The annual Killarney Advertiser start-of-season survey has revealed Kerry supporters’ expectations for the 2024 campaign, which gets up and running today with a home league match against Derry.

After winning the All-Ireland in impressive fashion in 2022, fans went into the 2023 season knowing that few teams manage to achieve that feat in successive seasons.

As it turned out, The Kingdom struggled to replicate their All-Ireland-winning heroics, eventually falling short against Dublin in the final after a season that could be best described as a mixed bag.

They may have tempered their expectations last year but the results of our latest poll indicate that fans have much higher hopes for 2024.

76% of survey respondents think that Kerry will reach the All-Ireland final again this year with the vast majority of this cohort (62%) predicting that Sam Maguire will be returning to the Kingdom in July. This is a significantly higher percentage than last year when only 42% of supporters felt Kerry would claim the ultimate prize.

That means that 14% reckon Kerry will get to the final and lose, while roughly a quarter (24%) predict that they will fall at the semi-final stage.

At the beginning of last season, when asked what would constitute a “good” year for Kerry, 54% of those polled said only an All-Ireland title would do. Now, 79% of fans say they will only be happy if Kerry go all the way.

Last year, 32% said they would be content with reaching the All-Ireland final. This year, just 14% would accept another final appearance.

Neighbours Cork defeated Kerry in last weekend’s McGrath Cup final but, much like last year, it appears as though the green and gold faithful are placing little stock in that particular result. Once again, 96% of supporters expect Kerry to win the Munster Championship.

As for the National League, Kerry will be without some key first team players for the opening rounds, but supporters’ expectations are still markedly higher than last year.

Roughly 41% think that Kerry will win Division 1 (up from 21% in 2023) and 17% think they will get to the final and lose.

A good number of fans have been more conservative with their predictions, though: 42% are projecting a third or fourth place finish.

When asked which three opponents Kerry should be most wary of in 2024, most fans picked out All-Ireland champions Dublin (87%) and Derry (83%). Galway (43%) also received a significant portion of the votes. Mayo (13%) came in fourth.

Jack O’Connor’s side host Derry in Austin Stack Park this evening in their first competitive outing of the season. Throw-in is at 5.30pm. The match will be televised on RTÉ.