Cork star Stephen Cronin unhappy with removal of U21 grade

Win or lose this evening in Ennis, Cork's Stephen Cronin will be part of EirGrid U-21 football championship history though not for any reason he's particularly happy about.

This will be the penultimate U-21 final before the tournament is wound up after 2017 and replaced with a lower key U-20 developmental competition from 2018, a decision taken at February's Congress.

It's an attempt to both clear time for club activity and to reduce the burden on young players who are regularly dragged this way and that by various teams during their late teens and early 20s.