\n<\/p>\n
Sean McAndrew, whose father John played for both the 1950 and 1951 winning Mayo teams, said it was “amazing” to watch the county reclaim the All-Ireland title.<\/p>\n
Sean said that although his dad moved moved to Birmingham, England, in 1960, he always kept up to date with the team.<\/p>\n
“Mayo probably has one of the highest emigrant populations across the world and a lot of people see the GAA as their connection to home.”<\/p>\n
John passed away in 2013 and Sean said it would have meant a lot to him to see Mayo win again.<\/p>\n
“It’s all he ever wanted and you could see the disappointment each time that they failed.”<\/p>\n
Sean said there was “no talk” of a curse for the first few years after Mayo last won in 1951, “but then I think people got suspicious when good teams weren’t progressing”.<\/p>\n
He added that his dad was a “quiet, level-headed” man who didn’t talk much about the curse, but had said he “couldn’t recall” the supposed incident involving a funeral.<\/p>\n
Sean said he had always taken talk about the curse in “good humour”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n