Limerick Desmond League 2019/20

[Ballistinianlad]

The real question is will we have a league this season :)

[LimkRef]

Why wouldn't ye have a league this season didn't ye have 1 last year

[Shearer]

Why wouldn't ye have a league this season didn't ye have 1 last year
Just about..

[newtothis]

Is there any official start date yet? Gonna be very hard for teams to have a proper preseason.

[Ballistinianlad]

15th of September I believe.

[Shearer]

Cormac Roche gone to Janesboro according to an interview with Aidan Ryan, big loss for Abbeyfeale.

[sportsfanatic]

Paul Sheahan gone to regional as well

[Langerdan007]

I see the ref's have "accepted" the only eye witness account of the happening so the season looks like it'll start as scheduled and the team involved ride off into the sunset, i for one am shocked :rolleyes:

[Desmond18]

Refs back is good ... going by previous posts those two boys are huge losses to Abbey & Glin... any word on anymore leaving ?? I saw on Broadford Facebook page there looking for new manager... surprise to see after good season

[Ballistinianlad]

Clubs voting back in the outgoing committee left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. One or two of them conducting themselves appallingly throughout the debacle but were voted back in unopposed. With no one new seeming to have any interest in challenging the status quo the league is set to limp on. Oh well at least we can look forward to weekly updates from the PRO on how great Abbeyfeale are

[Kennycon]

Gavin Dillon gone to st Michael's can anyone confirm?

[noconnor16]

Clubs voting back in the outgoing committee left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. One or two of them conducting themselves appallingly throughout the debacle but were voted back in unopposed. With no one new seeming to have any interest in challenging the status quo the league is set to limp on. Oh well at least we can look forward to weekly updates from the PRO on how great Abbeyfeale are

Who is going to take on any position on that Committee?

[Ballistinianlad]

Who is going to take on any position on that Committee?

No one it seems. Hopefully things will run smoothly this year.
Any other transfers

[nathanbrown]

Hard to see anyone step up to contend with the top 3. I think Abbeyfeale and Broadford will end up fighting it out for 2nd place again, unless Newcastle West pull it together which I don't think will happen. I think the battle at the bottom will be better than recently and much tighter. I think the quality of the 2 teams coming up is much better than recent years. Adare have a good young side not afraid to play football and Kilcornan have a good mix of youth and experience. I think it'll finish something like
Rathkeale
Broadford
Abbey
NCW
Ballingarry
Glin
Adare
Kilcornan
Carrig
Granagh

Division 1 I think will be between Killeaney, Rathkeale B and Breska. I think Kildimo will follow Athea in getting relegated 2 years in a row. Shannonside might pull themselves together again
Killeaney
Rathkeale B
Breska
Shannonside
Creeves
NCW B
Shountrade
St Itas
Kildimo
Ballysteen

I would fancy Athea to come straight back up from Division 2 with considerable ease with Glantine to follow them. Askeaton and Pallaskenry to put up the biggest fight

[Shearer]

There'll be an Oscar Traynor team this year, managed by Jim Neenan with Gary Egan and Tom Kelly as assistants. Squad has already been named and can be seen in the image.
https://i.imgur.com/abq9lGC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/abq9lGC.jpg

[Ballistinianlad]

Good to see the inter league team back.

[westernflow]

Hard to see anyone step up to contend with the top 3. I think Abbeyfeale and Broadford will end up fighting it out for 2nd place again, unless Newcastle West pull it together which I don't think will happen. I think the battle at the bottom will be better than recently and much tighter. I think the quality of the 2 teams coming up is much better than recent years. Adare have a good young side not afraid to play football and Kilcornan have a good mix of youth and experience. I think it'll finish something like
Rathkeale
Broadford
Abbey
NCW
Ballingarry
Glin
Adare
Kilcornan
Carrig
Granagh

Division 1 I think will be between Killeaney, Rathkeale B and Breska. I think Kildimo will follow Athea in getting relegated 2 years in a row. Shannonside might pull themselves together again
Killeaney
Rathkeale B
Breska
Shannonside
Creeves
NCW B
Shountrade
St Itas
Kildimo
Ballysteen

I would fancy Athea to come straight back up from Division 2 with considerable ease with Glantine to follow them. Askeaton and Pallaskenry to put up the biggest fight

You do realise Athea are fairly likely to have no team? So how can you say they'll get up with ease is funny.
I think Adare will struggle, especially with Adare football Semi final etc likely to over lap with first 2 or 3 games. This will effect a couple of players.

I think the rest is a fairly good guess. Mountcollins have a junior team and Ballingarry don't have a B team.

[nathanbrown]

You do realise Athea are fairly likely to have no team? So how can you say they'll get up with ease is funny.
I think Adare will struggle, especially with Adare football Semi final etc likely to over lap with first 2 or 3 games. This will effect a couple of players.

I think the rest is a fairly good guess. Mountcollins have a junior team and Ballingarry don't have a B team.

Really? That would be some fall from grace if Athea had no team. I was basing that opinion on the fact that they are a decent ball playing side, never thought they could possibly have no team. I don't think Adare football overlaps too much with the soccer and I hear they have a few decent signings made.

[sportsfanatic]

Really? That would be some fall from grace if Athea had no team. I was basing that opinion on the fact that they are a decent ball playing side, never thought they could possibly have no team. I don't think Adare football overlaps too much with the soccer and I hear they have a few decent signings made.

Who have Adare signed? I think it’ll be a battle for them to stay up but then again for the last couple of season there has been about 4 adare lads playing with Rathkeale. If they went back be huge for adare and a bit of a loss for Rathkeale.

I think your league table above won’t be far wrong btw. I’d nearly swap abbey with broadford, I know abbey have lost 1/2 but I believe broadford have too. Brosnan is gone to Canada and scored 20 plus goals last season according to their Facebook page. A huge loss to them!!

[robotwarsfan]

I hear Breska Rovers are entering a B team this season as well

[westernflow]

Adare were fairly poor in the cup final despite having a superb run before that. They will be nowhere near the top half anyway.

Division 1 only taken seriously by a few teams. The rest just tip along and see what happens.

Athea is serious decline for a few years. They've relied on the same few heads and being such a rural club makes it more difficult for them. They struggled to have a team last year and just about saw the season through.
Any other additional teams? Can see a 10 or 12 team div 2.

Probably the lowest no of teams in decades.

[noconnor16]

Adare were fairly poor in the cup final despite having a superb run before that. They will be nowhere near the top half anyway.

Division 1 only taken seriously by a few teams. The rest just tip along and see what happens.

Athea is serious decline for a few years. They've relied on the same few heads and being such a rural club makes it more difficult for them. They struggled to have a team last year and just about saw the season through.
Any other additional teams? Can see a 10 or 12 team div 2.

Probably the lowest no of teams in decades.

Delegate meeting tonight so we should know or at least have an idea of number of teams for div2. Prob max 12. I heard Ballysteen may struggle for a team too as well as Athea.

[last man back]

Are Feenagh gone aswell?

[sportsfanatic]

Are Feenagh gone aswell?

Yeah Feenagh are gone from junior football completely this season.

[fanaticfan]

Good to see an oscar traynor squad back. No surprise half the squad is made up of broadford players since the management are from broadford

[Soreloser]

I see the ref's have "accepted" the only eye witness account of the happening so the season looks like it'll start as scheduled and the team involved ride off into the sunset, i for one am shocked :rolleyes:

Be real interesting to see that if that one and only eye witness will have the same story if he is ever asked to put his hand on a bible in a court of law and swear to what he actually saw.

[Kennycon]

It’s sad to see clubs finishing up , oscar should not be a priority.

[Shearer]

Any idea if Rockhill Rovers are entering a side?

[noconnor16]

Any idea if Rockhill Rovers are entering a side?

They didn't attend the delegate meeting but that is not a surprise. Broadford Utd Reserves are gone too. Looking like a small Division 2.

[Shearer]

Adare were fairly poor in the cup final despite having a superb run before that. They will be nowhere near the top half anyway.

Division 1 only taken seriously by a few teams. The rest just tip along and see what happens.

Athea is serious decline for a few years. They've relied on the same few heads and being such a rural club makes it more difficult for them. They struggled to have a team last year and just about saw the season through.
Any other additional teams? Can see a 10 or 12 team div 2.

Probably the lowest no of teams in decades.
This is more of an aside than a solution for low clubs, but I think that Kilmallock and Charleville would be best served in the Desmond League and would be great additions to a twelve team Premier Division.

[Gazza29]

This is more of an aside than a solution for low clubs, but I think that Kilmallock and Charleville would be best served in the Desmond League and would be great additions to a twelve team Premier Division.

It would definitely make the relegation battle more competitive

[Abbeyman]

What is the story with the ever reducing number of teams in Desmond league ?
Is there less males18-35 living in the area ? The gaa might have first call on most of the best athletes in many parish’s but no more so than 10 years ago . Is rugby bigger ? Cycling ? Less community involvement ? Social problems ? Drugs ?
If it keeps going the way it is , 2 divisions will be enough soon

[Shearer]

What is the story with the ever reducing number of teams in Desmond league ?
Is there less males18-35 living in the area ? The gaa might have first call on most of the best athletes in many parish’s but no more so than 10 years ago . Is rugby bigger ? Cycling ? Less community involvement ? Social problems ? Drugs ?
If it keeps going the way it is , 2 divisions will be enough soon
Definitely not a local thing.
CIE Ranch just the other day very sadly withdrew from the Leinster Senior League, a club founded back in 1975.
Limerick & District League has gone from eight divisions to seven this season (not groundbreaking but nevertheless), and one of their clubs (Granville Rangers) were pretty much going to fold twelve months ago only for the intervention of further volunteers.

You've got 16 and 17 year old kids going to play underage League of Ireland that either don't get their game, get dropped or get whacked every week on the pitch and fall out of love with the game as a result. All leads to lack of playing numbers at underage and adult levels.

Even locally at underage level, one hotshot at a small club being picked off by a League of Ireland club or a bigger local club very often leads to clubs not having a team at that age as a result. Other players see their best player gone and think "I'm not staying, we're useless." Things like this are happening regularly.

You've the prevalence of gym culture too, and while it's good that people stay fit it would be better if it was on a Football pitch they stayed in shape.

Bit of a loaded answer that might not even answer your question, but there's so much wrong with Irish Football at the moment that it's hard to pinpoint the cause of anything.

I do honestly feel that if coaches and parents fear that their players or kids are losing interest in Football that it's best to take them away from watching football from a league in a different country on TV and to instead get them invested in their local League of Ireland club; something that's close to home, live, real, and from a player's point of view, is something to aim for and a lot more attainable than a league that they have a 0.012% chance of playing in.

[Ballistinianlad]

How many clubs have folded (in the sense of not having a junior team) in the last few years.
I can think of kilcolman. St bens. Old mill. Feenagh now. Rockhill (again?) Mountcollins for a while.
As well as a few b teams.
Sad to see clubs like athea struggling now. Ballysteen struggling too
Going to be a very small league.

[Langerdan007]

Ballysteen struggling to field at all???

Lot of stuff in there Shearer,all probably a part of it, getting lads to commit to 8 months of sunday mornings,particularly younger lads is a big factor as well

[last man back]

Season too long. Not enough volunteers anymore,( a lot of ex players cycling etc. forgetting people gave their time so they could play). And young lads don’t seem to want to give commitment anymore.

[Kennycon]

Season too long. Not enough volunteers anymore,( a lot of ex players cycling etc. forgetting people gave their time so they could play). And young lads don’t seem to want to give commitment anymore.
Last year in limerick there was a lot of walkovers which is not good for the game, it took away from the valuation of winning competitions . I actually don’t know many x players that are actually coaching a the minute, fair point last man back

[noconnor16]

Looking like the smallest division2 in a long time.

[Abbeyman]

Pulled out an old league table from observer circa late 90s, there were 5 divisions , premier to div 4 . 47 teams compared to 33 for last season. A lot of B teams gone and amalgamations mostly the reason for reduction.
NCW A, Feenagh, Foynes A, KilleaneyA , Ballyagran , Shanagolden, Kilcolman, BallyRovers, NCW Rovers, Villa Rovers, NCW B ,Broadford B, Pallaskenry B, Rathkeale C, Foynes B, Adare B, Killeaney B, Askeaton B, Ferry Rangers B are teams not in this years league.
There appears to be 30 Gaelic teams and 30 hurling teams in the Desmond League catchment area which works out fairly similar numbers maybe a small bit more .

[Gazza29]

Pulled out an old league table from observer circa late 90s, there were 5 divisions , premier to div 4 . 47 teams compared to 33 for last season. A lot of B teams gone and amalgamations mostly the reason for reduction.
NCW A, Feenagh, Foynes A, KilleaneyA , Ballyagran , Shanagolden, Kilcolman, BallyRovers, NCW Rovers, Villa Rovers, NCW B ,Broadford B, Pallaskenry B, Rathkeale C, Foynes B, Adare B, Killeaney B, Askeaton B, Ferry Rangers B are teams not in this years league.
There appears to be 30 Gaelic teams and 30 hurling teams in the Desmond League catchment area which works out fairly similar numbers maybe a small bit more .


There seems to be a lot more players now though only playing one sport, where as before you had lads playing everything which would normally end up with the standard being crap at the end of and start of seasons

Speaking of standards, is it just me or does it look like no one has gone back preseason training yet less than 3 weeks before the start of the season

[Kiely92]

Heard Ferry Rangers not going to have a team this season either due to low numbers.

[noconnor16]

There seems to be a lot more players now though only playing one sport, where as before you had lads playing everything which would normally end up with the standard being crap at the end of and start of seasons

Speaking of standards, is it just me or does it look like no one has gone back preseason training yet less than 3 weeks before the start of the season

Breska A & B are back in action according to their fb page

[runinglate]

Sure Clubs must have handed in Registration form at Delegate meeting, surely we would be in the know if teams are not going to have teams at this stage.

Anything official from any of these clubs, Division 2 looking like it will be poor showing so far.

The younger generation seem to be struggling to stick at it for whatever reason.

[Kennycon]

Sure Clubs must have handed in Registration form at Delegate meeting, surely we would be in the know if teams are not going to have teams at this stage.

Anything official from any of these clubs, Division 2 looking like it will be poor showing so far.

The younger generation seem to be struggling to stick at it for whatever reason.

Younger generation have a lot more distractions and lack desire for sport. GAA clubs joining together to field teams including rival clubs. Population is higher now than ever.

[Abbeyman]

Younger generation have a lot more distractions and lack desire for sport. GAA clubs joining together to field teams including rival clubs. Population is higher now than ever.

Not sure of much population growth outside of NCW , lot of social issues in west limericks larger towns which isn't much use for putting out soccer teams.

[Ballistinianlad]

Ballysteen not entering a team this season

[runinglate]

Ballysteen not entering a team this season

Is this confirmed by the club, The did fairly well in division one last year. Is it because the footballers are going well.

What does this mean for div 1, Pallaskenry or Glantine to be offered the remaining spot.

[Ballistinianlad]

Yeah unfortunately.

Numbers always been tight. Extremely hard with no underage teams etc.
Manager for the last few years left at end of last season. Players getting older. Some carrying too many injuries as well.

Usually a relegated team is kept up but athea struggling too

[Johnnie C]

Hearing that KB won't be fielding either, two fine pitches that will be lying idle for a lot of the year. 10 teams in Premier with 8 teams in Divisions 1 and 2 supposedly. Pity to hear these various teams dropping out, hopefully they can return at some stage.

[Langerdan007]

KB wont field at all :bulgy:
Jesus thats a shock - between the two you'd have thought they'd have at least one decent team