Divisional teams in the Laois SFC

[High Fielder]

I'm hearing that St Josephs members have rejected a proposal to play Senior football with Barrowhouse. They've had a fruitful relationship at underage and Barrowhouse could certainly make a decent contribution in my opinion. An opportunity lost if it's true. Josephs have a nice crop of talent coming through, but they haven't got enough of it. I think that decision will come back to haunt them.

[The Monument Road]

I'm hearing that St Josephs members have rejected a proposal to play Senior football with Barrowhouse. They've had a fruitful relationship at underage and Barrowhouse could certainly make a decent contribution in my opinion. An opportunity lost if it's true. Josephs have a nice crop of talent coming through, but they haven't got enough of it. I think that decision will come back to haunt them.

To add an extra twist to this i now hear (rumour mill) Kileen have approached Barrowhouse to play with them....the irony of that...

[SCFC]

I'm hearing that St Josephs members have rejected a proposal to play Senior football with Barrowhouse. They've had a fruitful relationship at underage and Barrowhouse could certainly make a decent contribution in my opinion. An opportunity lost if it's true. Josephs have a nice crop of talent coming through, but they haven't got enough of it. I think that decision will come back to haunt them.

To add an extra twist to this i now hear (rumour mill) Kileen have approached Barrowhouse to play with them....the irony of that...

I'd be amazed if Barrowhouse agreed to that after how they got screwed over by Killeen and the county board over the Kingstons.

[Downtheroad]

Apart from the identity thing, the main reason why a club would not want to go by group status  route is that a winning group team cannot take  part in provincial club championship. St Josephs/Barrowhouse are very competitive underage outfit having won a couple of under 21 championships in past number of years. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think St Josephs are credible contenders on their own as  they are no better or worse than a dozen other senior teams. Nevertheless, they are a proud club with a great tradition who are entitled to stay on their own if they so wish.

I have heard nothing about any clubs looking into the option. I imagine they won't be any this year as  clubs will stick to the status quo. I hope I'm wrong as we definitely need some sort of a shake up to the current championship. 

[Keyser Söze]

I'm hearing that St Josephs members have rejected a proposal to play Senior football with Barrowhouse. They've had a fruitful relationship at underage and Barrowhouse could certainly make a decent contribution in my opinion. An opportunity lost if it's true. Josephs have a nice crop of talent coming through, but they haven't got enough of it. I think that decision will come back to haunt them.

To add an extra twist to this i now hear (rumour mill) Kileen have approached Barrowhouse to play with them....the irony of that...

In relation to both of the above- I don't see how Barrowhouse could join up and play Senior with either club. AFAIK under rule junior or intermediate clubs can combine to play as a Divisional Senior team, but Senior teams cannot?
Unless of course the proposal was to actually amalgamate the clubs in some way?
There is a big difference between a club amalgamation and a divisional/group team.

[Pat Spillall]

I'm hearing that St Josephs members have rejected a proposal to play Senior football with Barrowhouse. They've had a fruitful relationship at underage and Barrowhouse could certainly make a decent contribution in my opinion. An opportunity lost if it's true. Josephs have a nice crop of talent coming through, but they haven't got enough of it. I think that decision will come back to haunt them.

To add an extra twist to this i now hear (rumour mill) Kileen have approached Barrowhouse to play with them....the irony of that...

In relation to both of the above- I don't see how Barrowhouse could join up and play Senior with either club. AFAIK under rule junior or intermediate clubs can combine to play as a Divisional Senior team, but Senior teams cannot?
Unless of course the proposal was to actually amalgamate the clubs in some way?
There is a big difference between a club amalgamation and a divisional/group team.

Yes they could, See Rule 3.19 (m) (i) and (ii) of the Official Guide Part 1, 2015

From what I've heard there was strong support for this Group Team within St Josephs but the fact that a decision had to be made in a hurry members voted for the status quo rather than the unknown.

Regarding Barrowhouse I think the question is can they afford not to get into bed with Killeen (And we all know Killeen will bed anybody to try win a championship) if the offer is there despite the past. They have some very good footballers that may leave for good if the door is closed on them to play Senior football.

On the face of it it looks like the Senior Club makes all the sacrifices as they change their name and forgo the chance to play in Leinster but will a Junior club survive when maybe having small numbers training will be compounded by not having your better players most of the time because of the demands a senior club will put on those better players. 

[oneflewoverthecuckoonest]

I may be alone in my opinion, but is it not a  complete joke that the reason many senior clubs refuse to take on a few players from a junior/intermediate club and become a senior amalgam IS BECAUSE if they win the senior championship they cannot then compete at provincial level.

one club in laois has monopolised the senior for 9 years, and it would be a very big job of work for an amalgam to dethrone them.

surely if an amalgam did win the senior championship, that in itself would be a huge achievement, they could alter their arrangement the following year if they want to meet the provincial qualification criteria.

the "not eligible for leinster" is the biggest red herring of all.

[Downtheroad]

I may be alone in my opinion, but is it not a  complete joke that the reason many senior clubs refuse to take on a few players from a junior/intermediate club and become a senior amalgam IS BECAUSE if they win the senior championship they cannot then compete at provincial level.

one club in laois has monopolised the senior for 9 years, and it would be a very big job of work for an amalgam to dethrone them.

surely if an amalgam did win the senior championship, that in itself would be a huge achievement, they could alter their arrangement the following year if they want to meet the provincial qualification criteria.

the "not eligible for leinster" is the biggest red herring of all.

agree 100%

[Keyser Söze]

I'm hearing that St Josephs members have rejected a proposal to play Senior football with Barrowhouse. They've had a fruitful relationship at underage and Barrowhouse could certainly make a decent contribution in my opinion. An opportunity lost if it's true. Josephs have a nice crop of talent coming through, but they haven't got enough of it. I think that decision will come back to haunt them.

To add an extra twist to this i now hear (rumour mill) Kileen have approached Barrowhouse to play with them....the irony of that...

In relation to both of the above- I don't see how Barrowhouse could join up and play Senior with either club. AFAIK under rule junior or intermediate clubs can combine to play as a Divisional Senior team, but Senior teams cannot?
Unless of course the proposal was to actually amalgamate the clubs in some way?
There is a big difference between a club amalgamation and a divisional/group team.

Yes they could, See Rule 3.19 (m) (i) and (ii) of the Official Guide Part 1, 2015

Interesting, did a rule change or is it just a "new" official interpretation of the rule?

[Pablo Escobar]

Ye it's a funny one Keyser. I thought both teams had to be below senior level to come together to form a "Gaels" team . I hear the change of the name and Kit change scuppered the the Josephs/Barrowhouse deal.

[Laois fan]

Could kileen not just sign another few players and stay senior by themselves  , but if they did join with barrow house does that mean the St joes/barrowhouse underage team is finished.I will prob be shot down for saying this but I think there is way too many amalgamations underage instead of clubs making more of an effort to properly coach their young players and bring in proper underage structures .

[Keyser Söze]

Ye it's a funny one Keyser. I thought both teams had to be below senior level to come together to form a "Gaels" team . I hear the change of the name and Kit change scuppered the the Josephs/Barrowhouse deal.

Any idea what the proposed name/kit change was?

[Pablo Escobar]

No idea Keyser. Maybe one of our Josephs or Barrowhouse colleagues might fill us in?

[High Fielder]

Could kileen not just sign another few players and stay senior by themselves  , but if they did join with barrow house does that mean the St joes/barrowhouse underage team is finished.I will prob be shot down for saying this but I think there is way too many amalgamations underage instead of clubs making more of an effort to properly coach their young players and bring in proper underage structures .

That's nonsense talk. Numbers are way too low for that to be a runner. Competition from other sports these days is huge as well. Young lads don't want to tog out for teams taking regular beatings, so they go elsewhere. In an ideal world, we would all like to see strong clubs with a good supply of players coming through, but we have to prepare for the reality; not a dream.

[Downtheroad]

Could kileen not just sign another few players and stay senior by themselves  , but if they did join with barrow house does that mean the St joes/barrowhouse underage team is finished.I will prob be shot down for saying this but I think there is way too many amalgamations underage instead of clubs making more of an effort to properly coach their young players and bring in proper underage structures .

That's nonsense talk. Numbers are way too low for that to be a runner. Competition from other sports these days is huge as well. Young lads don't want to tog out for teams taking regular beatings, so they go elsewhere. In an ideal world, we would all like to see strong clubs with a good supply of players coming through, but we have to prepare for the reality; not a dream.

Agree fully. The big challenge facing the average GAA Club is holding on to the better players who are talented at nearly all sports. These players are not going to play for a poor set up with no expectation of achieving anything. It's not all about winning but been able to play at the highest possible level. Even strong clubs like Portlaoise are faced with the challenge of holding to players.