By Shaun Casey

WHEN the Armagh bus pulls up at Pearse Stadium later on this month, and the All-Ireland champions step into the dressing room, the heroics of last year will long be forgotten and aspirations for the year ahead is all that will consume their minds.

Armagh reached heights in 2024 that even the most optimistic fan didn’t think they could, capturing the Sam Maguire Cup for the second time in their history, but past achievements don’t always promise future glories as we all know.

It’s a position the Orchard County have only ever been in once. Heading into a new campaign as All-Ireland champions, having fulfilled a lifetime ambition, can impact a team in one or two ways.

The current crop of Orchard stars, who have suffered so much heartache in the recent past, could be hungry for more gold and that taste of triumph may be powerful enough to drive them onto another level.

Or maybe they’re happy with their lot. Maybe, the success of bringing home Sam and all the madness that came with that, has satisfied their thirst for glory. Truthfully, we’ll probably not know which it is until much later in the season.

Kieran McGeeney deservingly received plenty of plaudits last year for how he kept the entire squad happy. Players understood their roles, even if they didn’t see a minute of game-time, as they all got behind the one cause.

But can he repeat the trick now most of those same lads have All-Ireland medals in their back pockets? Again, only time will tell but you can be sure that Stefan Campbell, Oisin O’Neill, Jason Duffy and the likes will be vying for a starting berth instead of that impact sub role.

Plus, there are the new guys that have been brought on board as well. The Armagh management team have flung the net out far and wide across the county in search of the next Peter McGrane or Oisin Conaty.

In a recent charity challenge game, which took place just before Christmas, the Armagh squad played between each other under the new Gaelic football rules. A number of fresh faces and seasoned regulars impressed.

Fergal O’Brien and Sean Conlon were members of the same minor squad as the aforementioned pair, which was managed by Ciaran McKeever, as was Darragh McMullen and all three of those will be pushing hard for meaningful minutes.

Justin Kieran is back in the panel having stepped away last summer and brings that lighting pace to the attack, while Daniel Magee, Tomas McCormack and Sean McCarthy are other panellists that will hope to push on this year too.

Ethan Rafferty will contest a starting place between the sticks and the new rules will surely suit the 2023 All-Star nominee right down to the ground. McGeeney may have a tough time deciding on his number one this year.

It’s a difficult start for Armagh on their return to the topflight but taking a glance at the teams competing in Division One, there’s certainly no gimmies in any of their seven outings and getting off on the front foot will be extremely important.

There’s the usual Ulster contingent in the top tier and Armagh will host Tyrone and Derry but are on the road for their clash with Jim McGuinness’ Donegal in a repeat of not only last year’s Division Two final, but the provincial decider as well, both which were won by Donegal.

After the Galway game, Armagh also face a lengthy trip to Tralee where they’ll take on the Kingdom of Kerry while home ties against Dublin and Mayo will surely entertain a packed BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.

Having just been promoted to Division One, Armagh’s initial motivation is to retain their status, after that, they can start to plan out their next steps forward and perhaps aim for a first Division One league title since 2005.

No matter how the early season ventures pan out, Armagh will be unbackable favourites when they take on Antrim in the opening round of the Ulster Championship, but the superstitious types mightn’t just be as confident.

When Armagh last headed into the championship with that All-Ireland champions target on their backs, they came up short in the first round of Ulster. An underestimated Monaghan team, led by debutant Paul Finlay, sent Joe Kernan’s men packing through the Qualifiers.

McGeeney was injured that day and didn’t feature but no doubt the experience will still be lodged in his mind 22 years later. The Ulster Championship means so much and even though Armagh have Sam, they haven’t touched the Anglo Celt since 2008.

At the start of McGeeney’s tenure, they struggled to even win a game in the province, but in the last two years they’ve come so close to earning a 15th Ulster title. Back-to-back penalty shootout defeats to Derry and Donegal will still stick in their craw.

Securing Sam for a second year running is a record that Ulster teams have struggled with in the past. The last northern team to retain Ireland’s most prized sporting possession was the great Down way back in the early ‘60s.

Many have tried and failed and looking through the history books, outside of Kerry and Dublin, very few teams achieve the goal of two in a row. Will Armagh be able to buck that trend in 2025?

Injuries will be key as always and they should welcome back Conor O’Neill, Ciaran Mackin and Jarly Óg Burns at some stage throughout the season. All three are currently unavailable through injury.

If Armagh can embark on a similar journey to the one experienced last summer, then no one will fancy meeting them at the business end of the season. Maybe the All-Ireland swagger will swing into play once they hit Croke Park.

There’s a lot of question marks hanging over the Orchard County at the minute, and they won’t really be answered until the summer months. With the new rules in place, it’s unknown territory for pretty much everyone involved.

This week’s Gaelic Lives looks ahead to the All-Ireland semi-finals this weekend and we have Ulster minor winning reaction.