Since the start of the 2010s, Mayo have been one of the most consistent teams in the country. They may not have an All-Ireland to show for their endeavours, but a number of trips to the final as well as provincial triumphs point towards their success during this period.
One of the most impressive aspects of this was how long they spent competing in the top division of the National Football League. Prior to their relegation in 2020, they were the longest serving team in Division One having been there since 1997.
That's not to say they didn't have a few close scrapes with relegation along the way. One of them came in 2018, when Kevin McLoughlin got a last gasp point to earn a draw against Donegal in the final game, which was enough to keep them in the division.
As it turns out, that particular game also led to a pretty hilarious moment featuring a pair of Mayo legends.
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Keegan recalls experience 'on the beer' during Mayo relegation scrap
Both Lee Keegan and Cillian O'Connor were unavailable for that game due to injury, meaning they did not travel to Donegal with the rest of the panel.
Writing in his column for RTÉ, Keegan recalled how they instead went 'on the beer' and watch the fixture in a Westport pub. As the nerves got to them, O'Connor went down a rather unorthodox route during the closing moments of the match.
Our only experience of relegation was during Covid in the interrupted 2020 campaign. We were lucky, however - the league was shortened for 2021 and we came straight back up.
In 2018, we survived in the last second when Kevin McLoughlin nailed a brilliant score to get us a draw up in Ballybofey. Myself and Cillian O'Connor were injured that day and watched the game in a pub in Westport on the beer.
Cillian couldn't watch the last few minutes and picked up a Bible he found in the pub and read it in the toilet. I don't think he's especially a man of faith but maybe he was hoping it would help with some divine intervention.
It did that day, anyway.
It seemed to do the job anyway. Mayo would eventually suffer relegation in 2020, although they came straight back up the following year.
Having won the league in 2023, they will be hoping to getting involved in a scrap at the wrong end of the table this year.
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