Laois Senior Footballers 2026

[High Fielder]

with the full two rounds played now after yesterday we now find ourselves in third from bottom with 1 point with a -14 points difference. The -14 total is the joint second worse difference in the divisions with Monaghan in Division 1 with -18 below. Our major problem is that we are a very low scoring team currently, 22 points after two rounds with only Longford and Waterford in Division 4 lower. Sligo's win at the weekend will give them a boost for the next day but they probably will be more satisfied with getting 1-19 against Fermanagh. while I hope we would get a result against Sligo to ease relegation wonders if we don't we are heading into our harder fixtures away to Clare, Down and Fermanagh and home to Westmeath in serious bother. Clare might be positioned below us in the league with zero points but they have probably played their two hardest matches first against Down and Westmeath and still managed to score 40 points over the two games. the big hope when the fixtures were first released that we would have four points after the opening games and possibly 6 after Sligo and then tackle the next games with a push for promotion but as we have seen things didn't go that way.

I never had you down as a Make Believer. Look at the evidence in front of you. Our own Championship. The players we're producing. The apathy.

It's a total mess and it's rotten. It has been this way for many years, and shows zero signs of changing. We get a report every year basically telling us we have all the problems in the world, it goes up on the shelf, and then nothing until next year. The people of Laois want nothing to do with it. The empty stands tell you everything

[Laois Rising]

Something is going very wrong at underage level with the development of players. With our bigger clubs they can go from having a decent team one year to a weak team the next-tends to be down to the quality of parents involved with certain teams that decides their development. Schools are hugely disappointing-outside of Knockbeg who are competitive at senior level without ever really looking like winning the competition. In other counties we see schools playing a big role in helping the progression of young players. 

The minor panel for this year is a perfect example of something amiss in the county. Crettyard have five players on the minor panel this year with probably 15-20 boys maximum in the parish of that age to draw upon and then you have a town of 20,000 plus in Portlaoise and they feeding in 2 players. Traditional strongholds like Stradbally-no players, St. Joseph's 1. What is happening in these clubs with the size of pick available to them that they are not developing and bringing through players on an annual basis.

Laois will only be strong when the likes of Josephs, Stradbally and Portlaoise are strong. Traditionally when Laois go well its when are stronger, traditional clubs are going strong too.

[The Boy Wonder]

The small crowds at Laois games over the past few years is clear evidence of the apathy among supporters.

One just has to look at Cavan and Roscommon, counties with similar populations, to see that supporters will get behind their team when they see their county making the best of their resources.

Hopefully the negativity that's around at the moment does not spread to the current panel and they avoid relegation.

A huge effort is needed at underage level - it has been proven in the past that success is achievable.
I'm not close to the club scene (living in Dublin) but I understand the number of senior teams will be reduced.

[oneshot]

Whatever chance we have/had of staying up, we need all our best players involved. We're already on the back foot because so many aren't in there. Aside from that, we're in a right mess. But look, let's play musical chairs at the next CB meeting. That should fix it. No other county would tolerate this BS

who are all theses best players port have 5 or 6 in courtwood county runners up have a good few in.

[Sideline12]

Just putting this out there for discussion Again.

I genuinely believe that across all clubs in Laois,  we need to start identifying tall, fast underage players as early as possible- particularly at under U13 and U15 level - and  bringing them into the county development squads.

Obviously skill is crucial,  but if we're serious about competing at Minor, U20,  and ultimately Senior levels in the years ahead, we need to be developing physically strong,quick players from a young age. That kind of raw athleticism when paired with the right coaching and game intelligence, can give Laois football the edge we've been lacking at the highest level.

Every year we see top Counties feeling powerful, mobile athletes who also have great football brains. We should be building our future around the same model- players who can cover ground, win primary possession, and transition quickly.

Would be interested to hear what others think. Are we doing enough at developement squad level to build for this kind of future?

[Laois Rising]

In response to Sideline12 opening point of debate-

Dr Brian Cuthbert at the Munster GAA Club Forum 2025 on getting the balance right between competition and player development-

He couldn't state more clearly the importance of placing emphasis on school-based training (which is non existent in a lot of secondary schools in Laois or tokenistic in how it is done).

This is where players are with friends in less pressurised settings and have increased contact time with coaches (as recommended by Cuthbert). To underline this point, he highlighted that the five Kerry minor teams of 2014-2018 had key players from four Hogan Cup wins, namely Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne (Éamonn Fitzmaurice's school, in 2014 and 2015) and St. Brendan's College Killarney (2016 and 2017).

Most of the schools in Kerry put huge efforts into their GAA coaching and you can clearly see the benefits this brings at inter-county level then as well. Young lads are getting a fantastic grounding in GAA during their developmental years. Many of our schools put a slap dash approach into it fielding teams in B, C, and D competitions without any proper preparation and then unsurprisingly hockeyed against any half decent school side. Putting the correct structures in place at this pivotal stage of development will go a long long way. Kildare schools thriving at the moment and you can see the projected upward trajectory of Kildare football over the next couple of years. 

Louth GAA has been actively driving school development through structured coaching programmes, school-club links, and regional academies aimed at increasing participation and standards. They must be into year 6 of this drive and you can clearly see it is already bearing fruit with Louth reaching an u20 All-Ireland Final last year as well as being pipped by Offaly in a cracking minor final.

Again, the common theme to the success within each of these counties-strongly focused and promoted schools programmes. 

Outside of Knockbeg what Laois schools are competitive and providing top-level coaching and support to their teams. I would even suggest that while competitive, Knockbeg could be achieving more considering the players that have gone through the school in the last decade. Again-better support and input from Laois GAA might make all the difference here. 

The small percentages all add up. Louth GAA targeted schools at primary and secondary where GAA was not existence or had little impact. They focused on targeting these schools, providing sustained coaching and then creating meaningful connections between the local clubs and these schools. Small but effective steps.