Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue was named Player of the Year as the Sunday Game panel named their Team of the Year.

The end of the 2026 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is here, and Mayo ended their 75-year curse to lift the Sam Maguire once again. It was no surprise that The Sunday Game’s Team of the Year included 7 Mayo players, along with 4 Kerry players, and one each from Dublin, Westmeath, Louth and Tyrone.

Ryan O’Donoghue was named Sunday Game Footballer of the Year by the panel. He was also named Man of the Match for the All-Ireland final, an incredible achievement from a player who personified the Mayo spirit on Sunday.

Ryan O'Donoghue of Mayo. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ryan O’Donoghue of Mayo. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

O’Donoghue has been an integral part of Mayo’s squad all year, along with Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne in the front line, and is a well-deserved winner of both the Player of the Year award and the Man of the Match in the decider.

‘I’m not married yet, but it’s probably the best day of my life,’ O’Donoghue said after the final. ‘These are the days we’ll never forget; it’s been a long time coming, a lot of heartbreak, but Mayo people are All-Ireland champions again.’

‘When we were in front of the hill bringing Sam Maguire around, that was unbelievable. That’s what you dream of, that’s why I’m in the gym, all the boys are in the gym in October and November. That’s what it’s all for.’

Mayo players, from left, Ryan O'Donoghue, Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Mayo players, from left, Ryan O’Donoghue, Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Mayo’s Darragh Beirne was unlucky to miss out on a place in the Team of the Year, but with a front line of David Clifford, Ryan O’Donoghue, and Kobe McDonald, it would be hard for anyone to get in. After the game, he talked about the belief of Andy Moran’s men.

‘Kerry are one of the greatest champions ever, some of the best players that ever played the game,’ he said. ‘We had to do our homework, obviously stop their key men. We had to defend as a team; we couldn’t defend as individuals. The work rate out there, everything was hit.’

‘We said before the game we were going to die out there, and we did; we just took our chances down the stretch. My heart was in my mouth for the last ten minutes there. When [David] Clifford kicked the one off the right, I thought we were dead and buried, but the character of this group is strong.

‘No one gave us a chance at this game, but everyone in that dressing room believed, and that’s all that we needed.’