On the upside, they don’t have to wear GPS packs and you won’t see much of the raised fist, the modern signal for the running of a set play, either.
And if it does nothing else, Masters football provides comfort in the form of familiarity.
Last week, the Dublin over 40s played Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final. Tyrone had beaten them in the last two seasons, including the 2022 final.
The Dublin team was freshly fortified with recent 40th birthday boys, Bernard Brogan and Ross McConnell. Tyrone had Stephen O’Neill and Conor Gormley and beat them again. It was like the mid to late noughties all over again.
“We put a lot of work into looking for players to come out,” says Damien Leonard, part of a four man Tyrone management team along with his father Joe, brother Kieran and Eugene Bradley.
“Maybe other counties don’t do that to the same extent. We try and make it appealing for them, we get them gear, we get them food. We try and make sure they enjoy it.
“When they’re in that environment, it makes it easier for them to commit. Making the thing enjoyable is the key to making it a success, getting it organised.”
This is the secret of Tyrone’s success. They are the pre-eminent force in oldies football. Leonard and the rest of the Tyrone management have put together a set-up that makes it easy for the players, with their more hectic 40-something lifestyle, to be part of.
One that sates their residual instinct to compete and to win. They have a nice blend.
“Number one, you have the crop of players we have at the minute have won three All-Ireland senior titles with Tyrone,” Leonard explains. “They’re just competitive animals. That doesn’t leave them.
“They’re just winners. That’s the way they’re brought up. They’re footballers. Any time we make the phone call, it’s never a no. You have to make it enjoyable for them. We try and run it the same way as a senior inter-county team. Once they see there’s a set-up like that, it’s easier to commit.”
“Then there’s another crop who are great club players in Tyrone but weren’t good enough to play for Tyrone. They’ve never played with Stevie O’Neill or Conor Gormley before. So it’s very appealing to them.
“But mostly, it’s because putting on the Tyrone jersey is still very important to people, no matter what age they are or whether they played for the county at senior or under age. That doesn’t die because you get a bit older.”
“It takes a lot of work. I tell you, number one we get no money from anybody (in the GAA). We get no money from anyone. We have three sponsors. Through what they give us, we try and make it as professional as we can.
“We went to London last year to play a game. It didn’t cost the players a penny.”
It’s worth pointing out here that this is a not a GAA-sanctioned event. It is not mentioned on Croke Park’s official fixture list for the weekend. It is run by those who have a love for Masters football and until quite recently, they couldn’t even get access to proper GAA grounds.
Which is somewhat at odds with the spirit of the initiative. It serves to keep people in touch with sport.
“The main thing about Masters football is mental health. It keeps people involved,” Leonard points out.
“There are a lot of people who are still playing club football up until their late 30s, so it’s not a huge gap to fill.”
“We put a lot of work into it. It all family oriented. There’s no pressure on anyone. But once the final whistle is blown it’s hell for leather. It’s seriously competitive.
“But then, once it’s over, the teams mix and have their photographs taken with each other and their families.
But it’s not a kick around for geriatrics either. This year, Mark Donnelly joined the Tyrone squad for the first time having recently turned 40.
“I think Mark was a bit surprised,” says Leonard. “He wasn’t sure how serious it would be or how intense. But once he got into it, he realised that it was still a serious standard of football. The games have all been like that.”
Dublin, as it happens, gave Tyrone their first defeat in three-and-a-half years in the group stages of the competition. It forced them to ask questions as to whether they had it in them this year. Whether three in a row was the extent of their dominance.
What age are you over the hill in Masters football anyway?
Then last Saturday in Lacken, they won by 1-10 to 0-8. O’Neill scored a peach towards the end. Another final, this time against unbeaten Roscommon in Breffni Park tomorrow.
“That will be a right game,” says Leonard. “They took out Kerry, who were in the final last year. They haven’t lost yet. We have. So it should be a great game.
“Our lads have been successful but they’re not in the habit of giving up any easy wins to anyone when they’re wearing the Tyrone jersey.”
Old habits die hard.
