Down Club Hurling & Football

[johnnycool]

It's only on here I've ever heard of the Ards clubs considered as being East Down.

Geographically yes, but when there was an East Down and South Down board (there very well may still be) but there was never any representation on the East Down board from the Ards clubs.

I think we do compete in the East Down Scór though, but that's only for the young wans wanting to do a bit of buck-leppin over the winter.

[clonian]

St Michael's magherlin is likely our most westerly club in down.

St John Bosco's pitch actually is

Glenn is second but only marginally, to Shamrocks/Pairc Esler.

Ballyvarley must be close too.

Correct, they'd be next after Shamrocks.

Interestingly, Aghaderg/Ballyvarley are not as west as Pairc Esler, but further west than Mitchels pitch, which is only metres away from Pairc Esler in a South East direction

And for Ballela being known as a west down club - Clanna na Banna, Tullylish, St Michaels, Annaclone and Drumgath are all further west. Don't think I missed anyone. There's a big area with not many sports grounds at all really

Order from west to east:

Bosco
Glenn
Shamrocks
Aghaderg/Ballyvarley
Mitchels (inactive)
Tullylish
Ballyholland
Saval
Clann na Banna
St Michaels
Burren
Warrenpoint
Mayobridge
Drumgath
Rostrevor
Annaclone
Ballela

I wasn't thinking about the south coast clubs when I was looking at that. Interesting - Ballela need to change their info to mid down

[clonian]

It's only on here I've ever heard of the Ards clubs considered as being East Down.

Geographically yes, but when there was an East Down and South Down board (there very well may still be) but there was never any representation on the East Down board from the Ards clubs.

I think we do compete in the East Down Scór though, but that's only for the young wans wanting to do a bit of buck-leppin over the winter.

At underage hurling back in the 90s you boyos weren't invited into the east down league either. You must have just played each other. Don't think there was many years of 2 leagues though, teams started struggling with numbers after that, barely enough for 1 league outside the ards for a while.

[skat man]

when you look at the teams representing each county at ulster and beyond the same thing happens in most counties , there is 1 dominant team and the rest make up the numbers . the usual suspects all in ulster again or in their county finals

Cross, Glen, eirigal ,kilcoo, carigan , derrygonnelly , scotstown, gowna, naomh conaill .

not too many new names , all counties have the same issues teams in down do

[manwithnoplan]

when you look at the teams representing each county at ulster and beyond the same thing happens in most counties , there is 1 dominant team and the rest make up the numbers . the usual suspects all in ulster again or in their county finals

Cross, Glen, eirigal ,kilcoo, carigan , derrygonnelly , scotstown, gowna, naomh conaill .

not too many new names , all counties have the same issues teams in down do

Tyrone final is this weekend, Errigal v Trillick. They've had 7 different winners in the last 7 years, so I wouldn't say there are usual suspects there. If Errigal win they would be the first team to twin 2 in a row in nearly 20 years.
And in Derry, Glen aren't near the level of dominance as Kilcoo, not for another few years yet anyway. The remainder of the counties do have more dominant clubs, be it reaching finals or winning several championship's in a row.

[skat man]

didnt know that about them being possibly only team to win 2 in a row , is there then a reason why all counties are not adopting the tyrone method of leagues and championship ?

[TakeTheMark]

St Michael's magherlin is likely our most westerly club in down.

St John Bosco's pitch actually is

Glenn is second but only marginally, to Shamrocks/Pairc Esler.

Ballyvarley must be close too.

Correct, they'd be next after Shamrocks.

Interestingly, Aghaderg/Ballyvarley are not as west as Pairc Esler, but further west than Mitchels pitch, which is only metres away from Pairc Esler in a South East direction

And for Ballela being known as a west down club - Clanna na Banna, Tullylish, St Michaels, Annaclone and Drumgath are all further west. Don't think I missed anyone. There's a big area with not many sports grounds at all really

Order from west to east:

Bosco
Glenn
Shamrocks
Aghaderg/Ballyvarley
Mitchels (inactive)
Tullylish
Ballyholland
Saval
Clann na Banna
St Michaels
Burren
Warrenpoint
Mayobridge
Drumgath
Rostrevor
Annaclone
Ballela

Had to check the Saval/ Clann na Banna one. That one surprised me.

Rostrevor, Burren, and the Point being further west than Ballela also a surprise.

Learn something new every day.

Just to add a further point, three of the South Down clubs, Ballymartin, Longstone and Glasdrumman all sit geographically further east than Kilcoo, Liatroim and Dromara, with the latter two south clubs also further east than Castlewellan. However no complaints from me as they do also justify being called a 'South' club.

[Nanderson]

St Michael's magherlin is likely our most westerly club in down.

St John Bosco's pitch actually is

Glenn is second but only marginally, to Shamrocks/Pairc Esler.

Ballyvarley must be close too.

Correct, they'd be next after Shamrocks.

Interestingly, Aghaderg/Ballyvarley are not as west as Pairc Esler, but further west than Mitchels pitch, which is only metres away from Pairc Esler in a South East direction

And for Ballela being known as a west down club - Clanna na Banna, Tullylish, St Michaels, Annaclone and Drumgath are all further west. Don't think I missed anyone. There's a big area with not many sports grounds at all really

Order from west to east:

Bosco
Glenn
Shamrocks
Aghaderg/Ballyvarley
Mitchels (inactive)
Tullylish
Ballyholland
Saval
Clann na Banna
St Michaels
Burren
Warrenpoint
Mayobridge
Drumgath
Rostrevor
Annaclone
Ballela

Had to check the Saval/ Clann na Banna one. That one surprised me.

Rostrevor, Burren, and the Point being further west than Ballela also a surprise.

Learn something new every day.

Just to add a further point, three of the South Down clubs, Ballymartin, Longstone and Glasdrumman all sit geographically further east than Kilcoo, Liatroim and Dromara, with the latter two south clubs also further east than Castlewellan. However no complaints from me as they do also justify being called a 'South' club.

Does anyone know why it was separated as south and east rather than North/South which would make more sense. For example An Riocht travelling to play the most southern 'East Down' club would be Bryansford and is about 20/25 mins away whereas travelling to the most northern 'south down' club would be magherlin in lurgan which is over an hour away

[Splash]

It's only on here I've ever heard of the Ards clubs considered as being East Down.

Geographically yes, but when there was an East Down and South Down board (there very well may still be) but there was never any representation on the East Down board from the Ards clubs.

I think we do compete in the East Down Scór though, but that's only for the young wans wanting to do a bit of buck-leppin over the winter.

At underage hurling back in the 90s you boyos weren't invited into the east down league either. You must have just played each other. Don't think there was many years of 2 leagues though, teams started struggling with numbers after that, barely enough for 1 league outside the ards for a while.

In the hurling world, though, there is typically a different mindset.

It is essentially the Ards, and South Down (or across the water as we are fondly referred to by lads from the peninsula ).

I.e, South Down used to compete in the national league. Was basically anybody in Down, bar the Ards.

Players from Liatroim could play for South Down, despite the fact in football terms they are East Down.

Think the whole 'South Down' thing has fallen somewhat out of fashion with the emergence of Bredagh as a senior force. You can get away with calling Kilclief south down. Harder to justify calling Bredagh South Down when they're an hour drive north of Portaferry. Perhaps need to find a new way to describe these clubs considering a third of the teams in the Senior Championship next year will be further north than the Ards...

This is why Liatroim are talked about as a team from South Down when discussing the SHC. Also why Ballyvarley and Ballela are talked about as being South Down clubs despite being further north than most other clubs in South Down.

I would imagine when yous were playing the Ardsmen were either playing amongst themselves or up in Antrim, Clonian.

[Splash]

St Michael's magherlin is likely our most westerly club in down.

St John Bosco's pitch actually is

Glenn is second but only marginally, to Shamrocks/Pairc Esler.

Ballyvarley must be close too.

Correct, they'd be next after Shamrocks.

Interestingly, Aghaderg/Ballyvarley are not as west as Pairc Esler, but further west than Mitchels pitch, which is only metres away from Pairc Esler in a South East direction

And for Ballela being known as a west down club - Clanna na Banna, Tullylish, St Michaels, Annaclone and Drumgath are all further west. Don't think I missed anyone. There's a big area with not many sports grounds at all really

Order from west to east:

Bosco
Glenn
Shamrocks
Aghaderg/Ballyvarley
Mitchels (inactive)
Tullylish
Ballyholland
Saval
Clann na Banna
St Michaels
Burren
Warrenpoint
Mayobridge
Drumgath
Rostrevor
Annaclone
Ballela

Had to check the Saval/ Clann na Banna one. That one surprised me.

Rostrevor, Burren, and the Point being further west than Ballela also a surprise.

Learn something new every day.

Just to add a further point, three of the South Down clubs, Ballymartin, Longstone and Glasdrumman all sit geographically further east than Kilcoo, Liatroim and Dromara, with the latter two south clubs also further east than Castlewellan. However no complaints from me as they do also justify being called a 'South' club.

Does anyone know why it was separated as south and east rather than North/South which would make more sense. For example An Riocht travelling to play the most southern 'East Down' club would be Bryansford and is about 20/25 mins away whereas travelling to the most northern 'south down' club would be magherlin in lurgan which is over an hour away

I would assume, and this is pure speculation, that it is due to the lack of clubs in North Down.

If you classified clubs as either north v south, you would end up with 90% of clubs in South Down.

I have learnt plenty of quiz answers here today, TakeTheMark.    Fair play.

[manwithnoplan]

didnt know that about them being possibly only team to win 2 in a row , is there then a reason why all counties are not adopting the tyrone method of leagues and championship ?

The Tyrone SFC format of straight knockout football has led to some great games to watch over the years, it might lead to a few more entertaining games in Down but perhaps it would still end up being the same teams in the final anyway as Kilcoo are relentless, and you've a couple of others in the next bracket. A more cynical view is that there might be more money to be made through having more games and a back door system, or group formats as some counties have.

[ardtole]

I see some of the league fixtures for div 1 & 2 have been released yesterday. Can't find anything for div 3. After only having 3 home games last year, do we get 4 home games this year? Or is it the luck of the draw?

[johnnycool]

It's only on here I've ever heard of the Ards clubs considered as being East Down.

Geographically yes, but when there was an East Down and South Down board (there very well may still be) but there was never any representation on the East Down board from the Ards clubs.

I think we do compete in the East Down Scór though, but that's only for the young wans wanting to do a bit of buck-leppin over the winter.

At underage hurling back in the 90s you boyos weren't invited into the east down league either. You must have just played each other. Don't think there was many years of 2 leagues though, teams started struggling with numbers after that, barely enough for 1 league outside the ards for a while.

At underage we played each other ad nauseum, probably a dozen times a year and then at that time almost all the locals in the Ards went to St Columba's so you were sick, sore and tired of the sight of each other!!!

This East Down, South Down thing is a football construct, I'd never heard of it until I joined this forum, but I suppose there may well still be the East and South Down boards, which I always believed were purely for underage football, are they still a thing?

[supersub]

didnt know that about them being possibly only team to win 2 in a row , is there then a reason why all counties are not adopting the tyrone method of leagues and championship ?

The Tyrone SFC format of straight knockout football has led to some great games to watch over the years, it might lead to a few more entertaining games in Down but perhaps it would still end up being the same teams in the final anyway as Kilcoo are relentless, and you've a couple of others in the next bracket. A more cynical view is that there might be more money to be made through having more games and a back door system, or group formats as some counties have.

A realistic view is the current championship format is better than straight knockout. What are the advantages of straight knockout? If you think Kilcoo would have won any fewer than they have in the last decade or so, you are mistaken. Current format is far better for players who are asked a hell of a lot more in terms of commitment than yesteryear at club level.

[thewobbler]

didnt know that about them being possibly only team to win 2 in a row , is there then a reason why all counties are not adopting the tyrone method of leagues and championship ?

The Tyrone SFC format of straight knockout football has led to some great games to watch over the years, it might lead to a few more entertaining games in Down but perhaps it would still end up being the same teams in the final anyway as Kilcoo are relentless, and you've a couple of others in the next bracket. A more cynical view is that there might be more money to be made through having more games and a back door system, or group formats as some counties have.

A realistic view is the current championship format is better than straight knockout. What are the advantages of straight knockout? If you think Kilcoo would have won any fewer than they have in the last decade or so, you are mistaken. Current format is far better for players who are asked a hell of a lot more in terms of commitment than yesteryear at club level.

Advantages of straight knock out:

1. If there is a team that's a cert to win it, it moves the process along quicker. Why drag it out?

2. If another team happens to have a day in million and beats the team that cannot be beaten, it changes the entire course of the championship. No matter when it happens.

—-

Why any senior footballer would want to drag out a championship that they cannot win is beyond me.

How any senior footballer could believe that playing in a game in which the result doesn't matter, is a championship game, is beyond me.

It's just more of the bluffery and nonsense that pervades senior club football in Down