Inishowen Football League

Inishowen Football League
Sport Football
Founded 1988
No. of teams 17
Country Republic of Ireland Ireland
Most recent
champion(s)		 Glengad United
Official website http://www.inishowenfl.ie

The Inishowen Football League (IOFL) is an amateur league for football clubs in the Inishowen peninsula of Ireland. There are three divisions, with a promotion-and-relegation system in operation. This three-division setup, introduced in 2016, replaced a structure that had been in place for twenty years.

The season runs from late August to May. The league is featured in much of Inishowen's media, such as the Inish Times and the Inishowen Independent.

The current champions are Glengad United, who won in the 2015–16 Premier Division season.

History

The Inishowen Football League was formed in 1988 with people representing their towns to play in small tournaments and the main league itself.

Clubs

Club Founded Team colours Ground
Aileach 1993 Blue & Yellow Lakeside, Inch Road, Burnfoot
Buncrana Hearts 1961 White & Navy Youth Club, Castle Avenue, Buncrana
Carndonagh 1976 Red St. Patrick's Park, Carndonagh
Carrowmena 1993 Orange & Black The Warren, Tremone, Carrowmenagh
Clonmany Shamrocks 1951 White & Green Shamrock Park, Clonmany
Cockhill Celtic Youths 1970 Green & White Hoops Charlie O'Donnell Sports Grounds, Cockhill
Culdaff 1972 White & Red Caratra Park, Culdaff
Dunree United 1974 Black & Yellow St. Egney's Park, Glebe, Linsfort
Gleneely Colts 1980 Blue & Navy Glenview Park, Gleneely
Glengad United 1976 Yellow & Black The Crua, Glengad
Greencastle 1986 Blue Chapel Lane, Ballybrack, Greencastle
Illies Celtic 1977 Green & Navy Stranaclea Road, Illies
Moville Celtic 1904 Green & White Hoops Glencrow, Moville
Quigley's Point Swifts 1970 Dark Blue School Field, Muff
Rashenny 1976 Black & Navy Strips Trawbreaga, Isle of Doagh
Redcastle United 1969 Red & Black Strips Foyle Park, Tullyally, Redcastle
Sea Rovers Red & White Strips Gortnamullin, Malin Head
Inishowen Football League Teams














League format

As of the 2016–17 season

The league is split up into three divisions: the Jackie Crossan Premier Division, the Strand Hotel First Division, and the Inishowen Engineering Second Division. The divisions function with a promotion-and-relegation system. The 2016–17 Premier and First Division seasons commenced on 28 August; the Second Division on 4 September.

Jackie Crossan Premier Division

Strand Hotel First Division

Inishowen Engineering Second Division

Honours

Club Titles[1]
Clonmany Shamrocks 6
Cockhill Celtic 5
Redcastle United 4
Illies Celtic 3
Quigley's Point Swifts 3
Glengad United 2
Aileach 1
Carndonagh 1
Culdaff 1
Moville Celtic 1
Newtown 1

Premier League winners

Clonmany Shamrocks have won the most titles with six championships.

Cup competitions

Clubman Shirts League Cup

This cup competition is fought out between the Premier and First Division teams in a mini league and then knockout format. This competition begins prior to the start of the league and played out through the season.

Buncrana Credit Union Cup

This cup competition is played between teams from the Premier and First Divisions in a knockout format only.

Hannon Greene Father O'Gara Cup

The Father O'Gara Cup is one of the most famous and historic competition in the league. The format is every team from the First and Second Division compete against one another in a knockout format. First teams and their reserve teams may compete against one another if they are drawn to play. Mainly it has been the First Division teams that make the final. The competition lasts all the way through the season and is very popular throughout the peninsula.

Donegal Signs Reserve League Shield

This competition is played between the Second Division teams in a knockout format. It is played prior to the start of the league campaign.

FAI Junior Cup

Teams from the Premier and First Divisions take part in the FAI Junior Cup, which features 600-plus teams from around the country. Teams who do well in the Jackie Crossan Premier are invited to compete against other clubs from around Ulster. Teams from the Inishowen Football League have been competing in the cup for a long time and continue still.

Players

A 2008/9 season game. Clonmany Shamrocks celebrate after scoring a goal

The players of the league consist of many people from around Inishowen. The league also has its own ladies league. Players are free to join whichever team they want before the season starts. Players cannot switch teams during the regular season unless they request a transfer from the league. There have been a lot of local people that have a reputation for playing in the league. Most of these people stay in the league after their playing careers and move on to management of a club.

Notable former players

Football pitches

Facilities for playing football matches in the league have improved rapidly over the last number of years. The most improved is Culdaff's Caratra Park. After the addition of floodlights, Culdaff now play their home games on Saturday nights. The new addition saw a high attendance in Caratra Park on the first game they were played under them. Club houses with changing rooms and showers have been added to nearly every park.

For cup finals, or any other tournament the league is involved with, Maginn Park is where these games are held. Maginn Park is located in Buncrana and is serving as one of the most important pitches in the league.

References

  1. ↑ "Salary Cap FAQ, askthecommish.com, retrieved October 30, 2006". Retrieved 2007-01-21.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.