The Irish Football Pyramid – or lack of (part 2 - Ulster)
Christy McLoughlin of Cockhill Celtic keeps his eyes on the ball against ST Mochta's in an FAI Intermediate Cup game in 2021 Credit: Martin Doherty (ETPhotos)
After an initial foray into Munster’s current ‘non-league’ system, it’s now time to set the scene up north in Ulster.
Given that most the province’s football activities are under the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland’s Irish Football Association, it leaves the FAI with minimal scope here to add Ulster to the ‘adult football pyramid’.
There is potential for a cross-border system, but this is hugely unlikely in the near future. So, for now, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan are the three Ulster counties under the FAI’s remit.
The picture of Ulster football changed drastically in 2023 with the demise of the Ulster Senior League (USL), the sole intermediate level of football for the province.
By then the league consisted of just five sides; Cockhill Celtic, Bonagee United, Letterkenny Rovers, Derry City Reserves and Finn Harps Reserves.
The league was indeed on life-support at this stage and Cockhill had won the previous ten league titles. It was a useful outlet for both Harps and Derry to offer football to players who had concluded League of Ireland Academy football but the departures of Fanad United, Monaghan and Swilly Rovers over time saw its days numbered.
With the conclusion of the USL, the three non-reserve sides took their place in the junior football system. Cockhill returned to the Inishowen Football League, the smaller of the two junior league systems in Donegal, for clubs on the Inishowen Peninsula.
Bonagee and Letterkenny moved to the Donegal Junior League, which operates for clubs across the rest of the county. Also in this league at present are Fanad United, who had a short stint in the FAI’s previous attempt at a third tier, the ‘Newstalk A Championship’, prior to its disbandment in 2011.
The Donegal sides were regular opponents for Munster and Leinster Senior League sides in the Intermediate Cup but they are now entered into the FAI Junior Cup instead. Indeed, Cockhill were crowned Junior Cup champions in 2024, their first time being eligible for the tournament since 2005 when they last played at this level.
The third and final junior league in Ulster is the Monaghan Cavan League. Numbers are limited, with 13 clubs across two leagues. In their ranks however are the former League of Ireland outfit Monaghan United who still play out of Gortakeegan, twelve years on from the club’s mid-season departure from the LOI.
The Cavan-Monaghan Underage League did partake in the underage national leagues for a number of seasons until 2020 but both counties are now no longer represented outside of junior football.
As said previously, the majority of Ulster’s football pyramid falls under the Northern Ireland football league system, and the FAI have little influence here.
We can see with Derry City’s prominent League of Ireland history that the Northern border doesn’t have to be a barrier in Irish football. However it likely will be in any pyramid considerations and it will be intriguing to see how the Ulster region is incorporated into Irish football’s new structure.
It is certainly an area that punches above its weight in Irish football. Finn Harps are the flag-bearers but Monaghan, Fanad, Letterkenny and Cockhill have made their own history and will no doubt hope to do similar in the years ahead.
