''Players of the Faithful'' is a documentary on

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

's bid to stop

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

becoming the first team to win five consecutive

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

s in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

. Loosehorse were responsible for putting it together; it followed on from their documentary ''

Micko ''Micko'' is a documentary about Mick O'Dwyer. It first aired on RTÉ One on 8 January 2018. Loosehorse were responsible for putting it together. O'Dwyer described Eoin Liston as "a great man for the Mars bars and a packet of Smarties Sma ...

'' which debuted earlier that year. It first aired on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

on Friday 28 December 2018 at 9:30 pm. At that time

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

had just won their fourth consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and would be bidding for their fifth in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. ''Players of the Faithful'' was repeated on RTÉ One on the night of 1 September 2019, following ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 197 ...

s highlights of the drawn

2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 132nd final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the culmination of the 2019 tournament, the top level of competition in Gaelic football. Reigning All-Ireland champi ...

in which Dublin's opponents were Kerry. The title is a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...

both on Offaly's nickname ("The Faithful County") and the series of prayers said by members of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The documentary shows how

Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board"), is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland c ...

and the ESB's role in employing young local men during this time led to many footballers for the county to choose from. It features contributions from five members of the 1982 Offaly team, including goalkeeper

Martin Furlong Martin Furlong (born 14 September 1946 in Tullamore, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Tullamore and was the first-choice goalkeeper at senior level on the Offaly county team from 1966 until 198 ...

(who saved a

Mikey Sheehy Michael "Mikey" Sheehy (born 28 July 1954) is an Irish Gaelic football selector and former player. His league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1973 to 1988. Born in Tralee, County ...

penalty) and

Séamus Darby Séamus Darby (born 1950, Rhode, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. Darby is best remembered for scoring an unexpected late goal that deprived Kerry of a 5-in-a-row in the 1982 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final ...

(who scored the most famous goal in the sport's history past

Charlie Nelligan Charlie Nelligan (born 1957 in Castleisland, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Castleisland Desmonds and at senior level for the Kerry county team between 1974 and 1991. He also playe ...

). Also featured are brothers Matt and

Richie Connor Richie Connor (born 1954 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and, from 1975 until 1989, at senior level for the Offaly county team. Walsh later served as manager of ...

and

Gerry Carroll Gerry Carroll (born 27 April 1987) is a People Before Profit politician from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who has represented the Belfast West constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly since May 2016. From 2014 until 2016 he also represented ...

. Carroll and Furlong are interviewed in New York, to where they both moved in later life. Also featured was 1982 Offaly manager Eugene McGee. McGee died shortly afterwards.

References

{{Offaly county football team Documentary 2018 in Gaelic football 2018 in Irish television Documentary films about Gaelic games Documentary films about sportspeople Gaelic games on television Irish documentary television films Kerry county football team Offaly county football team Sports television in Ireland