By John Harrington

If you grew up in the 1980s, then there’s a very good chance the image of a bloodied and bandaged Willie Joe Padden above this article is one you know well.

It adorned many a poster, one of which even made it as far as the wall of my primary school class-room wall in Tipperary.

That was the extent to which Mayo’s march to the 1989 All-Ireland Football Final and the blood that Padden shed along the way captured the public’s imagination.

He sustained the war-wound in question against Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final that year, and with both counties in opposition again on Saturday it’s a match and a year that’s worth recalling.

The mythos of Mayo as the most gallant losers in Gaelic Games can be traced back to 1989. It was the first year they reached the All-Ireland Final since the glory years of ’49 to ’51 when they won three-in-a-row, and their defeat to Cork would set the template for glorious failure that has since become the county’s hallmark.

The semi-final victory the same year over Tyrone has also stood the test of time, because it was arguably the match that cemented the now unbreakable bond between the county’s footballers and their supporters.

It was a match few people predicted them to win, and the manner in which the John O’Mahony managed team went about confounding the odds to reach their first All-Ireland Final for 38 years electrified the county.

“The All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone could not have been better set up for us,” recalled O’Mahony in his autobiography, ‘Keeping the Faith’.

“They had played Kerry in the 1986 All-Ireland Final and led at one stage by seven points before losing in the end. It was seen as a missed opportunity in Tyrone.

“In the run up to the All-Ireland semi-final against us, some of their players were even interviewed wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, ‘Unfinished Business’.

“They were assuming they had a God-given right to another All-Ireland Final and that played right into our hands. Not only were they underestimating us, they also gave us fuel to ignite the fire in our bellies.”

Andy Moran said this week he believes Mayo will defeat Tyrone in Saturday’s All-Ireland Final because they have an edge in midfield.

Time will tell, but that was certainly the vital difference between the two teams back in 1989.

Padden’s willingness to bleed for the cause would prove inspirational, but just as vital to the victory was the performance of Liam McHale who came of age as the best midfielder in the country in that ’89 semi-final win over Tyrone.

That he did so was due in no small part to the considerable efforts of O’Mahony who invested a lot of time and effort into moulding McHale into the footballer he knew he had the potential to become.

“He was one of the most physically gifted footballers I had ever seen, but he was a complicated enough character and it took me a while to get to understand what made him tick,” said O’Mahony.

“Basketball was obviously another passion of his so I was always trying to steer him more in the direction of the football. I used to run camps for children in the summer and got him involved with those. It was immediately obvious he had a gift for coaching. He’d have the youngsters eating out of his hand.

“When the Connacht council decided to set up a programme to send GAA coaches around to schools, I knew he was an ideal candidate. I sorted that with the County Board and told Liam he could have his pick of schools in the Ballina area. Liam was interested, but told me he didn’t think he’d be able to do it because he had no transport. After our good run the previous summer there was a bit of sponsorships going around, so I managed to get someone to stump up for one of those little vaneens you could put gear balls and bollards in.

“I was fairly chuffed with myself, but when I broke the good news to Liam, he just laughed.

‘But, John…I can’t drive!’

“He had my heart broken at that stage but he was the sort of fella you just couldn’t get mad with.”

O’Mahony persisted, because he knew McHale was worth the effort. Eventually he found the right buttons to press, and soon the big Ballina man began to make the most of his natural ability.

“He was just an incredibly laid back guy and it was a challenge to get inside his head,” said O’Mahony.

“He was so big, strong, and skilful that at times he just made the game look ridiculously easy. Because it came so easily to him, I did not want him to think he could just play at his ease and coast through matches.

“That would still have made him one of the best players on the pitch, but I knew if he really applied himself then the sky was the limit. I stayed on his case. I kept pushing him, and pushing him, not in a dictatorial kind of way, that would have been counterproductive.

“My philosophy has always been that a player will achieve more if he is motivated from the inside out, and it was my job to tell him just how good he could be, and then challenge him to fulfil that potential.

“I told McHale that he had all the tools he needed to be the best midfielder in the country and, as the year went on, I could see he had the ambition himself to become that player. Soon he was driving the thing on himself and becoming one of our key leaders, rather than someone you felt you had to crack the whip with.

“Liam was absolutely outstanding against Tyrone. Some of his high fielding was so spectacular that there were audible exclamations from the crowd. He was no longer coasting through matches because everything came so easily to him.

“He was pushing himself to his limits to see just how good he could become and it really was an impressive sight to behold.”

So too, for Mayo supporters, was the sight of Willie Joe Padden tearing back into the fray with a blood-soaked jersey after his head-wound had been hastily bandaged.

The message was simple – nothing was going to stop Mayo reaching the All-Ireland Final.

“It always helps in those sort of matches to have a true warrior on your side and we certainly had one in Willie Joe,” said O’Mahony.

“He received a bad gash on the head late in the second half and our doctor, Frank Davey, performed whatever stitching he could on the sideline before putting a special gauze cap on him to help stop the bleeding.

“The sight of him running back onto the field, a bloodstained warrior coming back for more, really lifted the crowd. They, in turned lifted the players. Willie Joe’s bravery and toughness sent out the message that this Mayo team was something different. We were no soft touches anymore.

“We were a properly hard-edged group of players who would do whatever it took to be winners. That bloody-minded determination combined with some great football just blew Tyrone away in the final 10 minutes of the match as we scored six points in a row to run out 0-12 to 1-6 winners.”

Padden’s heroism had an added benefit – it paid for a good chunk of a team weekend away in Dublin before the All-Ireland Final.

“There were all sorts of auctions for signed jerseys and I’m pretty sure Willie Joe Padden’s blood-stained gauze cap from the All-Ireland semi-final was sold to the highest bidder at least 10 times,” said O’Mahony.

“Our team doctor, Franke Davey, had a good stock of them, though I’m not sure where he got the blood to give them a more authentic look!”

32 years on from 1989 and Mayo are still hunting for that elusive first All-Ireland title since 1951.

If finally ending the wait requires the shedding of some more blood, you can be sure there won’t be any shortage of volunteers on Saturday.