The Irish Football Pyramid – or lack of (part 1 - Munster)

Part 1 – Munster

The League of Ireland ‘Third Tier’ has been a heavily discussed topic of late, with the FAI keen to implement the new division in the coming years as part of their ambition to ‘build an adult football pyramid’, as stated in their Football Pathways Plan. 

It remains to be seen what this pyramid will look like, or indeed who will make up the new third tier. The thought is that current amateur clubs will step-up, alongside reserve sides of LOI clubs and possible new entities following the Kerry FC model. 

The Pathways Plan envisages “a clear pyramid with promotion and relegation at all levels” and highlights the current fragmented position of Ireland’s football system. 

In the majority of nations, a football pyramid exists whereby clubs at the very bottom of the domestic game can, theoretically at least, gain promotion annually and climb the divisions from top to bottom. 

In England we have seen the likes of Luton, Wrexham and Salford utilise this and move their way up the leagues in recent years. Even closer to home we can see its application in both GAA and rugby where junior clubs can rise up the ranks, growing and developing along the way. In Irish football this cannot happen. We do not have a pyramid system. 

So what do we have exactly?

That’s the purpose of this series of articles, starting first down south in Munster.

To start off, all Irish football clubs can be classed as either senior, intermediate or junior. Our 20 League of Ireland outfits are the sole senior clubs. Below this you have what is effectively our present equivalent of a ‘third tier’ - the Munster Senior League (MSL) and Leinster Senior League (LSL). 

Clubs in these leagues are classed as intermediate. Finally, you have the remaining majority of Ireland’s leagues and clubs, who are all classified as junior. At present there is no way for an intermediate club to become senior, or a junior club to become intermediate, unless they apply and are accepted via the various league bodies. 

Welcome to the Munster Senior League

The intermediate clubs within the Munster Senior League at present are solely based in Cork. So yes, including Munster and Senior in the title of a Cork intermediate league is quite confusing. Welcome to the world of Irish football in its present guise. 

These 32 clubs range from the traditional non-league heavyweights such as Rockmount, Avondale and Ringmahon Rangers to the rural outfits of Macroom, Kanturk and Bandon.

These sides compete with their Leinster counterparts in the FAI Intermediate Cup and some will be familiar from being drawn in the FAI Cup. Junior clubs can apply to join the intermediate ranks if they feel they are capable, and a number such as Kinsale and Park United have done so in recent years, starting in the lowest intermediate division. There is no promotion/relegation however into the Munster intermediate ranks and there hasn’t been a non-Cork side playing at this level since Tralee Dynamos in the early 2000s.

The junior ranks 

Moving down into Munster Junior football, this is where the sport spreads right across the province. Kerry, Clare and Waterford are all quite straightforward, with their own respective county leagues and divisions. There are some exceptions to the county boundaries, such as Piltown AFC of Kilkenny playing in the Waterford & District League, but for the most part these leagues are operated on a county basis, and contain the likes of Killarney Celtic (Kerry), Newmarket Celtic (Clare), and Villa FC (Waterford) who compete well at national level in the FAI Junior Cup. 

Tipperary contains two separate junior league systems, North and South, which have their own respective clubs and divisions. Similarly, Limerick also has two separate systems, effectively using the N20 road as their dividing line. To the West the smaller Limerick Desmond League contains the likes of Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale, and to the East the Limerick & District League (LDL) which includes the city clubs such as Pike Rovers, Aisling Annacotty and Ballynanty. The LDL is also the home of Cork’s Charleville and Nenagh of Tipperary to add some provincial elements to the mix. 

This brings us back to Cork for the final element of junior football in Munster. As well as being the single home of intermediate football in the province, the Rebel County is home to no less than four separate junior football systems. The West Cork league stretches from Clonakilty down to the Kerry border, while the Cork Business League operates for clubs associated with business organisations predominantly near the city. The aforementioned Munster Senior League also has its own junior component, mostly for the reserve sides of its intermediate clubs although a number of ‘first teams’ such as Crosshaven and Ballincollig also compete here too. Brideview, of Tallow, recently joined these ranks following the demise of the West Waterford East Cork League and are the MSL’s sole non-Cork club at junior level. 

Finally there is the Cork AUL. A large cohort of intermediate clubs, including Rockmount, College Corinthians and Leeside, began life as junior sides here before moving to the MSL intermediate ranks. Today it mostly consists of smaller city clubs as well as some rural sides. 

So this paints the picture of what the current ‘non-league’ set-up is like in the Southern Province. While the region may be best known for its five League of Ireland clubs (Cork City, Cobh, Treaty, Kerry and Waterford), it is also home to one of only two intermediate leagues in the country as well as eleven separate junior league systems. Given the prevalence of football in the area it is likely that any third tier will contain at least some Munster representatives, and it will be interesting to see how Irish football’s new pyramid structure incorporates the region overall. 

Next week – Ulster

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— extratime.com (@extratime.com) November 21, 2024 at 6:36 AM