Junior Footballers in County Panels

[rionach 4]

Brendan Donaghy...  Armagh  Junior club Clonmore

[FermGael]

Eoin Donnelly. Fermanagh captain plays for Coa who will play in this year's Fermanagh junior championship

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

You've had the original question answered enough on the Kerry forum aswell as here anyway TC..

Just to add my 2 cents, the County League and the County Senior Championship in Kerry are not perfect by any means, but they are very good. The League gives every single club player 10/11 serious competitive games each year. There is currently a 3 up/3 down system in place which makes it even tougher. The Senior championship then (through the Divisional teams) allows every single club player in the county the opportunity to compete against the top players, so no matter what size of a club you're from, you'll get your day in Tralee or Killarney to shine if you're good enough.

Possibly explains why a good share of players from lower clubs make the grade down here. I remember telling a chap from Mayo that our entire half back line in 1997 was from Junior clubs (Breen, Flaherty, Moynihan) and he couldn't believe it. The County Junior team is also taken relatively seriously aswell most of the time and is seen as a stepping stone to Senior squad.

[brokencrossbar1]

I think Cork have a similar set up with players coming through their junior team, donnacha o connor i think was one and miskella too i think.

O Connor is from a junior club who play in the duhallow divisional. Miskellas club just won the senior championship and to my memory he had only played senior championship football as they won the intermediate circa 1999

[Lone Shark]

32 clubs play football in Offaly, of which 22 were either senior or Intermediate in 2014 and the same numbers will apply in 2015, as Rhode and Tullamore's second teams both retained their IFC status.

Of the ten clubs that are either Junior, Junior B of Junior C, Four of them (Birr, Lusmagh, Kinnitty and Drumcullen) would all make no bones about being clubs that put hurling first and who just field in football. Birr have actually had a few county panelists in recent years but none last year, even though Seán Ryan got called in early on but opted to play hurling only.

That leaves six others, and last year there would have been no county senior panelists from those clubs if I recall correctly. Philip Foy (Clonmore Harps) was county minor captain in 2011 and played under-21 last year, but I don't think he was added to the senior panel, or if he was, he certainly didn't feature on the field. Daingean won the JFC and would have featured one or two players who might have county senior football potential, but they didn't have anyone this year. And while you'll always have people arguing that there are hidden depths of talent out there in Junior clubs, nothing that I saw this year suggested that there are too many undiscovered gems playing Offaly JFC.

[SaffronHeart]

Would love the Kerry Divisional championship system to be adopted in Antrim but dont think it would be feasible in dual counties. The divisional system would give better inter/junior players something to aspire too and also help prevent poaching which is prevalent in Antrim anyway.

[tc_manchester]

So far
Kerry 7 (from panel of 28)
Tyrone 1 (26)
Cavan 3
Roscommon 1
Derry 0
Down 1
Dublin 0
Armagh 1
Fermanagh 1
Cork 1

Still Kerry well ahead of the rest

[Syferus]

So far
Kerry 7 (from panel of 28)
Tyrone 1 (26)
Cavan 3
Roscommon 1
Derry 0
Down 1
Dublin 0
Armagh 1
Fermanagh 1
Cork 1

Still Kerry well ahead of the rest

Given none of them exclusively ply their trade at junior it's a bit of a disingenuous stat though.

[tc_manchester]

not really - if their club wins the junior championship then they compete on the all ireland junior club championship. There is no way then can play in the all ireland senior club championship until their club becomes senior. Kerry have a senior club championship but they also have a county championship which involves all the clubs in the county.

[BennyHarp]

not really - if their club wins the junior championship then they compete on the all ireland junior club championship. There is no way then can play in the all ireland senior club championship until their club becomes senior. Kerry have a senior club championship but they also have a county championship which involves all the clubs in the county.

Do better junior players not play in the senior championship? Eg. Did Declan O'Sullivan not play for Dromid in the Junior Champiobship and South Kerry in the senior?

[tc_manchester]

not really - if their club wins the junior championship then they compete on the all ireland junior club championship. There is no way then can play in the all ireland senior club championship until their club becomes senior. Kerry have a senior club championship but they also have a county championship which involves all the clubs in the county.

Do better junior players not play in the senior championship? Eg. Did Declan O'Sullivan not play for Dromid in the Junior Champiobship and South Kerry in the senior?

Yes - they do but they cannot play in the all-ireland club championship (using your example Dromid would have to become a senior club and then win the senior/county championship) - as far as I know if a divisional side wins the county championship then the winners of the senior club championship qualify for the all ireland club competition.

[Syferus]

not really - if their club wins the junior championship then they compete on the all ireland junior club championship. There is no way then can play in the all ireland senior club championship until their club becomes senior. Kerry have a senior club championship but they also have a county championship which involves all the clubs in the county.

Do better junior players not play in the senior championship? Eg. Did Declan O'Sullivan not play for Dromid in the Junior Champiobship and South Kerry in the senior?

That's my point. The system in Kerry allows clubs that would be inter or higher in other counties exist at junior. Not even saying that's a bad thing, just that TC is comparing apples with oranges by just listing the junior players on county team panels - they all play at the highest level of Kerry football.

[BallyhaiseMan]

Another Cavan addition to this list
Liam Buchannon, Ballymachugh

Is he on the senior panel this year? Don't think he was brought in last year after the U21s but I could be wrong.

He was listed Number 24 on my programme for the Rossie qualifer game. He was a sub today against Down also.

[BennyHarp]

not really - if their club wins the junior championship then they compete on the all ireland junior club championship. There is no way then can play in the all ireland senior club championship until their club becomes senior. Kerry have a senior club championship but they also have a county championship which involves all the clubs in the county.

Do better junior players not play in the senior championship? Eg. Did Declan O'Sullivan not play for Dromid in the Junior Champiobship and South Kerry in the senior?

Yes - they do but they cannot play in the all-ireland club championship (using your example Dromid would have to become a senior club and then win the senior/county championship) - as far as I know if a divisional side wins the county championship then the winners of the senior club championship qualify for the all ireland club competition.

Fair enough, but they get the opportunity to play senior football within the county which junior players in other counties do not. The fact that these players have performed at senior club level is most likely part of the reason why more of them have been picked by Kerry.

[AZOffaly]

not really - if their club wins the junior championship then they compete on the all ireland junior club championship. There is no way then can play in the all ireland senior club championship until their club becomes senior. Kerry have a senior club championship but they also have a county championship which involves all the clubs in the county.

Do better junior players not play in the senior championship? Eg. Did Declan O'Sullivan not play for Dromid in the Junior Champiobship and South Kerry in the senior?

Yes - they do but they cannot play in the all-ireland club championship (using your example Dromid would have to become a senior club and then win the senior/county championship) - as far as I know if a divisional side wins the county championship then the winners of the senior club championship qualify for the all ireland club competition.

Fair enough, but they get the opportunity to play senior football within the county which junior players in other counties do not. The fact that these players have performed at senior club level is most likely part of the reason why more of them have been picked by Kerry.

It's the whole reason. It's a huge reason why there are divisional teams. This is all good. If the op is saying the scouting of junior players is better in Kerry, I don't think that's true. Junior players in Kerry have a great chance If they are good enough because of the system.

Just on Dublin, ciaran Kilkenny was a junior wasn't he, until he transferred? He played for the Dubs as a junior club man though.