Mayo and Kerry are planning an All-Ireland football final re-run in London in late November. The challenge game, which may have a fundraising or charity element, has been provisionally pencilled in for Nov. 28 and could be played at the Stone X Stadium in Hendon in north London, the current home of Saracens rugby club. Saracens are not in action that weekend. The game is believed to have been in the pipeline even before the All-Ireland final which Mayo won by three points. Both counties have strong links with their immigrant populations in London and fundraising in the past among those communities has been vibrant. The Stone X Stadium is in Hendon, north London and has a capacity of 10,500, though that can rise to up to 15,000 for special events. The hype in Mayo since their All-Ireland final win, and the draw that Kerry consistently are, those numbers could be reached for a game of this nature.
Central Council does not meet again until October but a permission request like this could be expedited. Mayo are no strangers to games in London and played London in Ruislip in the in the Connacht quarter-final in April. They spent a number of days after that win using the facilities at EPL club Brentford in west London as part of a mini training camp. Back in the fifties and sixties the GAA staged exhibition hurling and football games at Wembley Stadium on Whit weekend. The Whit series ran from 1958 to 1976. The football and hurling All-Stars were inaugurated in the early seventies and players then got to play games in cities all over the USA and the rest of the world.
O’NEILL DEPARTS
Cian O’Neill will not be returning to the Kerry senior football set-up next year, with the renowned coach currently having no plans for the 2027 season. The Kildare native departs Jack O’Connor’s backroom team after two seasons, having helped the Kingdom to an All-Ireland win in 2025 against Galway, but going down to Mayo last month.
CAREY MEDAL SOLD
DJ Carey’s first All-Ireland senior hurling medal has been sold for an undisclosed sum. The medal had been put up for sale by a family who had been conned by Carey, and was being offered at a €10,000 asking price. The Irish Independent reported last week that the proceeds of the sale were intended to assist two people who experienced financial hardship due to the former Kilkenny hurler’s cancer fraud.
Ian Whyte of Whyte’s Auctioneers confirmed the sale said there was no other information to add as it was a private treaty sale, not a public auction. Whyte’s previously said there had been “considerable interest” in the medal and offers had been made above the guide price. Carey is currently serving a five-and-a-half year prison sentence for defrauding more than 20 people of almost €400,000 by pretending to have cancer.
PADRAIG HORAN, 76
