2010, I think we'd seven or eight different managers and then in 2010 then or county board were pulling us out of Championship.

"So the talent was there but the structures were never in place in the county."

Diane O'Hora and Cora Staunton celebrate at the end of the 2000 All Ireland final ©INPHO/Tom Honan

That period was marked by a poor relationship between the county board and the players and Staunton sees that era as a missed opportunity.

"There was a lot of kind of stuff that went on in that period that if it was managed at all well, I do think Mayo could have won more and challenged more," she said, contrasting that with the "most professional time in my life" under the management during the All Ireland winning years.

On bringing concerns to the board at the time, she said: "We had many a conversation. It's well documented. Even in 2010, myself and probably Yvonne Byrne, who's still playing, and a few more were being called 'the troublemakers', the ones that were causing all the problems, where we just wanted standards."

She added that the response was "very negative towards us" and "there was a very poor relationship between us".

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