Underdogs they may be, but the young bloods on the Galway All-Ireland panel aren't being allowed to enjoy it. The tribes boys are under pressure to bring Sam over the Shannon on Monday night.
A row over where the homecoming reception should be hosted has exposed old enmities and divisions in a county split between dioceses. For though the name may be Galway and the colours maroon-and-white, this is Tuam's gig this weekend.
Some 15 of the 30-strong panel were bred, fed and educated at St Jarlath's and St Patrick's in the cathedral town, while NUI Galway also claims credit for third-level tuition of nine of the panel, and the manager, John O'Mahony. Naturally, Tuam has claimed the right to host the reception whatever tomorrow's result.
It is no secret that fault lines within the county mark out hurling in the south and football in the north. The hurlers had their day in the 1980s, with three All-Irelands.
And there is always a substantial following for the fortunes of neighbouring Clare - where GAA passions run even deeper, to the extent that one Co Clare newsagent refused to sell copies of a national daily newspaper after this year's hurling final due to what he regarded as partisan sports reporting. He has taken to photocopying the death notices in the publication and sticking the copy up in his shop window.
Given what Galway call a "32-year final famine", tomorrow's match is a landmark for a whole generation. Many supporters and all of the current team were not born last time around and the mad scramble for tickets under the GAA's system of allocation is a new experience. Some 3,100 stand and 4,500 terrace tickets were earmarked for Galway, but about 20,000 want to travel.
Iarnrod Eireann's executive £89-a-head journey has been booked out for days and convoys of buses have been put on for fans. The big screen is the consolation for those staying at home. The weekend Galway Oyster Festival is making the best of a mass exodus by hosting an All-Ireland brunch.
With Silkes, Meehans, Fahys, Joyces and Fallons on the panel, it is as much a family as a team effort - with a bit of politics thrown in for good measure, through the Donnellan connection stretching back three generations.
Then there is Robin Doyle (23), a sub on the panel, whose sister, Vivienne Doyle, is the current Miss Ireland. Not surprisingly, the Doyle household in Ballybane has taken on a celebrity status and the brother and sister find themselves mobbed when they walk down Shop Street.
As pedigrees are scrutinised and old dog-eared programmes dug out, flags, hats, banners, bunting and badges have been flying out the door of the Galway Supporters' Club shop in Bridge Street, run by one of many backroom women, fabric shop owner Dympna Burke.
Also on sale there are 300 cassettes recorded by the Folk Footballers - alias Leo Moran of the Saw Doctors, and ex-doctor and drummer Padraig Stevens. Moran, who lives across from the Tuam stadium, is steeped in GAA - his father was on the county board and served as a referee. "All Leo ever wanted to be was a footballer but size intervened," his manager, Ollie Jennings, laughs.
While working with Stevens on a new album, Moran decided to do something for the match. Stevens, from Corofin, is also of that persuasion - his grandfather, Paddy "Staff", was on the Galway team.
The pair went into Tuam's Sun Street Studio to record one number after the home team beat Derry and came out with 10. Among the numbers are Galway (Take it Away), Kicking Into the Wind, Heroes of the Hour, Eye on the Ball, Maroon and White, What a Thrill (to Win), Give It Stick, The Roar of the Crowd, Come on the Stars, and . . . wait for it . . . Going to the All-Ireland. It is imaginatively entitled The Greatest Gaelic Football Team in the World Ever.
