Seánie McGrath happy to relive glory days of 1999: Looking back, it was a magical time

The years may have moved on but, in the collective memory, they remain the young guns who came from nowhere to win the All-Ireland.

For those who believe that Cork’s name is on the Liam MacCarthy Cup this year, the presence of the 1999 side as the silver jubilee team just adds to the sense of destiny, especially as manager Pat Ryan was a member of that squad.

Seánie McGrath was one of the stars of that team – does it feel as if 25 years have passed?

“At times in the morning, yeah!” he laughs.

“When you’re out, giving lads a hand pucking the ball and your shoulder might get a bit sort or whatever – but, in reality, no, it doesn’t. It has absolutely flown.

“As you get older, you realise how true the cliché is about enjoying the moment and savouring the experience. It can be hard, because you’re full of nerves and excitement and anticipation and all of that.

“Looking back, it was a magical time. It was a great time in your career and for your family – I heard Pat after the semi-final mentioning the families and it’s only as you get older, meeting your cousins and your uncles and your aunts and they start bringing up how much they enjoyed going to the matches, that you realise how proud they were and how important it was to them..

“It’s a massive family occasion as well for the individuals and their clubs.”

The parallels between then and now aren’t exact, but they can be still be drawn. In 1999, Cork were coming up on what felt like an extra-long wait of nine years for the title and were not hugely fancied, inside or outside the county, before the championship.

“The championship then versus now was obviously poles apart,” McGrath says.

“The first game back then was a pure knockout game against Waterford and only then did you have the back door if you were beaten in the Munster final.

The age-profiles were similar – obviously, back then our elder statesman was Brian Corcoran, whereas now you have Séamie Harnedy and Patrick Horgan. 

"Outside of those players, you would say that both panels were reasonably young, so there are some commonalities there.

“Like the present set-up, we got ferocious support. The two Munster games were in Thurles and then Croke Park for the All-Ireland semi-final and final and we got huge numbers for all of the games.

“Coming back from the semi-final last Sunday week definitely had the feel of the old days.”

Cork hadn’t won Munster since 1992 but many of the team had enjoyed U21 success. For 1999, it was a case of adding to the small steps that had been taken since Jimmy Barry-Murphy took over in 1996.

“We had had a decent league – we beat Kilkenny in the first game and then we had a good tussle with Tipp, even though we lost narrowly,” he says. “Then we had to go to Gorey to play Wexford in the last match; I remember it was the first game Ben O’Connor played, he came on and got a fabulous goal.

MOMENTUM

“We were building from a positive performance in 1997, an excellent league win in 1998 and a reasonably positive championship that year.

“There were mini-wins along the way. We had won in 1998 away to Limerick and it was our first championship win of note in six years.

“Coming into the Munster final, there was the back door but we felt that if we could take a scalp, it would be huge. Clare were the team of the 1990s and beating them gave us unbelievable confidence.”

After winning a classic semi-final against Offaly, Cork found themselves in the final against Kilkenny. A scoreline of 0-13 to 0-12 would be low for half-time nowadays but, in the rain on September 12, all that mattered was that Cork had more.

“Kilkenny lost their way a bit,” McGrath says, “they went four up in the second half and should probably have put us away. They were a bit slack in their shooting and we took full advantage in the last quarter.

“Everyone contributed. Alan Browne and Kevin Murray came on and they got massive points.

“Joe got a really important score from a free, Ben was full of running and he got a huge point and then obviously Timmy Mac was immense.

Our back division was incredible all year – we conceded one goal in four matches. DJ Carey at the time was a colossal player at the time and had a few different markers in the final but he was kept scoreless.”

Then, as captain Mark Landers said in his speech, Liam MacCarthy was welcomed back to Cork.

“The support we got was phenomenal,” McGrath says, “and the buzz going up Patrick St, finishing up on Grand Parade, was a lifelong memory. It was incredible, really.”