Kerry Championship

[Ringfort]

Can anyone explain to me how the Kerry championship works? Are there two championships, a "club" one and a "county" one? Then is it all divided up into north, south, east, west and mid championships and where do amalgamated sides like South Kerry, mid Kerry  etc come into it? Dr Crokes won the club championship recently, Stacks drew with Mid Kerry in the county final today,which is the premier competition? Are the amalgamated sides made up from all teams within their respective region or is it just some of them like the smaller ones perhaps? Anyone able to explain the structure of it for me?

[Wildweasel74]

see the black card doesn't exist in the Kerry championship, that tackle on O`Sullivan running through and taken down was a black card all day long, this is the problem with Gaelic football, refs will not enforce the rules,

[5 Sams]

It's actually quite simple. There's a club and a county championship. Divisional teams can enter the county championship. Divisional teams are made up of intermediate and junior teams in a region. For example West Kerry is a combination of Dingle, Lispole, Annascaul, An Ghaeltacht and Castlegregory. They play in the County Championship. However if Dingle are playing Senior football then they have to go it alone. If a divisional team wins the county championship then the club championship winners represent Kerry in Munster. If Stacks beat Mid Kerry in the replay they will go through. If Mid Kerry win then Crokes will go through because they won the club championship against Legion last week.

I think that's the way it works.....no doubt some smart arse Kerry hoor will be along shortly to correct me.

[twohands!!!]

The reason that the club championship is used is because if you used progress in the county championship were used you could easily have a situation where 2 clubs sides would lose in the county championship semi-finals which would mean a play-off,

Also using the club championship as the decider gives it that extra bit of profile/kudos/prestige as any club knows that winning it could mean a decent chance to represent Kerry in Munster if a divisional side wins the county championship, so it means clubs will treat it fairly seriously , which means more competitive games for players, which helps with player development which probably ends ups with more All-Irelands for Kerry.

Also the reason that there is a rule against Divisional sides taking part in the Munster & All-Ireland stages was that when they could they won the All-Ireland.

[Ringfort]

Also using the club championship as the decider gives it that extra bit of profile/kudos/prestige as any club knows that winning it could mean a decent chance to represent Kerry in Munster if a divisional side wins the county championship, so it means clubs will treat it fairly seriously , which means more competitive games for players, which helps with player development which probably ends ups with more All-Irelands for Kerry.

I was thinking along those lines. That there are two championships in Kerry can only be good for players and the county. More serious games for the ordinary club players than other counties. Sly stuff!

[armaghniac]

They should have one of these yokes in Armagh, you could have south Armagh, mid Armagh, north Armagh and Cross.

[screenexile]

I'm not sure if AZOffaly has ever explained this before so maybe send him a message about it.

He supports Munster in the Rugby as well even though he's from Leinster and I don't think he's ever explained that before either... he's the man to speak to anyways!

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

As the man from Down said above, it's not that complicated really.

Personally can't understand why divisional sides aren't used by more counties. Gives every single club footballer in a county the opportunity to play at the highest level and keeps the standard of the Co. C'ship high (well usually anyway.) There is a current proposal in Kerry to reduce the competition to 11 Divisional teams and 9 club teams.

People sometimes think that teams like Mid Kerry or East Kerry must have a huge pick, but Mid Kerry, who played in today's final for example draw players from Keel (Intermediate) Glenbeigh/Glencar, Beaufort (both Junior) and Cromane (Novice). Miltown/Castlemaine used to be involved but won the Intermediate championship and went Senior on their own. Laune Rangers (Killorglin)are also part of Mid-Kerry, but have been Senior for years.

The Divisional championships are totally separate competitions. They are all kicking off around now actually. Every club in each region (Senior, Intermediate, Junior or Novice) play in these competitions..sort of like an FA Cup type competition. In my own region, North Kerry the championship is THE Holy Grail for many clubs. Duagh, who are a Junior team, won it 2 years ago for example and the place went mad for a week.

[brokencrossbar1]

As the man from Down said above, it's not that complicated really.

Personally can't understand why divisional sides aren't used by more counties. Gives every single club footballer in a county the opportunity to play at the highest level and keeps the standard of the Co. C'ship high (well usually anyway.) There is a current proposal in Kerry to reduce the competition to 11 Divisional teams and 9 club teams.

People sometimes think that teams like Mid Kerry or East Kerry must have a huge pick, but Mid Kerry, who played in today's final for example draw players from Keel (Intermediate) Glenbeigh/Glencar, Beaufort (both Junior) and Cromane (Novice). Miltown/Castlemaine used to be involved but won the Intermediate championship and went Senior on their own. Laune Rangers (Killorglin)are also part of Mid-Kerry, but have been Senior for years.

The Divisional championships are totally separate competitions. They are all kicking off around now actually. Every club in each region (Senior, Intermediate, Junior or Novice) play in these competitions..sort of like an FA Cup type competition. In my own region, North Kerry the championship is THE Holy Grail for many clubs. Duagh, who are a Junior team, won it 2 years ago for example and the place went mad for a week.

I would agree with you that other counties should use it and it certainly will help in the development of juniopr players as they will get the chance to play at a higher level.  The only thing I would say is that it is not appropriate for many counties due simply to the geography.  Both Cork and Kerry have a large geographical base and it makes sense to do it.  Take Armagh for instance,  people have said that it might be useful to bring in a similar system here to break our dominance but the reality is that so many clubs are so physically close to each other that there is no way they could work together!!!

My experience of the Cork set up though was a very good one and in the likes of Galway, Mayo etc would benefit greatly from it

[Croí na hÉireann]

So how do Kerry manage to run off all these county, club and divisional championships and have a team to enter the provincial club competition whilst winning All Irelands?

[AZOffaly]

No Hurling.

And they play their league games without County players. And their championships are all knockout (albeit with a back door for the County Senior championship).

[Croí na hÉireann]

No Hurling.

And they play their league games without County players. And their championships are all knockout (albeit with a back door for the County Senior championship).

What about the pocket? Lixnaw beat Ballyhale in the Munster Intermediate at the weekend...

[AZOffaly]

At a county level, no hurling to really speak of. Put it like this, hurling fixtures won't impinge much on the South Kerry Championship!

[Walter Cronc]

No Hurling.

And they play their league games without County players. And their championships are all knockout (albeit with a back door for the County Senior championship).

Is this true?? Not saying we'd win AI's otherwise but in Derry we prefer for our county men to get battered in club games throughout the year!! Think in Dublin county men play virtually no club matches either.

[AZOffaly]

Most league games don't feature county players as far as I can see. Declan Sullivan wouldn't play a whole pile of league games for Dromid for example.