Big blow for Mayo as Cillian O’Connor opts out for 2025
Pic: Away Brennan/sportsfile Has Step The Mayo Decided Panel To Daire From Cillian Of O'connor County
Mayo will be without two-time All Star Cillian O’Connor for the 2025 season after the all-time championship top scorer decided to step away ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Speculation had been mounting that O’Connor would not be involved for 2025, as first reported by the Mayo Football Podcast. The 32-year-old has made the call to opt out of the senior setup.
Speaking on , his now former Mayo teammate Aidan O’Shea admitted he tried to talk O’Connor out of his decision to step away for the year.
“Of course. You don’t want to lose somebody of that calibre from a dressing room, from a football pitch,” said O’Shea.
“His IQ is off the charts in terms of football. He’s selfless around the place in terms of helping young people out, whether it be free taking or just general forward play.
“He’s been like this since he was a young fella and everybody’s known it. So… it’s tough. Just on a personal level it’s tough to see him go, not knowing whether we will both share that dressing room again is difficult.
“I had a lot of phone calls (with O’Connor), even over a couple of pints in Ranelagh a couple of weeks ago, we sorted out a flight and brought him on my brother’s stag to try and even convince him in Lisbon.
“There was a lot of convincing attempted but unfortunately not to the solution we were hoping for.
“Cillian is his own man and no doubt he is comfortable with that decision and when the time is right for him to come back and play I’m sure he will let us know and let the management know.”
O’Connor surpassed Colm Cooper in 2019 to become the highest scoring player in the championship and also holds the record for a single championship game, scoring 4-9 in the 2020 All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary.
The Ballintubber man suffered a serious Achilles injury in 2021 and bounced back in 2022. In 2023, he endured another spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring issue. He kicked off 2024 by togging out in the FBD Connacht Football League against London.
Over the last two years he has been a less utilised player, often operating as an impact substitute. He started three of 14 league and championship games in 2024 to score 3-12. The forward marked his first championship start in almost two years with four points and a Man of the Match showing against Cavan.
O’Connor came on in the 67th minute as Mayo bowed out of the 2024 championship with a preliminary quarter-final defeat against Derry.
The 32-year-old steps away at a time when new Gaelic football rules loom and older intercounty players make their mark. It was confirmed last week that 35-year-old Michael Murphy had returned to the Donegal senior side, Footballer of the Year Paul Conroy is the same age. Mayo All-Star nominee Aidan O’Shea is 34.
Mayo have lost several panellists in the last year. Stalwarts Jason Doherty and Kevin McLoughlin retired at the end of the 2023 campaign while Fionn McDonagh and Aidan Orme stepped away before the start of this season. There are also doubts over a number of other squad members from the 2024 season.
Elsewhere, Galway are set to welcome a number of players back to the squad including Finnian Ó Laoi and James McLaughlin.
Ó Laoi was the first replacement brought on in the 2022 All-Ireland final defeat versus Kerry. A move to Australia meant he missed out on the subsequent two seasons. Midfielder McLaughlin, who was a member of the 2020 U20 All-Ireland winning side, was unavailable last year due to Erasmus. It remains to seen if Peter Cooke will return to the fold. Cooke was not involved with Pádraic Joyce’s side for 2024 but impressed for his club Moycullen during their run to the Galway SFC final last month.