DOWN HAVE BECOME the first county team to do a warm-weather training camp as the senior football squad, along with management and support staff flew out on Friday afternoon for four nights in Portugal.
Conor Laverty’s men are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to escape Division 3 of the football leagues having won their opener art home against Clare, and followed it up with a hard-fought one-point win away to Limerick in Rathkeale last weekend.
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Reports have the travelling party at around 50, including some injured players although Donal Scullion, who was playing for Queen’s University against University of Limerick on Friday night in the Sigerson Cup, has not travelled.
Estimates for a four to five day training camp in the Algarve comes in somewhere between €35,000 and €45,000.
Down are no strangers to a foreign training camp, having used the foreign holiday allowance for winning the Tailteann Cup in 2024 as a training camp instead, ahead of last season.
However, the Algarve currently is experiencing a series of severe flooding warnings, with steady rain forecast for the next few days although temperatures are climbing.
Meanwhile, the LGFA have notified that following a pitch inspection, the Lidl NFL Division 1 Round 3 fixture between Armagh and Cork, which was originally fixed for tomorrow, Sunday 8 February, has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The refixture will take place on the weekend of 14-15 February.
Another fixture between Meath v Kerry, fixed for tomorrow will now take place at Meath Hill GFC, Meath Hill, with throw in time changed to 2.30pm.
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Down footballers become first county squad of 2026 on a foreign training camp
DOWN HAVE BECOME the first county team to do a warm-weather training camp as the senior football squad, along with management and support staff flew out on Friday afternoon for four nights in Portugal.
Conor Laverty’s men are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to escape Division 3 of the football leagues having won their opener art home against Clare, and followed it up with a hard-fought one-point win away to Limerick in Rathkeale last weekend.
Reports have the travelling party at around 50, including some injured players although Donal Scullion, who was playing for Queen’s University against University of Limerick on Friday night in the Sigerson Cup, has not travelled.
Estimates for a four to five day training camp in the Algarve comes in somewhere between €35,000 and €45,000.
Down are no strangers to a foreign training camp, having used the foreign holiday allowance for winning the Tailteann Cup in 2024 as a training camp instead, ahead of last season.
However, the Algarve currently is experiencing a series of severe flooding warnings, with steady rain forecast for the next few days although temperatures are climbing.
Meanwhile, the LGFA have notified that following a pitch inspection, the Lidl NFL Division 1 Round 3 fixture between Armagh and Cork, which was originally fixed for tomorrow, Sunday 8 February, has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The refixture will take place on the weekend of 14-15 February.
Another fixture between Meath v Kerry, fixed for tomorrow will now take place at Meath Hill GFC, Meath Hill, with throw in time changed to 2.30pm.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Algarve Down GAA Gaelic Football