London taking National Football League by storm: Michael Maher on the 'no excuse' culture driving the Exiles

In an unlikely turn of events, London have been the standout story of the 2022 National Football League thus far.

The Exiles were disrupted by the pandemic more than any other intercounty team, and they were not able to play a competitive match for 23 months.

The forced standstill was not an ideal start to Michael Maher's reign.

He was one of 12 new intercounty managers at the start of the 2020 season. Of that dozen, six have already departed their roles. Dessie Farrell, Padraic Joyce, Seamus McEnaney, Rory Gallagher and David Power remain, along with Maher.

But the London boss' reign is only truly getting underway now.

And what a start it has been to 2022. Wins over Carlow, Waterford and Leitrim have catapulted the Exiles to the top of the Division 4 table.

'No excuses'

So what is the secret to their stunning start, given they were starved of match practice?

"No one could have dreamed it up," Maher told Sky Sports.

"They're a really good group of lads, a good group of players. We all made a vow that when we got back together, we were going to leave absolutely no stone unturned, give it everything. And just a real 'no excuses' culture amongst the group.

"We've just focused totally on getting right what we can get right, control what we can control, and the rest could take care of itself. We couldn't do anything about the lack of games, the lack of match practice.

"All the rhetoric about London seemed to be about the lack of this and the lack of that. But we made sure where we were lacking, we made up for it in other areas, and the results certainly proved that the lads have knuckled down and improved. It's a testament to them. They've deserved everything they've got so far."

A real 'no excuses' culture amongst the group.

And with no matches to play given travel restrictions at various times over the past two years, the Ruislip outfit had to drive their own standards.

"Every training session, we brought a level of intensity to it that you'd expect on a match day," Maher outlined.

"And we said to each other, 'whenever you're doing a session, train like you're going to play at the weekend. So that come the heat of the battle, you're able to stand up and be counted. And you'll never be found wanting'.

"So far in every game, that work has stood for us."

It certainly has. London trailed at half-time in all three of their games so far, but managed to turn it around on each occasion.

Maher described the team's mentality as a "never-say-die attitude".

"There's a will to win there that I've never seen before. And it's absolutely wonderful," he added.

"It has been three comebacks now. It could have gone either way today, Leitrim were a good team. Just the wonderful spirit, never-say-die attitude. They're a very good footballing group as well."

And it is an eclectic mix of players which is driving the 35-strong panel.

"15 have played for London before. So we have 20 new people in our panel," Maher explained.

"In that 35, we have 10 London-born players and 25 Irish-born lads. So it's a great mix, youth and experience, couple of lads that have played with London before and a hell of a lot who haven't.

"It's been very important that the lads that were in with the panel before, that they helped to blend the new lads in and make sure the new lads are coming in and buying straight in."

'I was more nervous in that plane than I was in the last minute of that game!'

Maher was en route home on Sunday evening when he took the call to chat through their latest triumph.

There was no time to stand around and admire their victory over Leitrim at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence. It was straight back to Knock Airport for a flight to Stansted.

And if he thought that Storm Franklin had impacted Sunday's football, it affected the flight even more so.

"It took four goes to get her down [onto the Stansted runway]. We got down eventually. The weather is terrible here," Maher joked.

"I'm not a great flyer! I was more nervous in that plane than I was in the last minute of that game today!"

He returns to his day job as a PE teacher on Monday. And the process starts again. Wexford come to town next Sunday, but London will no longer enjoy the element of surprise.

"I hope the people of London come out and give the lads that noise. There's nothing like having a home crowd behind you in any situation. Winning, losing, drawing, that crowd can really [make a difference]," he said.

"The lads deserve a big support behind them. It's a big game. But make no bones about it, Wexford are a good team. I've seen them first hand myself this season.

"I've massive faith in the group that if they perform and they hit all the benchmarks we want them to hit in each and every game, then there's no reason to believe that we can't be in a position to win every game in Division 4.

"There's obviously games that you can underperform. But so far, we've performed in every game. And it just goes to show, we ended up getting the results. So next week will be no different."