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Replying To IronSleeve: "Ok. So the 8 team championships I think it's safe to say are a success. But the structures need work. The Championships and Leagues not aligned can lead to silly stuff. If Aughavas had an off day they'd be Div1 league and Junior Championship next year. But even teams playing one division lower in the league are not prepared properly for a higher championship.
The current 4 game open draw is a bit of craic alright but not really fit for purpose if you want your championship to be merit based. Most had a good oul laugh at Mary's this year. Truth is though they got a rough draw and if they were relegated they'd have made Intermediate very uncompetitive next year, probably even more so than Allen Gaels this year. Funny perhaps but not good for Leitrim football, especially for the 7 other Intermediate clubs.
So what to do? How about this? Align league and championship asap. Same teams in both in all grades.
Play the league and then seed a 2 groups of 4 championship based on league performance. FIrst and second in league seeded one for championship, third and fourth seeded two and so on.
The league thus becomes very competitive because it will have a big bearing on your chances in the championship. You want your team to have as high a seed as possible so the league in effect becomes part of the championship (without being part of the championship!)." Partly what made the senior championship entertaining this year was the fact Carrick were in such trouble. That is what the luck of the draw is all about. The club with the biggest population in the county and a large management team shouldn't have struggled so much but they did.
If they weren't good enough for the senior championship which they almost weren't this year then they should have been dropped to intermediate...or are you suggesting they get an indefinite stay in senior? That's a bizarre take.
They barely beat last year's intermediate champions in a relegation battle remember...who is to say how they'd do at intermediate in that case.
alalalalalum (USA) - Posts: 166 - 09/12/2025 21:55:38
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Replying To moros: "Mickey.please please thank you thank you..you change the world lol" This makes no sense thank you so much. Are you sure you spelt your username correctly please??
bláthach (Leitrim) - Posts: 351 - 09/12/2025 21:57:35
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Any new additions to the panel this year?
Leitrimforsam2024 (Leitrim) - Posts: 20 - 10/12/2025 00:20:33
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Replying To IronSleeve: "Ok. So the 8 team championships I think it's safe to say are a success. But the structures need work. The Championships and Leagues not aligned can lead to silly stuff. If Aughavas had an off day they'd be Div1 league and Junior Championship next year. But even teams playing one division lower in the league are not prepared properly for a higher championship.
The current 4 game open draw is a bit of craic alright but not really fit for purpose if you want your championship to be merit based. Most had a good oul laugh at Mary's this year. Truth is though they got a rough draw and if they were relegated they'd have made Intermediate very uncompetitive next year, probably even more so than Allen Gaels this year. Funny perhaps but not good for Leitrim football, especially for the 7 other Intermediate clubs.
So what to do? How about this? Align league and championship asap. Same teams in both in all grades.
Play the league and then seed a 2 groups of 4 championship based on league performance. FIrst and second in league seeded one for championship, third and fourth seeded two and so on.
The league thus becomes very competitive because it will have a big bearing on your chances in the championship. You want your team to have as high a seed as possible so the league in effect becomes part of the championship (without being part of the championship!)." I'd definitely agree with linking the league and the championship. Not sure how seeding would work in terms of rewarding the clubs that perform well in the league? Top two teams get to play all their championship games at home? Bottom two away? Bottom one/two clubs in league are relegated to division 2/intermediate unless they reach the semi finals in the championship? As I say, not claiming to know the best way but the more jeopardy there is for clubs the better.
As an aside, St. Mary's woes can't all be attributed to the luck of the draw.
ThePowerhouse (Leitrim) - Posts: 275 - 10/12/2025 09:59:59
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Replying To ThePowerhouse: "I'd definitely agree with linking the league and the championship. Not sure how seeding would work in terms of rewarding the clubs that perform well in the league? Top two teams get to play all their championship games at home? Bottom two away? Bottom one/two clubs in league are relegated to division 2/intermediate unless they reach the semi finals in the championship? As I say, not claiming to know the best way but the more jeopardy there is for clubs the better.
As an aside, St. Mary's woes can't all be attributed to the luck of the draw." Bit of a hairy one alright. Cos if a team to be relegated ends up in the business end of the championship, do you relegate another non-performer in the league?
What if two of the top team don't go for it in the league and then make the championship semis? Do you then relegate the third- and fourth-last teams in the league? What do they do in other counties?
As for a more equitable distribution of opponents, you seed the teams into a top 4 and a bottom 4. Then each team plays a game against two teams (one home, one away) in each group.
Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1243 - 10/12/2025 13:39:00
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Based on league will never happen. Any clubs with players involved with county would be at a disadvantage waiting on their players to come back in. Even if the games were played on weekends outside of county and all players 'released', some players will have knocks and might not play or be allowed play by the county team even if they only had a niggle.
The current system based off championship the previous year is why there is such a buzz around championship. If a team won intermediate this year on an outside chance and had a poor league next year, they would remain in intermediate.. No Way, they have earned their Senior Status for a a year by winning the Intermediate Championship the year before.
leitrimlad15 (Leitrim) - Posts: 119 - 10/12/2025 17:15:05
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On a different note, the big news about demographics and the dying of rural clubs. I feel if Kerry or one of the big counties wasn't affected it would fall on deaf ears. Clubs in smaller counties are voicing their opinion in years on this and no action taken.
To note, Ballinaglera GAA wrote a great letter years ago regrading this.. did it go any further... of course not. It was ONLY little Ballinaglera. Declan Bohan wrote a fantastic article a few years ago on demographics in the county and it was quite the eye opener with even town clubs look set to struggle too. Again, did it go anywhere.. no it was ONLY little Leitrim.
oscarsportscapital (Sligo) - Posts: 6 - 10/12/2025 20:50:33
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https://www.leitrimobserver.ie/news/gaa/705906/bohan-s-warning-on-population-challenges-a-timely-wake-up-call.html
oscarsportscapital (Sligo) - Posts: 6 - 10/12/2025 20:54:21
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Replying To Tacaí Liatroma: "Bit of a hairy one alright. Cos if a team to be relegated ends up in the business end of the championship, do you relegate another non-performer in the league?
What if two of the top team don't go for it in the league and then make the championship semis? Do you then relegate the third- and fourth-last teams in the league? What do they do in other counties?
As for a more equitable distribution of opponents, you seed the teams into a top 4 and a bottom 4. Then each team plays a game against two teams (one home, one away) in each group." Nobody is relegated from the league directly. However if they finish bottom two in it they're automatically at a disadvantage because they're lowest seed in the Championship. Bottom teams in the two championship groups in a relegation playoff. One Up One Down.
IronSleeve (Leitrim) - Posts: 66 - 10/12/2025 23:09:46
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Replying To oscarsportscapital: "On a different note, the big news about demographics and the dying of rural clubs. I feel if Kerry or one of the big counties wasn't affected it would fall on deaf ears. Clubs in smaller counties are voicing their opinion in years on this and no action taken.
To note, Ballinaglera GAA wrote a great letter years ago regrading this.. did it go any further... of course not. It was ONLY little Ballinaglera. Declan Bohan wrote a fantastic article a few years ago on demographics in the county and it was quite the eye opener with even town clubs look set to struggle too. Again, did it go anywhere.. no it was ONLY little Leitrim." Did you not see the week long slot on RTE news recently? Marty visited Kerry to highlight their plight. Give me a break Marty. Should have called down to Leitrim, we've been dealing with this since the age of time.
Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1606 - 11/12/2025 10:19:24
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Replying To oscarsportscapital: "On a different note, the big news about demographics and the dying of rural clubs. I feel if Kerry or one of the big counties wasn't affected it would fall on deaf ears. Clubs in smaller counties are voicing their opinion in years on this and no action taken.
To note, Ballinaglera GAA wrote a great letter years ago regrading this.. did it go any further... of course not. It was ONLY little Ballinaglera. Declan Bohan wrote a fantastic article a few years ago on demographics in the county and it was quite the eye opener with even town clubs look set to struggle too. Again, did it go anywhere.. no it was ONLY little Leitrim." This is at a time we have the fastest growing population of any county in Connacht percentage wise and the largest number of people living here since 1961. It obviously isn't going into rural districts.
alalalalalum (USA) - Posts: 166 - 11/12/2025 10:59:16
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Replying To oscarsportscapital: "On a different note, the big news about demographics and the dying of rural clubs. I feel if Kerry or one of the big counties wasn't affected it would fall on deaf ears. Clubs in smaller counties are voicing their opinion in years on this and no action taken.
To note, Ballinaglera GAA wrote a great letter years ago regrading this.. did it go any further... of course not. It was ONLY little Ballinaglera. Declan Bohan wrote a fantastic article a few years ago on demographics in the county and it was quite the eye opener with even town clubs look set to struggle too. Again, did it go anywhere.. no it was ONLY little Leitrim." It's such a pity to see the rural clubs diminishing. I feel though that it's a much larger issue at scale rather than just the GAA's fault. Immigration has a massive factor to play in this. We seen how well Ballyboden has got on this year, although a quality club, they received 4 quality transfers this year from across the country, with all players coming from small clubs. Shows that players can't be affording to coming down from Dublin to their club due to cost of diesel etc. If this problem wants to be fixed I think it starts with government initiatives to get young people back from abroad and down from dublin and get people back into their rural communities. Aughnasheelin and Aughawillian is two examples of once good clubs that lost a lot of key players and are now showing the consequences of a rural depopulation.
Loughallenbanks (Leitrim) - Posts: 13 - 11/12/2025 11:18:32
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Replying To leitrimlad15: "Based on league will never happen. Any clubs with players involved with county would be at a disadvantage waiting on their players to come back in. Even if the games were played on weekends outside of county and all players 'released', some players will have knocks and might not play or be allowed play by the county team even if they only had a niggle.
The current system based off championship the previous year is why there is such a buzz around championship. If a team won intermediate this year on an outside chance and had a poor league next year, they would remain in intermediate.. No Way, they have earned their Senior Status for a a year by winning the Intermediate Championship the year before." Intermediate Champions would be playing senior league and championship following year. Championship seedings based on the league of the same season.
IronSleeve (Leitrim) - Posts: 66 - 11/12/2025 11:28:03
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The document the GAA brought out last week was both immense work and depressing.
I'd suggest everyone should be reading it.
On one hand it shows the sheer interest in Football in the county where we have the most active Gaa players per population but also shows the reality of what is to come in the coming years.
The question is how many of our clubs will survive?
A poster made a point regarding Ballinaglera letter earlier. It was brilliant.
The same when Ballinamore Gaa got involved when AIB tried to close their local ATMs.
Both of these examples show the power of the Gaa when they want to lobby Decision Makers and Govt but it also shows both Gaa HQ and local clubs need to start taking matters into their own hands and begin lobbying for things that directly effect them. - Planning being the number one issue in rural clubs in Leitrim.
Its now easier then ever to work from home or hybrid - but thats not appealing to our young people if they have to live with Mammy & Daddy or pay extortionate rent somehwere.
Someone mentioned to me recently that 5 of Aughawillans best players are now abroad and they also finished their game where they were embarrassed by Ballinamore with 5 players well into their 40s - Not sure if we will find a better example.
Would Ballinamore have won the last two championships if they had all their top players at home who have left?
The parochial nature of the Gaa is one of the things we all love. That will be ruined once the likes of Augawillan, Drumreilly and Aughnasheelin are forced to amalgamate together at senior level.
Same goes for the likes of Aughavas & Cloone or Drumkieran & Dromahair.
The towns in the centre of Leitrim surrounding Carrick, close to the motorway or the train to Dublin are going to take over.
Unless its easier for our young people to build houses in rural areas the majority of our clubs in rural places have a battle to survive.
Leitrim1234 (Leitrim) - Posts: 352 - 11/12/2025 12:19:45
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Replying To Leitrim1234: "The document the GAA brought out last week was both immense work and depressing.
I'd suggest everyone should be reading it.
On one hand it shows the sheer interest in Football in the county where we have the most active Gaa players per population but also shows the reality of what is to come in the coming years.
The question is how many of our clubs will survive?
A poster made a point regarding Ballinaglera letter earlier. It was brilliant.
The same when Ballinamore Gaa got involved when AIB tried to close their local ATMs.
Both of these examples show the power of the Gaa when they want to lobby Decision Makers and Govt but it also shows both Gaa HQ and local clubs need to start taking matters into their own hands and begin lobbying for things that directly effect them. - Planning being the number one issue in rural clubs in Leitrim.
Its now easier then ever to work from home or hybrid - but thats not appealing to our young people if they have to live with Mammy & Daddy or pay extortionate rent somehwere.
Someone mentioned to me recently that 5 of Aughawillans best players are now abroad and they also finished their game where they were embarrassed by Ballinamore with 5 players well into their 40s - Not sure if we will find a better example.
Would Ballinamore have won the last two championships if they had all their top players at home who have left?
The parochial nature of the Gaa is one of the things we all love. That will be ruined once the likes of Augawillan, Drumreilly and Aughnasheelin are forced to amalgamate together at senior level.
Same goes for the likes of Aughavas & Cloone or Drumkieran & Dromahair.
The towns in the centre of Leitrim surrounding Carrick, close to the motorway or the train to Dublin are going to take over.
Unless its easier for our young people to build houses in rural areas the majority of our clubs in rural places have a battle to survive." You'd imagine in that regard a club like Dromahair should be booming numbers wise...a short enough hop to major urban centre like Sligo. It could be a commuter town for it.
alalalalalum (USA) - Posts: 166 - 11/12/2025 13:46:08
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Replying To IronSleeve: "Intermediate Champions would be playing senior league and championship following year. Championship seedings based on the league of the same season." Ah that makes more sense.. this I can get behind.
leitrimlad15 (Leitrim) - Posts: 119 - 11/12/2025 15:27:24
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Replying To Square_B: "Did you not see the week long slot on RTE news recently? Marty visited Kerry to highlight their plight. Give me a break Marty. Should have called down to Leitrim, we've been dealing with this since the age of time." That's what prompted me to post here. I was sitting at home when Marty came on and my exact sentiment was if it was if it wasn't Kerry, who'd care. RTE/Marty obviously knew this report was about to come out and decided to head to a big county to get as much publicity.
oscarsportscapital (Sligo) - Posts: 6 - 11/12/2025 15:33:58
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Replying To Leitrim1234: "The document the GAA brought out last week was both immense work and depressing.
I'd suggest everyone should be reading it.
On one hand it shows the sheer interest in Football in the county where we have the most active Gaa players per population but also shows the reality of what is to come in the coming years.
The question is how many of our clubs will survive?
A poster made a point regarding Ballinaglera letter earlier. It was brilliant.
The same when Ballinamore Gaa got involved when AIB tried to close their local ATMs.
Both of these examples show the power of the Gaa when they want to lobby Decision Makers and Govt but it also shows both Gaa HQ and local clubs need to start taking matters into their own hands and begin lobbying for things that directly effect them. - Planning being the number one issue in rural clubs in Leitrim.
Its now easier then ever to work from home or hybrid - but thats not appealing to our young people if they have to live with Mammy & Daddy or pay extortionate rent somehwere.
Someone mentioned to me recently that 5 of Aughawillans best players are now abroad and they also finished their game where they were embarrassed by Ballinamore with 5 players well into their 40s - Not sure if we will find a better example.
Would Ballinamore have won the last two championships if they had all their top players at home who have left?
The parochial nature of the Gaa is one of the things we all love. That will be ruined once the likes of Augawillan, Drumreilly and Aughnasheelin are forced to amalgamate together at senior level.
Same goes for the likes of Aughavas & Cloone or Drumkieran & Dromahair.
The towns in the centre of Leitrim surrounding Carrick, close to the motorway or the train to Dublin are going to take over.
Unless its easier for our young people to build houses in rural areas the majority of our clubs in rural places have a battle to survive." If you go back far enough on these pages, it's been talked about before. I believe that we will see clubs combine along the lines of how the ladies teams are setup at the minute. Anyhow before all the doom & gloom, we have to try & help ourselves. Leitrim has a man at the top table in the IDA, Michael Lohan from Cloone. A man that surely could help. I am not in anyway suggesting he pulls us any favours but for god sake get him and other stakeholders around a table and see what solutions are out there. The county council is the biggest stakeholder in the county and it has to start there. In the 90's we had lots of inward investment to the county, the Ballinamore Ballyconnell canal opened, Masonite & MBNA landed. We can do it again. Leitrim is a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1606 - 11/12/2025 16:05:21
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Replying To Square_B: "If you go back far enough on these pages, it's been talked about before. I believe that we will see clubs combine along the lines of how the ladies teams are setup at the minute. Anyhow before all the doom & gloom, we have to try & help ourselves. Leitrim has a man at the top table in the IDA, Michael Lohan from Cloone. A man that surely could help. I am not in anyway suggesting he pulls us any favours but for god sake get him and other stakeholders around a table and see what solutions are out there. The county council is the biggest stakeholder in the county and it has to start there. In the 90's we had lots of inward investment to the county, the Ballinamore Ballyconnell canal opened, Masonite & MBNA landed. We can do it again. Leitrim is a great place to live, work and raise a family." We also had a Taoiseach born in a house 100 yards from Leitrim border too back then, which helped I'd imagine. Those days seem gone.
alalalalalum (USA) - Posts: 166 - 11/12/2025 17:07:49
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