A LETTER CIRCULATED to members of the Oireachtas on Friday, 25 April, from a newly founded group called the Grassroots Amateur Football Clubs of Ireland (GAFCI), has accused the FAI of “irresponsible if not reckless” actions relating to the soon-to-be implemented aligned calendar season.
The 42 understands that the FAI remain intent on pressing ahead with the stated aim of beginning the move to a January-December registration period on a phased basis from the start of 2026.
In the letter, the group stressed that they were not a breakaway league, but rather a representative body for 600 grassroots clubs from 17 counties with a mandate to campaign on a solitary issue.
“To retain the right of our clubs and leagues to determine their own playing season,” it says in the letter, seen by The 42.
Their chairperson is Sarah Duffy of the Wicklow & District Football League, Ian McDonald from Killeshin AFC in Laois is named as secretary, while the committee comprises of Chris Collins (Vale Wanderers AFC – Carlow), J.P Cushen (Stradbally Town AFC – Laois), Bernie Dempsey (Southend United AFC – Kilkenny), Thomas Doyle (Ballymurphy Celtic AFC – Carlow), Greg Donaghy & Jamie Farrell (Bunclody AFC – Wexford), and Aoife O’Neill (St. Patricks AFC – Carlow).
The same weekend that the letter was sent, details of the correspondence also began to filter through to those in the FAI. The timing coincided with around 90 TDs and Senators from all parties preparing to welcome the association’s chief executive, David Courell, League of Ireland academy director Will Clarke, and FAI grassroots director Ger McDermott for presentations on Wednesday, 30 April.
Packie Bonner, independent FAI director and chair of the international and high-performance committee, was also in attendance but did not make a presentation.
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CEO Courell spoke for an initial 15 to 20 minutes, detailing updates on governance as well as Euro 2028, while Clarke also provided a 15-minute update on their stated timeframe for an updated funding document for League of Ireland academies.
Then it was the turn of McDermott to make his presentation, and the questions that followed relating to the aligned calendar and its impact on grassroots football dominated the remaining half an hour.
That was partly because of the GFACI letter sent ahead of the meeting, in which they articulated their issues with the aligned calendar season, that will see kids from under-five to under-12 move to a new registration period from January 2026, with 13 to 16-year-olds following in 2027, and a fully aligned pathway up to professional League of Ireland level by 2028.
GAFCI laid out their concerns in stark terms.
“Currently over 75% of leagues in the State play the traditional winter season,” the letter reads. “The Leinster Football Association (LFA) are on record as describing the vote as being flawed. Professional League of Ireland clubs have indicated they voted en bloc to support the resolution.
“If the professional clubs abstained, the resolution would have been resoundingly defeated. We fully support the professional clubs right to choose the summer season which they have been doing for over 20 years, unfortunately for our clubs and communities despite a plea from the LFA prior to the vote to reject the motion it was narrowly passed (57%) with bloc support from the professional clubs’ delegates.”
Sinn Féin’s deputy leader in the Dáil, and party spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty, was one of those TDs who received the letter and questioned the FAI on their plans.
“Their (FAI) plan on paper makes absolutely perfect sense,” Doherty told The 42. “It’s going to meet the reality on the ground that people are telling me it’s not possible and it will lead to less participation in soccer and in particular areas like women’s sport.
“And that is seriously, seriously problematic. Not only for sport but also for the FAI if that’s what actually transpires.
“The issue is that it’s not something that the [grassroots] clubs don’t understand what the FAI are putting forward, and I challenged the FAI on that. I also challenged them on the fact that the amateur level wasn’t confused when they voted en masse against this. When this was agreed, people understood what was being proposed.
“By starting the league in January, the concern on the ground is that that is going to cause serious issues in terms of clubs’ ability to continue.”
This point was reflected in the letter sent by GAFCI, who stated that they “forecast a loss of up to 40-50% of teams and volunteers and some clubs informing us they face closure”.
Further to this, the group also accused the FAI of being “irresponsible if not reckless” for failing to “carry out a risk assessment of the impact a drop in participation numbers, volunteers and ability of clubs to fundraise to meet both ongoing liabilities and future developments as a result of substantial loss of members.”
The letter to members of the Oireachtas also stated that “we have had much feedback from clubs with huge concerns at the financial impact the loss of 40-50% of teams and volunteers will have on clubs.
“In particular, many clubs have taken out significant loans from financial institutions to purchase land, build all-weather pitches, clubhouses etc. A significant drop in club membership and volunteer numbers will see clubs struggle to meet ongoing repayments, leaving clubs and trustees in extremely vulnerable positions.”
The FAI maintained in earlier media briefings, as well as in the face of questions from TDs and Senators, that they were not forcing leagues into a summer soccer-only calendar, and that they would be able to work in tandem to draw up fixture lists in a flexible way that would allow for more games in a variety of ways throughout the year.
One of the concerns laid out by GFACI and later some of those Oireachtas members was that it would not be workable for leagues to halt during summer months and resume afterwards as it would result in a drop off in interest as “only teams competing for honours will return with sufficient numbers.”
It was pointed out that leagues around the country already take an enforced break in December and January due to Christmas and inclement weather, and most were unable to organise any kind of football during this period as a result.
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McDermott, the FAI grassroots director, impressed many of those in attendance by laying out a “clever” and “clear” plan according to Doherty, although the TD insisted the alignment issue needed to be resolved “within the code.”
Last month, McDermott laid out why the FAI remained steadfast on their timeline and plan in the face of pushback. “The common one that we are getting is summer football, summer football is coming up a lot but there’s a narrative around summer football whereas what we are saying is align the registration period and play football when you know you can play football so that piece is getting a bit lost, clarifying that is important when we sit down with the leagues.
“We are taking the opportunity to clarify that. It’s a blank calendar with an aligned registration period and let’s start filling it in together. Another one would be other sports, GAA in particular. Now particularly when you look at the map of the country and where there are clear pathways and where there aren’t clear pathways, or more importantly for the children’s game where we’re not providing anywhere near enough football. We have an obligation to provide opportunities for kids to play.
“Having months of the year where there is little to no football provision, that’s not good for participation or for the overall development of Irish football. Where there might be a concern around participation levels, we have close to 250,000 registered to play the game. There’s probably another 100,000 or so playing outside of the system, the Irish sports monitor would show us that.
“That’s one metric for participation, for me another key metric for children’s participation is how much football do you get to play if you want, and where that number is low as a percentage of the 52 weeks of the year, we feel it’s important to address that.
“It will help the health of the nation, help people have more choice, will help that football is provided in a good positive enjoyable environment and will help long term player development as well.”
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FAI make Oireachtas presentations amid growing dissent over aligned calendar season
A LETTER CIRCULATED to members of the Oireachtas on Friday, 25 April, from a newly founded group called the Grassroots Amateur Football Clubs of Ireland (GAFCI), has accused the FAI of “irresponsible if not reckless” actions relating to the soon-to-be implemented aligned calendar season.
The 42 understands that the FAI remain intent on pressing ahead with the stated aim of beginning the move to a January-December registration period on a phased basis from the start of 2026.
In the letter, the group stressed that they were not a breakaway league, but rather a representative body for 600 grassroots clubs from 17 counties with a mandate to campaign on a solitary issue.
“To retain the right of our clubs and leagues to determine their own playing season,” it says in the letter, seen by The 42.
Their chairperson is Sarah Duffy of the Wicklow & District Football League, Ian McDonald from Killeshin AFC in Laois is named as secretary, while the committee comprises of Chris Collins (Vale Wanderers AFC – Carlow), J.P Cushen (Stradbally Town AFC – Laois), Bernie Dempsey (Southend United AFC – Kilkenny), Thomas Doyle (Ballymurphy Celtic AFC – Carlow), Greg Donaghy & Jamie Farrell (Bunclody AFC – Wexford), and Aoife O’Neill (St. Patricks AFC – Carlow).
The same weekend that the letter was sent, details of the correspondence also began to filter through to those in the FAI. The timing coincided with around 90 TDs and Senators from all parties preparing to welcome the association’s chief executive, David Courell, League of Ireland academy director Will Clarke, and FAI grassroots director Ger McDermott for presentations on Wednesday, 30 April.
Packie Bonner, independent FAI director and chair of the international and high-performance committee, was also in attendance but did not make a presentation.
CEO Courell spoke for an initial 15 to 20 minutes, detailing updates on governance as well as Euro 2028, while Clarke also provided a 15-minute update on their stated timeframe for an updated funding document for League of Ireland academies.
Then it was the turn of McDermott to make his presentation, and the questions that followed relating to the aligned calendar and its impact on grassroots football dominated the remaining half an hour.
That was partly because of the GFACI letter sent ahead of the meeting, in which they articulated their issues with the aligned calendar season, that will see kids from under-five to under-12 move to a new registration period from January 2026, with 13 to 16-year-olds following in 2027, and a fully aligned pathway up to professional League of Ireland level by 2028.
GAFCI laid out their concerns in stark terms.
“Currently over 75% of leagues in the State play the traditional winter season,” the letter reads. “The Leinster Football Association (LFA) are on record as describing the vote as being flawed. Professional League of Ireland clubs have indicated they voted en bloc to support the resolution.
“If the professional clubs abstained, the resolution would have been resoundingly defeated. We fully support the professional clubs right to choose the summer season which they have been doing for over 20 years, unfortunately for our clubs and communities despite a plea from the LFA prior to the vote to reject the motion it was narrowly passed (57%) with bloc support from the professional clubs’ delegates.”
Sinn Féin’s deputy leader in the Dáil, and party spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty, was one of those TDs who received the letter and questioned the FAI on their plans.
“Their (FAI) plan on paper makes absolutely perfect sense,” Doherty told The 42. “It’s going to meet the reality on the ground that people are telling me it’s not possible and it will lead to less participation in soccer and in particular areas like women’s sport.
“And that is seriously, seriously problematic. Not only for sport but also for the FAI if that’s what actually transpires.
“The issue is that it’s not something that the [grassroots] clubs don’t understand what the FAI are putting forward, and I challenged the FAI on that. I also challenged them on the fact that the amateur level wasn’t confused when they voted en masse against this. When this was agreed, people understood what was being proposed.
“By starting the league in January, the concern on the ground is that that is going to cause serious issues in terms of clubs’ ability to continue.”
This point was reflected in the letter sent by GAFCI, who stated that they “forecast a loss of up to 40-50% of teams and volunteers and some clubs informing us they face closure”.
Further to this, the group also accused the FAI of being “irresponsible if not reckless” for failing to “carry out a risk assessment of the impact a drop in participation numbers, volunteers and ability of clubs to fundraise to meet both ongoing liabilities and future developments as a result of substantial loss of members.”
The letter to members of the Oireachtas also stated that “we have had much feedback from clubs with huge concerns at the financial impact the loss of 40-50% of teams and volunteers will have on clubs.
“In particular, many clubs have taken out significant loans from financial institutions to purchase land, build all-weather pitches, clubhouses etc. A significant drop in club membership and volunteer numbers will see clubs struggle to meet ongoing repayments, leaving clubs and trustees in extremely vulnerable positions.”
The FAI maintained in earlier media briefings, as well as in the face of questions from TDs and Senators, that they were not forcing leagues into a summer soccer-only calendar, and that they would be able to work in tandem to draw up fixture lists in a flexible way that would allow for more games in a variety of ways throughout the year.
One of the concerns laid out by GFACI and later some of those Oireachtas members was that it would not be workable for leagues to halt during summer months and resume afterwards as it would result in a drop off in interest as “only teams competing for honours will return with sufficient numbers.”
It was pointed out that leagues around the country already take an enforced break in December and January due to Christmas and inclement weather, and most were unable to organise any kind of football during this period as a result.
McDermott, the FAI grassroots director, impressed many of those in attendance by laying out a “clever” and “clear” plan according to Doherty, although the TD insisted the alignment issue needed to be resolved “within the code.”
Last month, McDermott laid out why the FAI remained steadfast on their timeline and plan in the face of pushback. “The common one that we are getting is summer football, summer football is coming up a lot but there’s a narrative around summer football whereas what we are saying is align the registration period and play football when you know you can play football so that piece is getting a bit lost, clarifying that is important when we sit down with the leagues.
“We are taking the opportunity to clarify that. It’s a blank calendar with an aligned registration period and let’s start filling it in together. Another one would be other sports, GAA in particular. Now particularly when you look at the map of the country and where there are clear pathways and where there aren’t clear pathways, or more importantly for the children’s game where we’re not providing anywhere near enough football. We have an obligation to provide opportunities for kids to play.
“Having months of the year where there is little to no football provision, that’s not good for participation or for the overall development of Irish football. Where there might be a concern around participation levels, we have close to 250,000 registered to play the game. There’s probably another 100,000 or so playing outside of the system, the Irish sports monitor would show us that.
“That’s one metric for participation, for me another key metric for children’s participation is how much football do you get to play if you want, and where that number is low as a percentage of the 52 weeks of the year, we feel it’s important to address that.
“It will help the health of the nation, help people have more choice, will help that football is provided in a good positive enjoyable environment and will help long term player development as well.”
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