The age of empires is over - we think. Early noughties here we come.
We know now that a gap of two decades plus will be bridged for whoever wins Sam Maguire in a fortnight's time.
Not exactly the curse of Biddy Early being dispatched but in the context of modern football, pretty trippy stuff.
"I think football needs this," said Padráic Joyce, when asked about the 'novel' decider, the first ever meeting of Galway and Armagh in the showpiece.
The pair have, however, been running into each other with increasing regularity in the All-Ireland series.
There was that wild and chaotic quarter-final in 2022 which ended in penalties and prompted words of disapproval from the then Taoiseach and Minister of Sport the following day.
The last two years have seen them lumped together in the group phase, facing off in Round 3 in both years. Armagh finished the two matches in a state of jubilation, even if they didn't manage to actually win the game this year.
The draw was enough for them to nab top spot and the direct route to the quarter-final, and it looked highly unlikely they'd manage as much after an insipid first half performance.
In the wake of that draw in Markievicz Park, which didn't exactly leave the neutrals gasping for more, did Joyce foresee the two teams meeting again in the All-Ireland final?
"Well if you ask Kieran McGeeney next week what was texted to him that night, that will answer the question for you," he replied cryptically.
What was texted to him?
(Pause) "Ask him."
McGeeney, having cast several monkeys off his back, was pretty relaxed and forthcoming and may well decide to show the press corps said text, if asked.
Galway were three from three against Armagh in championship until the present decade, Joyce part of a team which edged home by a point despite a shocking late implosion in their All-Ireland winning campaign in 2001.
The westerners won two fairly off-Broadway qualifiers back in 2013 and 2015, the latter concluding McGeeney's desultory first campaign in charge.
But the rivalry, which barely existed, has kicked off in earnest in the 2020s, with only a single point separating the teams in three games in the last years.
"We won on penalties, they won by a point, it was a draw the last day," notes Joyce. "There's only a kick of a ball in it. And it’s going to be a novel pairing in a final.
"Two teams are going to go at it hammer and tongs. May the best team win."
For Galway, Sunday's semi-final presented a tricky psychological challenge given the euphoria that followed the win over Dublin, which was accompanied by viral Galway Bay FM clips and TikTok footage of wedding celebrations.
There was ominous precedent there with Donegal (2014) and Mayo (2021) both delivering flat displays after taking down the Dubs.
"After the emotion of beating Dublin the last day, it would have been a damp squib had we lost today.
"It (the Dublin win) wouldn't have meant much to us or it wouldn't have been really talked about. We spoke a lot about that with the lads.
"In fairness, we obviously enjoyed that Saturday night after Dublin and the lads got back down to work the following morning.
"They did a recovery session in Blackrock in Salthill like they always do. They got looked after by Finian Hanley (ex-Galway full-back) next door for breakfast. And then we focused on Donegal."
Like his opposite number Jim McGuinness, Joyce honed in on the importance of Galway's experience in 2022 as a key factor in the closing stages. While Donegal's last involvement in the last-four was in McGuinness's last year in charge a full decade ago, Galway had the five-point win over Derry two summers ago to draw upon.
Not only that but the Galway manager reckoned their more testing draw in the group phase was a benefit.
"I think we were a more battled hardened team coming down the stretch, if you look at the games we played – Mayo in the Connacht final. The Sligo game obviously we were in trouble but we found a way to win it, and then we have had Derry, Armagh, Westmeath, Dublin the last day.
"Whereas Donegal, the last two games they have coasted through Clare and Louth easier than they would have liked.
"It showed in the game on Saturday night even. Armagh were the more battle hardened team and they found a way to stick it out.
"I think that was the difference, we are probably a little bit more developed than Donegal, to be honest."
In those nine championship games, Galway, who ancient GAA lore paints as cavalier, laid-back entertainers, have conceded only one goal, a miserly tally. The goal in question being the one which threw Armagh a lifeline in Sligo, coming courtesy of a kickout malfunction.
Joyce notes it's a far cry from his formative months in the job pre-Covid, when he was characterised, including by himself, as the man who return Galway to their purist roots.
"I was probably a bit naïve when I came into the job, saying we'd play fancy football. We did for a long time. But we had to try and shore up our defence.
"But again, that’s down the work Cian O’Neill and John Divilly have done with the lads. They’re well structured.
"But the lads in there…you look at what’s in there. Johnny McGrath, Jack Glynn. They’re not massive giants. Seán Fitzgerald. They’re young lads who came in and they’re doing outstanding. To a man they’re playing serious football.
"It always gives you a great chance when you're not conceding big scores."
The victory came at the end of a sombre week for Galway and in particular Joyce's own generation of players. Before the game, the Galway players paid tribute to the late John O'Mahony by assembling in a flying arrow formation during the tribute video to the two-time All-Ireland winning manager that was broadcast on the big screen.
"When the news came up to us last Sunday morning we were obviously heartbroken," said Joyce.
"Obviously we shed a tear because the man has meant so much to me personally and the Galway players – our WhatsApp group from 98-01 was hopping.
"Lads were really heartbroken. You can't be heartbroken unless you love someone. We loved him as a man, he was a great manager, a brilliant friend, a really good mentor to me as well over the last couple of years – I’ll miss talking to him, I’ll miss his phone calls, I’ll miss his advice.
"Our thoughts are with Geraldine and the kids all week. Tough week, to be honest, but we had to try and separate the emotion of that and get prepared for the game, which I thought we did well.
"In fairness, I think he got a fantastic tribute there before the game."
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