Niall Grimley expects All-Ireland title defenders Armagh will have ‘target on their back’ this season

Niall Grimley reckons Armagh will have a target on their back in 2025 – but says the Orchard County are determined to try to retain the Sam Maguire next season.
Kieran McGeeney’s All-Ireland-winning squad flew out to Miami this week for an end-of-season team holiday, but the focus will soon be on getting back to work.
“In the same way Man United, when they were winning all those trophies year after year, every game for us next year is going to be huge, they are going to want to beat the All-Ireland champions,” says Grimley. “Okay, we have our All-Ireland medals, amazing, but it’s a clean slate basically for every single team and [there will be] the new rules as well.
“We are going out with a target on our back, which is part of being a champion as well. That’s why you have to admire the likes of Dublin, when they won it five or six years in a row. They kept doing it and doing it, that’s great champions.
“We won the All-Ireland once, so there is no point stopping now, you want more, you get selfish, you get greedy. We are definitely excited for 2025.”
And while Armagh’s success brought so much satisfaction to Grimley, it has also been a very challenging year. His brother, Patrick, died in a car accident last November. Patrick’s wife Ciera, as well as Ciara McElvanna, the wife of 2002 All-Ireland winner Kevin, also died in the accident near Markethill. A joint one-year anniversary Mass took place recently.
“It’s been a tough week but only for my wife, my family, my friends, work, the Armagh management, Geezer, the impact they have had on me in the past year and stuff, I am very thankful,” says Grimley. “For me it has been a rollercoaster year, the lows have been so low and the highs have been so high. It has been an unusual year.
“We are meeting all these anniversaries and stuff now for the first time. Obviously to be able to give my family and community and Armagh the joy of being able to bring the cup back to Madden, my club, it has been a distraction if that makes sense, and it’s kept people busy.
“And it’s brought joy to people when there were sad days and there were dark, dark days. Proud and privileged to be able to bring the cup back.”
♦ Niall Grimley has been named as the Gaelic Writers’ Association Football Personality of the Year for 2024. The awards, supported by the Dalata Hotel Group, will take place at the Iveagh Garden Hotel on Friday night.