[1] However, it would be for the most significant breach of on-field discipline in the sport's history that the 1996 All-Ireland final would be remembered.

[1] Tommy Dowd got a goal and Brendan Reilly[3] got the winning point but none of this matters: all is forgotten now apart from the infamous brawl which broke out over by the Cusack Stand in the shadow of Hill 16.

Every man on the pitch soon found himself in the middle of the melee, apart from Meath's Brendan Reilly, Mayo goalkeeper John Madden and his full-back Kevin Cahill.

Referee Pat McEnaney sought to punish those he deemed the worst offenders.

McHale has never claimed not to have been involved in the brawl that day; indeed, he is on record as saying: "I was right in the middle right from the start".

Meath won by a point, with goals by Trevor Giles (penalty) and Tommy Dowd.