Could this finally be their year?
On Friday, Paddy Power took to the streets of Chicago in search of curse-breaking advice for last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists, Mayo.
The betting giant’s campaign to break Mayo’s 66-year wait for All-Ireland glory coincides with the Green and Red’s campaign opener against Sligo in the Connacht Championship.
The story goes that the 66-year wait is not down to certain shortcomings on the pitch, but rather a curse that was put on the Mayo team after they won their last All-Ireland in 1951.
As they were passing through the town of Foxford on the journey home, the team allegedly failed to respect a funeral cortège and the presiding priest put a curse on the team vowing that they would never win another All-Ireland final until all members of the 1951 team had passed away.
Curse or no curse, Mayo have been unsuccessful in eight attempts since 1989 to bring Sam McGuire back west and at this stage, anything would be worth a shot.
So, in order to help the county out, Paddy Power ventured all the way to the Windy City to place an advert outside the home of the Chicago Cubs, who last year put an end to a curse of their own to win their first Major League Baseball World Series since 1908, in the hope that the same luck might rub off on Mayo.
We took a small trip to the USA, with the aim of inspiring Mayo to All-Ireland glory with the advice of the curse-breaking Chicago Cubs! pic.twitter.com/p45rNr1x4C
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) May 19, 2017
Spokesperson for Paddy Power, Féilim Mac An Iomaire, said: “In their quest for All-Ireland glory, Mayo have tried everything from trips to Knock, lighting candles to putting Aidan O’ Shea in at full forward but nothing has worked for them to date.
“Hopefully with the help of the Chicago Cubs’ curse breaking expertise they can finally make their breakthrough and our gesture won’t be as empty as their trophy cabinet come September.”
