Scullion backs Derry to win All-Ireland within five years

Tony Scullion ©INPHO/Presseye/Lorcan Doherty

Derry legend Tony Scullion believes the Oak Leafers have the quality to win the Sam Maguire Cup within the next five years.

The 1993 All-Ireland winner, who was inducted into the 2026 Gaelic Writers Association Hall of Fame last Friday, believes the current squad still has the talent and experience to challenge for the game's biggest prize.

Reflecting on Derry's recent struggles, Scullion felt they missed a major opportunity during their successful spell of back-to-back Ulster titles, while their collapse against Monaghan in this year's provincial semi-final proved particularly damaging.

“I believe Derry can win an All-Ireland over the next five years,” he told GAA.ie.

“We still have quality. Brendan Rogers, Conor Glass, Shane McGuigan. There is still time left in them. They look after themselves so well. We have a lot of good quality players through the spine of our team and I really do think we can win a Sam Maguire in that timeframe.

“A few years ago, when we won back-to-back Ulster titles. I really do believe we could have gone on to win the All-Ireland title then.

“But I don't think we are a million miles away yet. This year we played Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final. We were 10 or 11 points up, I was at the game, we were playing great football and we just stopped and everything went wrong in the last 10 minutes for us. We went into extra-time and got beaten.

“That Derry team never recovered from that day in the Athletic Grounds. Even leaving Armagh that day, I felt it was going to be hard to recover from because the game was there, we had a foot in the Ulster final and we lost.

"The players and management never recovered from that game. We fizzled out for the rest of the season. That game hurt us, we could have been in an Ulster final to play Armagh and it could have been a completely different story. And I still say, I honestly think we have a panel of players, a number of young players coming through, hopefully they'll get an opportunity in the league and I still think we are not far away from dining at the top table.”