It’s that wonderful time of year again, as this weekend sees the beginning of the inter-county football season proper.
I’ve brought in a panel of experts to discuss their thoughts and predictions as we enter the first weekend of the National League. You will hear from recently retired Kildare legend Niall Kelly, as well as Monaghan great Dick Clerkin.
Maurice Brosnan, senior sportswriter for the Irish Examiner, gives his view. Finally, former Laois star and host of the Smaller Fish GAA Podcast Colm ‘Wooly’ Parkinson weighs in with his predictions for the year ahead.
Who will win the All-Ireland?
Niall Kelly: Tyrone – A tough side of the draw in Ulster but an early exit could allow them to reset and focus on an All-Ireland under a very strong manager in Malachy O’Rourke. Keeping all key players fit will be vital, but given recent underage success, there should be plenty of depth in the squad. They’ll learn a lot from last year’s semi-final and maybe a slight shift in tactics will be what gets them over the line this time around.
Dick Clerkin: Kerry, I think they’re not like some teams who might be happy with an All-Ireland and step off. I think the players there know that want to build legacy, you know, the Cliffords, Sean O’Shea boys like that. How many? How many can they get and really have an opportunity to join the great Kerry players and teams that went before them. And I don’t see them stepping off. Jack O’Connor came back with the same mindset, not content with the year that they had and it’s to really push on. I think bar injuries, they have the strongest panel and obviously the best two or three players in the country and I just don’t see anybody else at their level, unless they step back.
Maurice Brosnan: Boring answer, but Kerry. To do back-to-back All-Irelands is an enormous challenge. So much needs to go right to scale the summit, but their age profile, management ticket and top end talent make them prime candidates to do it.
Colm Parkinson: It’s hard to look past Kerry – the new rules suit them the best and they have Tom O’ Sullivan, Diarmuid O’ Connor, and Paul Geaney to come into the team that started the All-Ireland final. Tomás Kennedy is a good young player that will break through this year too. I expect them to go more direct this year and cause teams all sorts of problems.
Who will be the four provincial champions?
NK: Meath, Cork, Mayo & Derry
DC: Donegal, Mayo, Kerry and Dublin.
MB: Mayo because of the Moran bounce. Kerry because of their unrivalled talent. Derry because of their new management team and navigable path (Antrim in a quarter-final, Monaghan/Cavan in a semi-final). Dublin because of the inevitable backlash to last year’s disappointment.
CP: Mayo – they have an excellent team and the Andy Moran Factor. Meath – they are a coming team and Dublin are not what they used to be. Expect Meath to push on. Tyrone – they have the talent, the big problem for them is picking the right team. Kerry – they are out in front in Munster and I do not expect Cork to beat them.
Who’s your dark horse team for 2026?
NK: Derry. Playing in Division 2 should allow them to get wins under their belt and build up confidence coming into the Summer. Ciaran Meenagh coming back in after guiding them to Ulster a few years ago with Chrissy McKaigue in their backroom team should bring invaluable experience to the sideline. A favourable Ulster draw could see them go far and maybe even lift the Anglo Celt again.
DC: It’s wrong to call Tyrone a dark horse because they got to a semi-final last year. It’s hard to make a case for too many below them. Kildare. It’ll be interesting to see will Brian Flanagan get something from the group of players. You know they’ve always got potential in Kildare and show signs of it. They might get inspired by what Meath done last year and would have felt that God, if nothing else, they were as good as Meath teams over the years and they could have had a Leinster title. So it’ll be interesting do they see now there’s an opportunity in Leinster if they can get a bit more out of themselves to compete and win a Leinster title.
MB: Derry didn’t win a game in 2025, but Ciarán Meenagh is a terrific appointment, and the spine of the team is still awesome. A host of successful underage sides have started to graduate to the senior ranks. Expect to see Matthew Downey, James Sargent and Ruairi Forbes make their mark.
CP: Mayo to be a big threat to Kerry retaining the All-Ireland. No Connacht in 4 years and no All Ireland quarter final in 2 years. The addition of Kobe McDonald along with Darragh Bernie and the return of Cillian O’Connor gives them options and 2 point threats. And of course, the Andy Moran impact. Down have Barry O’Hagan and Liam Kerr back this year. They had no threat on their full forward line as Pat Havern spent most of his time outside around the arc. Now they have quality inside and they can push on.
Who will win Footballer of the Year?
NK: Ryan O’Donoghue – Mayo. If Mayo can go on a run, I’d imagine he will be the focal point in their forward line. Good supply into him will be key but he has been incredibly consistent, and Andy Moran could take him to the next level.
DC: I don’t see anybody else winning it beyond David Clifford as long as he wants to win it. And what I mean by that is if he keeps fit, keeps the level of hunger that he had, there’s just no one at his level, so bar a disaster for Kerry and some reason that he steps off, be it injury, it’s his to lose and there’s just nobody at that same pitch.
MB: Paudie Clifford was full value for an All-Star, but his involvement was limited in 2025. He played six championship games, coming on as a sub in two and being sent off in one. Fossa’s defeat in the intermediate final means he had a decent off-season break as well.
CP: If Kerry win the All-Ireland which I expect then there’s only one man, if he stays fit – David Clifford
Who will win Young Footballer of the Year?
NK: Eoin McElholm – Tyrone. Although injury has hampered his McKenna Cup involvement, a rest is probably what he needs after a long club season in 2025. I’d expect him to be a key figure in the Tyrone attack and with attention often focused on the Canavan’s, he can be the one that benefits most, providing Tyrone have a long summer.
DC: McElholm, from Tyrone. I think he’ll get a full season. If he gets four or five games in the championship to showcase what he can do, people will say I watched him with the U21s last year and you see what he done in this club, lead them to their first county title. He is X Factor. If he can even step up physically, he got his run against Kerry last year and just sort of struggled maybe just at the physicality and the pace over 70 minutes, probably a bit early for him, but he’s a full 12 months under his belts. If he can keep him fresh, I think I think he’d be hard to stop.
MB: Shea Malone. The Donegal forward hadn’t played football since he was 16 due to soccer commitments, but his club form and pre-season performances show why Jim McGuinness was keen to get him involved.
CP: One of the young lads from Donegal – maybe Turlough Carr – he will probably get the no11 jersey with Ciaran Thompson out and he looks like a right good player.