As the triumphant Ballymacelligott footballers bounced down the Cusack Stand tunnel moments after their All-Ireland junior club final victory in Croke Park on Sunday, one of the players brashly declared: “We’ll be back again next year, same time, same place.”
It was clearly delivered as a jocular comment and Ballymacelligott may or may not return to Croke Park for the 2027 All-Ireland intermediate final. However, there is a very good possibility some Kerry club will indeed be present.
Kerry sides have dominated the junior and intermediate club championships since their inception in the early 2000s.
Of the 24 junior finals that have taken place, Kerry have been represented in 16 – winning 12 and losing four. Galway clubs, with three titles, are next on the roll of honour behind Kerry sides.
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At the intermediate grade, Kerry clubs have won eight of the 10 finals they’ve contested. Tyrone clubs, with three triumphs, are second on the list behind Kingdom outfits.
Ballymacelligott and An Ghaeltacht are just the latest club champions from the Kingdom. Dingle could join them next weekend should they manage to complete a Kerry clean sweep by claiming the senior crown.
The supremacy of Kerry clubs in the intermediate and junior championships is a direct result of the competition structures in the county.
Up until recently, there were only eight clubs in the Kerry senior football county championship, alongside the divisional teams. The inclusion of divisional sides in the Kingdom’s county championship has a massive bearing on the format.
The cut-throat nature of only permitting such a small number of clubs to operate in the senior bracket played a part in Austin Stacks getting relegated in 2022, just one season after lifting the Bishop Moynihan Cup.
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The number of clubs in the Kerry Senior Football Championship was increased to nine for 2025. In 2026 that will rise to 10 clubs with six divisional teams to comprise a 16-team senior football championship.
The carve-up still means the 11th, 12th and 13 best adult football club teams in Kerry will be competing in the intermediate grade this season, and that then naturally filters down to junior level.
Many counties around the country have 16-team senior football championships, including the likes of Dublin, Meath and Mayo. The maximum permitted under GAA rule is 16 – with some treating that as a target rather than a guide.
There were 14 clubs in the 2025 Tipperary Senior Football Championship, 12 in Cavan and 12 in Longford.
No Dublin club has managed to win a men’s All-Ireland junior or intermediate football title. In fact, no Dublin club has even contested a junior final, while Fingal Ravens (2008) are the only side from the capital to have played in an intermediate decider.
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Just as Kerry’s system facilitates their clubs to progress at national level, much of Dublin’s absence at the business end of those same competitions can also be explained by local championship structures.
The Dublin Senior Football Championship is a 16-team competition but below that is a 16-team Senior Two football championship. The Dublin intermediate and junior championships follow beneath those 32 senior championship clubs.
Ballymacelligott played in Division One of Kerry’s senior football league last season alongside the likes of Dr Crokes and Austin Stacks.
With so many variables in relation to competition structures in each individual county, it is difficult for the GAA to establish a format that provides a level playing field for all.
And it is certainly not just a football issue. In hurling, the junior championship has become a Kilkenny-Cork duopoly. Kilkenny clubs have competed in 16 of the 22 junior finals, winning 12. Cork have won seven.
At the intermediate grade, Kilkenny clubs have contested 11 of the 21 deciders, winning eight. Cork clubs have competed in eight intermediate finals, winning four.
Still, there is no doubt the All-Ireland club championships are as close to the essence of what the association strives to represent as any other competitions. The scenes at the end of all four finals across last weekend demonstrated just what these championships mean to clubs.
“They are great competitions. We were going on a bus to Clonmel for our first game in Munster and we were like [lads going] on a school tour,” said Ballymacelligott midfielder Aidan Breen.
“It was so giddy on the bus, we were going to play a team we’d never played and in a venue we’d never played in. It was unique and it was really enjoyable.
“The supporters started meeting in bars after the games and stuff. It just kind of built from there.
“There were big breaks between the games as well, so there was lots of talk about the matches then. You are still on a high from winning in Kerry so it’s kind of a bonus and then you’re in a final in Munster.
“If you can go the distance, you have three finals very quickly (county, provincial, senior)
“I think the All-Ireland semi-final was a big one for us. Once we won the semi-final, at least we had guaranteed a day out [in Croke Park] where all the kids got to come up. It has been a great year and we’re very grateful for that.”
