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Replying To Longfordlad1985: "Worst Longford performance I've seen was their anyone who looked somewhat good" Liam glennon at midfield had a good debut
Longford92 (Longford) - Posts: 14 - 01/02/2026 20:22:52
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Replying To Longford92: "Liam glennon at midfield had a good debut" Really think he won about 2 clean kickouts whole game Mcguiness masterson Moran only ones who turned up
90 percent of that team isn't good enough few lads whose legs are gone
Longfordlad1985 (Longford) - Posts: 50 - 01/02/2026 20:51:06
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Replying To Longfordlad1985: "Really think he won about 2 clean kickouts whole game Mcguiness masterson Moran only ones who turned up
90 percent of that team isn't good enough few lads whose legs are gone" McGuinness was poor I think.
williesboy (Leitrim) - Posts: 544 - 01/02/2026 21:39:27
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Replying To williesboy: "McGuinness was poor I think." Mcguiness caught some ball kickouts were good and made a great save
Longfordlad1985 (Longford) - Posts: 50 - 02/02/2026 00:54:06
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McGuinness dropped one ball he should have caught in the first half. London got a point from it. He does an awful lot of shouting at his players defending ('right foot/left foot') but he is pretty solid.
The most worrying aspect about the game is that London were much superior for most of that game. Lucky not to be beaten by 10 points.
keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4103 - 02/02/2026 14:17:33
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Another decent win for the hurlers on Saturday. Cathal Mullane introduced at halftime made an impact. Should make the league final if they can beat Monaghan away next weekend.
keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4103 - 02/02/2026 14:20:10
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Replying To Longfordlad1985: "Worst Longford performance I've seen was their anyone who looked somewhat good" Weren't you at it - the worst performance you've see it says.
Boxtyeater (Leitrim) - Posts: 759 - 02/02/2026 14:34:17
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Replying To Boxtyeater: "Weren't you at it - the worst performance you've see it says." I was I was just wondering if anyone thought their was any positives
Longfordlad1985 (Longford) - Posts: 50 - 02/02/2026 17:28:55
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Replying To keeper7: "Another decent win for the hurlers on Saturday. Cathal Mullane introduced at halftime made an impact. Should make the league final if they can beat Monaghan away next weekend." Hurlers flying at the minute,Martin Farrell is nice hurler to be fair and young Courtney done well when he came in
Patrickoneill7281 (Longford) - Posts: 6 - 02/02/2026 20:14:59
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Replying To Longfordlad1985: "I was I was just wondering if anyone thought their was any positives" it wasn't too cold in the stands
John45 (Longford) - Posts: 13 - 02/02/2026 21:08:18
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Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we finish bottom of the pile at the end of the league. A fine indictment of where we are at the minute. Maybe we were spoiled with the players and teams we pulled together from 2000-2020 as at the end of the day we are the 2nd smallest county in the country. But most other 'Weaker' counties have greatly improved the last number of year, no reason we shouldn't be kicking on too.
Too much disparity in the grades in both underage and senior. We are all well aware of the messing between teams in promotion/relegation between the adult grades, but the underage grades are a mess. Multiple underage clubs joining up and still taking beatings, teams dropping down divisions to avoid beatings in a higher grade, but being far too strong for the grade they drop down to and theres more that could be noted.
Where do we realistically go from here in the short, medium and long term?
LongfordSham (Longford) - Posts: 141 - 03/02/2026 09:50:08
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The main issue with what is going on, is the lack of foresight in developing underage players over the last 10/15 years, which systematically comes from the county board and the same faces in there for years.
The lack of development through Schools and underage systems is the reason we are not producing players of an intercounty stanard - look at the physical nature of Longford players compared to those in similar counties, we are miles and miles off it.
Lets not forget, Longford beat a Louth side in 2020, who just a couple of years later, went on to win the Leinster championship.
Michael Duignan in Offaly is another example of someone who has laid the foundations and reapt the rewards with plenty of underage success, filtering into their senior setup.
Instead in Longford, folks in the county board are more interested in saving the pennies with no structure or foresight in place to improve standards.
I would say there are plenty of cute business heads around the county who could do a job, but they wouldn't be let near the place as we've seen before - anyone with any common sense isn't welcome!
honda15 (Longford) - Posts: 95 - 03/02/2026 16:11:56
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Replying To LongfordSham: "Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we finish bottom of the pile at the end of the league. A fine indictment of where we are at the minute. Maybe we were spoiled with the players and teams we pulled together from 2000-2020 as at the end of the day we are the 2nd smallest county in the country. But most other 'Weaker' counties have greatly improved the last number of year, no reason we shouldn't be kicking on too.
Too much disparity in the grades in both underage and senior. We are all well aware of the messing between teams in promotion/relegation between the adult grades, but the underage grades are a mess. Multiple underage clubs joining up and still taking beatings, teams dropping down divisions to avoid beatings in a higher grade, but being far too strong for the grade they drop down to and theres more that could be noted.
Where do we realistically go from here in the short, medium and long term?" Short term: Limited options. Make sure county setup is as welcoming as possible to as many players as possible and keep standards of training as high as you can in the hope you can get the mix right to keep up. But we shouldn't expect promotion anytime soon, expectations need to be managed.
Medium term: Follow through with proposed changes to Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championship structures and clubs have to avoid pushing the bailout button if they are in danger of going down themselves. We need a stronger domestic competition across all grades (Leinster Club shows we are not keeping pace at any grade with peers) and the stigma of relegation needs to be blown up. Clubs have scuppered this change many times. No more!
Long term: Continued and increased investment in underage development and invest in better and more professional and inviting infrastructure and facilities (including Pearse Park and proposed CoE) to attract and keep players and investors. Right now the park looks shabby and facilities are not keeping up with the pack. Crowds at games are down while prices are up. The pull factor needs to be there, and it is failing IMO. Demographics means there will need to be more permanent amalgamations which is going to hurt egos, but will be necessary to avoid clubs failing to compete properly.
I don't envy the CB in tackling this. It's hard to be critical of any one thing, and the lads togging out aren't to blame. This is a combination of problems, some of them outside their control.
LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 653 - 03/02/2026 17:09:23
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Agree with a lot of what has been said. Some of the problem is demographics. The second smallest county in Ireland with the lowest number of clubs. If everyone else is maximising what they have, then it becomes a numbers game and that is a battle we won't win. Many would've seen Wicklow or Louth as counties of equal stature to us historically, but they are benefitting from an increased population and an increased GAA imprint in the county, particularly in large population centres like Bray/Drogheda. We can't compete with that, so we need to be better at minding what we have.
Clubs:
In truth, there is only a few clubs taking player development seriously. Some clubs have the excuse of numbers but some don't. Clubs like Colmcille are to be admired constantly producing quality players even if they dont have the numbers. Other clubs with bigger resources could learn from them. 3 of the 4 biggest population centres in the county are producing very little. Some clubs using the figleaf of hurling development to absolve themselves of producing footballers doesnt help either. This apathy at club level is enabled by a county board who allow teams at underage to play down rather than up. Thankfully, that is changing and there is signs of increased numbers in A grades. Whether that is a levelling up or a levelling down remains to be seen but a situation where there are 3 or 4 levels in a county with 17 or 18 underage set ups is ridiculous. Clubs need to be held to account. Any county where 1 club is providing 5/6/7 players to county underage teams is a bad look. This has been the case for 15 years with Northern Gaels, Killoe and latterly Clonguish carrying the can. At adult level, the nonsense about teams winning things and not going up to Senior or Div 1 needs to be stopped. Our championships need to be sorted once and for all. Thankfully, this is happening now but its 10 years too late.
County Board:
Start taking development seriously. Stop pandering to clubs at underage level and adult level who want the easy way out or the rules changed. It doesnt happen anywhere else. Development is not presenting cups and swanning around Pearse Park on the day of a NFL gane in a high vis jacket giving out about the team on the field. We are slowly turning that around but we sat on our hands for 10 years and spent it arguing about who should be in Div 2 or 3 rather than look at the big picture. If we don't have numbers for conpetitive games for everyone inside the county, develop relationships with other counties. We need help in that area. We need external support in the same way Carlow/Kildare hurling got a leg up from Kilkenny by playing in their leagues/championships.
Supporters:
Be patient with this team. There are green shoots. 3 of our better players last week were our 20 year olds. There are other good players coming through. Give them time. As the previous contributor said, the lads that have committed are not the problem. There are a lot of lads in their mid 20s out there who played well in the club championships but seem unwilling to commit to the county setup. They need to be encouraged into the squad. Fair play to Fox, Moffett, McCabe and Dessie who stayed around to help the new lads. They are to be commended, same with Paddy Collum last year.
This will turn but it will need the co board getting things right and every club in the county pulling their weight. There was a time when you could get away with poor structures and a few clubs producing the goods but no longer. Getting every thing right guarantees you nothing but if you don't get it sorted you are guaranteed to fail.
TheSouthwillrise (Roscommon) - Posts: 1 - 03/02/2026 22:53:41
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Replying To TheSouthwillrise: "Agree with a lot of what has been said. Some of the problem is demographics. The second smallest county in Ireland with the lowest number of clubs. If everyone else is maximising what they have, then it becomes a numbers game and that is a battle we won't win. Many would've seen Wicklow or Louth as counties of equal stature to us historically, but they are benefitting from an increased population and an increased GAA imprint in the county, particularly in large population centres like Bray/Drogheda. We can't compete with that, so we need to be better at minding what we have.
Clubs:
In truth, there is only a few clubs taking player development seriously. Some clubs have the excuse of numbers but some don't. Clubs like Colmcille are to be admired constantly producing quality players even if they dont have the numbers. Other clubs with bigger resources could learn from them. 3 of the 4 biggest population centres in the county are producing very little. Some clubs using the figleaf of hurling development to absolve themselves of producing footballers doesnt help either. This apathy at club level is enabled by a county board who allow teams at underage to play down rather than up. Thankfully, that is changing and there is signs of increased numbers in A grades. Whether that is a levelling up or a levelling down remains to be seen but a situation where there are 3 or 4 levels in a county with 17 or 18 underage set ups is ridiculous. Clubs need to be held to account. Any county where 1 club is providing 5/6/7 players to county underage teams is a bad look. This has been the case for 15 years with Northern Gaels, Killoe and latterly Clonguish carrying the can. At adult level, the nonsense about teams winning things and not going up to Senior or Div 1 needs to be stopped. Our championships need to be sorted once and for all. Thankfully, this is happening now but its 10 years too late.
County Board:
Start taking development seriously. Stop pandering to clubs at underage level and adult level who want the easy way out or the rules changed. It doesnt happen anywhere else. Development is not presenting cups and swanning around Pearse Park on the day of a NFL gane in a high vis jacket giving out about the team on the field. We are slowly turning that around but we sat on our hands for 10 years and spent it arguing about who should be in Div 2 or 3 rather than look at the big picture. If we don't have numbers for conpetitive games for everyone inside the county, develop relationships with other counties. We need help in that area. We need external support in the same way Carlow/Kildare hurling got a leg up from Kilkenny by playing in their leagues/championships.
Supporters:
Be patient with this team. There are green shoots. 3 of our better players last week were our 20 year olds. There are other good players coming through. Give them time. As the previous contributor said, the lads that have committed are not the problem. There are a lot of lads in their mid 20s out there who played well in the club championships but seem unwilling to commit to the county setup. They need to be encouraged into the squad. Fair play to Fox, Moffett, McCabe and Dessie who stayed around to help the new lads. They are to be commended, same with Paddy Collum last year.
This will turn but it will need the co board getting things right and every club in the county pulling their weight. There was a time when you could get away with poor structures and a few clubs producing the goods but no longer. Getting every thing right guarantees you nothing but if you don't get it sorted you are guaranteed to fail." "Some clubs using the figleaf of hurling development to absolve themselves of producing footballers doesnt help either."
Who you referring to here? I haven't heard anyone use that as an excuse.
keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4103 - 04/02/2026 10:18:26
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In order to make our county team better, our club scene has to be totally revamped.
For the League:
All 21 first teams divided up into Division 1, 2 and 3. And all second string teams go into a Reserve League and are divided up into Division 1,2 and 3 (just like the Junior A, B and C Championship).
For the Championship:
All 21 first teams divided into Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championship. 7 teams per grade, 1st to 4th goes through to semi finals, 5th and 6th stay where they are, and 7th will be relegated to the below grade (except for 7th place in Junior). All second string teams are divided into Reserve A, B and C championship.
This will improve the competitiveness of Longford football and improve standards which will pass onto performances at inter-county level.
Sportrex (Longford) - Posts: 9 - 04/02/2026 10:38:23
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Haven't been about Longford football for a while and was wondering how the young Flynn's for clonguish and big Shane "bomber" Donahue are getting on
Farneyfella20 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1 - 04/02/2026 11:10:56
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Replying To TheSouthwillrise: "Agree with a lot of what has been said. Some of the problem is demographics. The second smallest county in Ireland with the lowest number of clubs. If everyone else is maximising what they have, then it becomes a numbers game and that is a battle we won't win. Many would've seen Wicklow or Louth as counties of equal stature to us historically, but they are benefitting from an increased population and an increased GAA imprint in the county, particularly in large population centres like Bray/Drogheda. We can't compete with that, so we need to be better at minding what we have.
Clubs:
In truth, there is only a few clubs taking player development seriously. Some clubs have the excuse of numbers but some don't. Clubs like Colmcille are to be admired constantly producing quality players even if they dont have the numbers. Other clubs with bigger resources could learn from them. 3 of the 4 biggest population centres in the county are producing very little. Some clubs using the figleaf of hurling development to absolve themselves of producing footballers doesnt help either. This apathy at club level is enabled by a county board who allow teams at underage to play down rather than up. Thankfully, that is changing and there is signs of increased numbers in A grades. Whether that is a levelling up or a levelling down remains to be seen but a situation where there are 3 or 4 levels in a county with 17 or 18 underage set ups is ridiculous. Clubs need to be held to account. Any county where 1 club is providing 5/6/7 players to county underage teams is a bad look. This has been the case for 15 years with Northern Gaels, Killoe and latterly Clonguish carrying the can. At adult level, the nonsense about teams winning things and not going up to Senior or Div 1 needs to be stopped. Our championships need to be sorted once and for all. Thankfully, this is happening now but its 10 years too late.
County Board:
Start taking development seriously. Stop pandering to clubs at underage level and adult level who want the easy way out or the rules changed. It doesnt happen anywhere else. Development is not presenting cups and swanning around Pearse Park on the day of a NFL gane in a high vis jacket giving out about the team on the field. We are slowly turning that around but we sat on our hands for 10 years and spent it arguing about who should be in Div 2 or 3 rather than look at the big picture. If we don't have numbers for conpetitive games for everyone inside the county, develop relationships with other counties. We need help in that area. We need external support in the same way Carlow/Kildare hurling got a leg up from Kilkenny by playing in their leagues/championships.
Supporters:
Be patient with this team. There are green shoots. 3 of our better players last week were our 20 year olds. There are other good players coming through. Give them time. As the previous contributor said, the lads that have committed are not the problem. There are a lot of lads in their mid 20s out there who played well in the club championships but seem unwilling to commit to the county setup. They need to be encouraged into the squad. Fair play to Fox, Moffett, McCabe and Dessie who stayed around to help the new lads. They are to be commended, same with Paddy Collum last year.
This will turn but it will need the co board getting things right and every club in the county pulling their weight. There was a time when you could get away with poor structures and a few clubs producing the goods but no longer. Getting every thing right guarantees you nothing but if you don't get it sorted you are guaranteed to fail." Not sure about the fig leaf comment. Three clubs have been keeping hurling alive in the county for the past 25 years. The game was and is dead without them. There isn't a club in the county going out of its way to produce hurlers at the expense of footballers. Rueben Murray made his 100th appearance at the weekend and has two junior football championship medals with Grattans. Same applies to Keelan Cox and many others. They arguably deserve more praise because of how little public reward there is for hurling in the county. The new hurling clubs in underage are desperately needed and the decision to include Leitrim and now Cavan clubs in hurling championships is a great move. Longford are competing in Ulster Minor Development competition this year too. So things are happening and the addition of Dromard, Rathcline and Kenagh in underage is a key piece of that overall development.
On the CB, I was no fan of the last chairman and I didn't think the current one would be a good fit, but the last man could never be accused of not rolling up his sleeves, and the current man seems laser focussed on development and the COE project. So I think we should give some benefit of the doubt. They are volunteers after all and, regardless of my differences with some of them, it is not an easy job and I don't envy the job ahead of them. I hope they will stand firm when the clubs come (and they will) to try and dismantle the club championship structure changes.
LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 653 - 04/02/2026 11:40:06
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Replying To Sportrex: "In order to make our county team better, our club scene has to be totally revamped.
For the League:
All 21 first teams divided up into Division 1, 2 and 3. And all second string teams go into a Reserve League and are divided up into Division 1,2 and 3 (just like the Junior A, B and C Championship).
For the Championship:
All 21 first teams divided into Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championship. 7 teams per grade, 1st to 4th goes through to semi finals, 5th and 6th stay where they are, and 7th will be relegated to the below grade (except for 7th place in Junior). All second string teams are divided into Reserve A, B and C championship.
This will improve the competitiveness of Longford football and improve standards which will pass onto performances at inter-county level." 8 7 6 would even work 7 for junior bit much maybe 6 7 intermediate and 8 senior but agree with you senuor has to be decreased all the way down
Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 1172 - 04/02/2026 12:14:30
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Replying To Gaaforlife2023: "8 7 6 would even work 7 for junior bit much maybe 6 7 intermediate and 8 senior but agree with you senuor has to be decreased all the way down" Good help people going to Dungarvan for the basement battle. It pains me that this game appears to be to see who the weakest team in the country is.
I'm told the championship structure is set in stone. Going to 10 senior 8 inter and 4 junior over the next 2 years.
What about the co board decision to split Div 2 but into 2 groups of 6 and play tge 5 rds with most likely to be without county players and then play 3 more rounds with county players but those 3 worth 3 pts for a win but no change to Div one I'm heard. New to this but frustrated watching Longford last Sunday. ( I won't be going to dungarvan btw but only cos it's just too far in an old car!)
Green&redforever (Longford) - Posts: 1 - 04/02/2026 13:29:57
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