Nowhere in Tyrone is the rivalry with Armagh felt more than in the east of the county. Schools sharing catchment areas, plenty of inter-marriage and two teams being at their peak at the same time made a toxic rivalry almost unbearable in the mid-2000s. Those epic Championship encounters defined an era of football as both counties drove each other on to never before scaled heights.
Amazingly this weekend’s encounter at the Athletic Grounds will be only the second National Football League meeting between Tyrone and Armagh since 2003 when Armagh were reigning All Ireland champions. The only other league meeting between the counties occurred in Division 2 in 2016 and ended in a draw. Since the National Football League was restructured into Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 in 2008, Tyrone and Armagh have been kept apart with promotions and relegations regularly coinciding.
It’s fair to say, Armagh have had a difficult time since their last Ulster Championship success in 2008 and the rivalry has lost a lot of its fizz. Between 2011 and 2020, the counties met four times in Championship with Armagh’s sole victory being a 2014 qualifier in Omagh.
Armagh appear to be making strides and had a fine win over Monaghan in Enniskillen last weekend. Our defeat to Donegal leaves the Logan-Dooher management still searching for that first competitive win in charge and very often the league can throw up something interesting.
What about that 2003 league meeting then? Tyrone had a new manager in charge that season and won that day. They also won the league. And they also won the All Ireland!
Unofficial Tyrone 