North Kerry will play in 2025 SFC after overwhelming support from delegates
NORTH KERRY: A proposal to have just one North Kerry team in this year’s Kerry Senior Football Championship which would see players from Shannon Rangers and Feale Rangers play together, received almost unanimous approval at Monday night’s County Committee Meeting with 55 delegates voting in favour and only three dissenters from Dingle and Mid Kerry. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
A proposal to have just one North Kerry team in this year’s Kerry Senior Football Championship which would see players from Shannon Rangers and Feale Rangers play together, received almost unanimous approval at Monday night’s County Committee Meeting with 55 delegates voting in favour and only three dissenters from Dingle and Mid Kerry.
At last month’s meeting Chairman Patrick O’Sullivan tasked the CCC to go away and devise a format that would include just one North Kerry side and the proposal would be put before Monday night’s meeting for ratification by County Committee.
Current Feale Rangers Chairperson Christy Walsh, who also spoke on behalf of his club Listowel Emmets, was first to speak in favour of the proposal. Walsh said having a North Kerry team in the senior county championship was a natural follow-on after the creation of North Kerry teams at U15, minor and U20 level.
“There is no interest in players in playing for either Feale Rangers or Shannon Rangers in recent years because they feel they have become uncompetitive and it’s getting worse. We are not trying to create a dominant force here; all we want is to be competitive in the county championship," said Walsh.
“Two years ago there was a big thing on social media after North Kerry beat one club in a match and it was said ‘what chance have we when one club is beaten by 14 clubs’. The following year that one club, same team, beat the 14 clubs of North Kerry. As I said, it’s not about dominance, it’s about giving the players the best opportunity to play on the highest stage and maybe give them the chance to go as far as possible,” Walsh continued.
Alan Kennelly, long time Shannon Rangers secretary was in full agreement with Walsh and made an impassioned plea to delegates to allow North Kerry play in the 2025 SFC and support the new format. Kennelly said Shannon Rangers comprises of only six clubs, with “no town team as such” and said all six clubs have lost 45% of their available players since 1995.
“We have one senior player on the Kerry team from all of North Kerry and we’d love that to improve. We’d love to have a greater representation on the Kerry [senior] team.
"It has improved since North Kerry has amalgamated at underage level, we had five on the U20 team last year, and that’s what we’d hope would happen if we could come together and play at a competitive level because we aren’t competitive, and we haven’t been competitive.
"And it’s getting to the stage where it’s becoming very difficult to get players to play for Shannon Rangers. The interest isn’t there because the players aren’t interested in going out and getting hammered.”
Dingle delegate Derry O Mhurchu was one of only two delegates to speak against the proposal.
“Dingle is against it as it will give a District an unfair advantage over a club.”
Matt O’Neill (Dr Crokes) wanted to amend the proposal in terms of the format while not opposing North Kerry’s participation in this year’s SFC. He suggested that the Christy Ring format should be used which would give all teams two bites of the cherry and he also suggested that the two byes into the quarter-final proposed as a draw should instead be given to the Senior Club finalists.
But this was rejected by the Chairman with Terrence Houlihan (Chairman of the CCC) interjecting to explain that North Kerry, who are going to get a bye in the Preliminary Round, will not be eligible for a second bye.
Chairman O’Sullivan read a heartfelt tribute to two Kerry greats Mick O'Dwyer and Johnny Culloty, who recently passed, on behalf of the Kerry GAA. He also expressed the Board's sympathies to the family and friends of young Lillie Gaynor, who played football with Abbeydorney and camogie with Cillard, who never woke up on last Friday morning at the age of 19.
Involves six district teams (three games) with North Kerry getting a bye. The three winners progress to round 1, while the three beaten teams and North Kerry go into preliminary round 2.
Two games with the two winners progressing to round 1. The five district teams (three from round 1 and two from round 2) progress from this section to join the nine clubs to send 14 team into Round 1.
14 teams (6 v 6 with two byes). There will be an open draw for the two byes and for the six round 1 games thereafter; repeat pairings from preliminary rounds 1 and 2 will be avoided.
4 v 4 with the avoidance of repeat pairings where possible
2 v 2 (open draw)
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