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National Forum

Wicklow GAA thread

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People on this forum want Wicklow GAA to compete in as high a division in the league as possible and in the Leinster championship. We're probably never going to compete for an All-Ireland title but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't aim to win a provincial championship. Underage talent is an integral part of achieving this goal but we are underachievers at underage; this is a fact.

Wicklow haven't contested a Leinster minor football final since 1997 and we've only ever won one Leinster minor title in 1974 - fifty-two years ago and counting. To put our underachieving in perspective, Longford have won five Leinster minor titles, the latest being in 2024. At u-21/u-20 level, we've never won a Leinster title and haven't compete in a provincial final since 2002 which is twenty-two years and counting. For a county with Wicklow's population, this is an abysmal record. As other posters point out, we are top of tier 3 in Leinster, we might be able to compete in tier 2 but we are a long way away from tier 1. We were comprehensively beaten in this year's u-20 Leinster championship by Kildare and at minor level by Meath, which demonstrates how far away we are.

Our failure at under age grade is a collective failure. It is a combination of failures at schools, club and inter county level in terms of coaching and strength-conditioning. Unless we change, we are unlikely to bridge the gaps to the top teams. Louth who are a small county with a growing population have shown how quickly the gap can be closed if the right people and structures are put in place. The proof suggests we are still not getting things right in this regard which is hindering our progress. I admire people who volunteer to coach juveniles and I expect these volunteers would welcome some guidance as to how they can coach better players as the current methods aren't yield top class results.

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2298 - 21/10/2026 11:41:03    2698094

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Replying To wicklowsupport:  "People on this forum want Wicklow GAA to compete in as high a division in the league as possible and in the Leinster championship. We're probably never going to compete for an All-Ireland title but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't aim to win a provincial championship. Underage talent is an integral part of achieving this goal but we are underachievers at underage; this is a fact.

Wicklow haven't contested a Leinster minor football final since 1997 and we've only ever won one Leinster minor title in 1974 - fifty-two years ago and counting. To put our underachieving in perspective, Longford have won five Leinster minor titles, the latest being in 2024. At u-21/u-20 level, we've never won a Leinster title and haven't compete in a provincial final since 2002 which is twenty-two years and counting. For a county with Wicklow's population, this is an abysmal record. As other posters point out, we are top of tier 3 in Leinster, we might be able to compete in tier 2 but we are a long way away from tier 1. We were comprehensively beaten in this year's u-20 Leinster championship by Kildare and at minor level by Meath, which demonstrates how far away we are.

Our failure at under age grade is a collective failure. It is a combination of failures at schools, club and inter county level in terms of coaching and strength-conditioning. Unless we change, we are unlikely to bridge the gaps to the top teams. Louth who are a small county with a growing population have shown how quickly the gap can be closed if the right people and structures are put in place. The proof suggests we are still not getting things right in this regard which is hindering our progress. I admire people who volunteer to coach juveniles and I expect these volunteers would welcome some guidance as to how they can coach better players as the current methods aren't yield top class results."
A very good post and hits the nail on the head. Throw in inter club rivalry, a lack of desire to play for the county and some clubs discouraging their main i players to play in the county colours explains our situation. The academies can only deal with the material presented to them and if there has been poor preparation at club level the coaches and managers at minor and under 20 cannot transform them into super players physically skillfully and mentally with a few weeks preparation..
i feel we were doing somewhat better when we were competing in the A section of the secondary schools competition with the title of Wicklow Schools but this is gone by the wayside now. This brings to mind another valid point which is the lack of teachers involved l at both primary and secondary level. Ìn many cases the only contact at school level is the visit of coaches for a very limited amount of time. Many potential players are thus lost to other more seemingly attractive sports. I also think that some counties have nurseries like Mels , St.Pats etc that produce outstanding player which form the nucleus of many winning teams.
The big towns along the east coast face the attraction of both soccer and rugby and until they can win consistenty at senior level then gaa will only be a second or 3rd choice sport. The number of subs on the bench for the bigger clubs compared to the rural or combined clubs is especially notable and says a lot.
Remember also winning is a habit and we don't have that which is vital when the chips are down in a close game.I wonder has Oisin found that magic ingredient with our senior team at last with their performances against Antrim Offaly and Down.
I'm not sure what the answer is or has anyone got the answer. Maybe a visit to a county like Louth by a group consisting of our coaching administrator his coaches and top county board officials to explore their platform for success might be a starting point., especially now we have major funding from Echelon and a morale boasting win in the Tailteann cup. Or are we going to waste a glorious chance to lift underage football as we did when we had Micko.

Optimisticobserver (Wicklow) - Posts: 156 - 22/10/2026 19:51:32    2698264

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Replying To wicklowsupport:  "People on this forum want Wicklow GAA to compete in as high a division in the league as possible and in the Leinster championship. We're probably never going to compete for an All-Ireland title but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't aim to win a provincial championship. Underage talent is an integral part of achieving this goal but we are underachievers at underage; this is a fact.

Wicklow haven't contested a Leinster minor football final since 1997 and we've only ever won one Leinster minor title in 1974 - fifty-two years ago and counting. To put our underachieving in perspective, Longford have won five Leinster minor titles, the latest being in 2024. At u-21/u-20 level, we've never won a Leinster title and haven't compete in a provincial final since 2002 which is twenty-two years and counting. For a county with Wicklow's population, this is an abysmal record. As other posters point out, we are top of tier 3 in Leinster, we might be able to compete in tier 2 but we are a long way away from tier 1. We were comprehensively beaten in this year's u-20 Leinster championship by Kildare and at minor level by Meath, which demonstrates how far away we are.

Our failure at under age grade is a collective failure. It is a combination of failures at schools, club and inter county level in terms of coaching and strength-conditioning. Unless we change, we are unlikely to bridge the gaps to the top teams. Louth who are a small county with a growing population have shown how quickly the gap can be closed if the right people and structures are put in place. The proof suggests we are still not getting things right in this regard which is hindering our progress. I admire people who volunteer to coach juveniles and I expect these volunteers would welcome some guidance as to how they can coach better players as the current methods aren't yield top class results."
A very good post and hits the nail on the head. Throw in inter club rivalry, a lack of desire to play for the county and some clubs discouraging their main i players to play in the county colours explains our situation. The academies can only deal with the material presented to them and if there has been poor preparation at club level the coaches and managers at minor and under 20 cannot transform them into super players physically skillfully and mentally with a few weeks preparation..
i feel we were doing somewhat better when we were competing in the A section of the secondary schools competition with the title of Wicklow Schools but this is gone by the wayside now. This brings to mind another valid point which is the lack of teachers involved l at both primary and secondary level. Ìn many cases the only contact at school level is the visit of coaches for a very limited amount of time. Many potential players are thus lost to other more seemingly attractive sports. I also think that some counties have nurseries like Mels , St.Pats etc that produce outstanding player which form the nucleus of many winning teams.
The big towns along the east coast face the attraction of both soccer and rugby and until they can win consistenty at senior level then gaa will only be a second or 3rd choice sport. The number of subs on the bench for the bigger clubs compared to the rural or combined clubs is especially notable and says a lot.
Remember also winning is a habit and we don't have that which is vital when the chips are down in a close game.I wonder has Oisin found that magic ingredient with our senior team at last with their performances against Antrim Offaly and Down.
I'm not sure what the answer is or has anyone got the answer. Maybe a visit to a county like Louth by a group consisting of our coaching administrator his coaches and top county board officials to explore their platform for success might be a starting point., especially now we have major funding from Echelon and a morale boasting win in the Tailteann cup. Or are we going to waste a glorious chance to lift underage football as we did when we had Micko.

Optimisticobserver (Wicklow) - Posts: 156 - 22/10/2026 20:12:48    2698268

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Most of the Wicklow's population is situated on the east coast of the county. Bray, Greystones, Wicklow Town and Arklow are the main urban areas. All these towns have a bigger population than any town in the West or South of the county. Aside from Rathnew who have won 34 county senior titles plus one Leinster title and St. Patricks in Wicklow town with nineteen, the rest of the clubs have won none, including Greystones (Eire Óg). The rest of the clubs in this area are Kilcoole, Newcastle, Ashford, Avoca and Arklow. I'm not sure if Newtownmountkennedy have a GAA club? Bray Emmets have two football county titles; their last county title was ninety-one years ago in 1935. They have two county football titles overall. AGB have made massive strides in recent years and were very close on a couple of occasions to winning a county title in recent years. If I looked at any other county in Ireland, I'd surely find clubs situated in large urban areas who are winning county titles on a regular basis. Why are all the major urban towns in Wicklow underachieving so badly - soccer and rugby? Of the 126-county championship played - Rathnew have won 34, Baltinglass 24 and St. Patricks 19. These three clubs have won a combined 77 county titles to date!

wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 2298 - 23/10/2026 16:09:10    2698363

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