Leagues get a green light

THE Louth football leagues will proceed as planned this season after Cuchulainn Gaels withdrew a motion to prevent second teams from gaining promotion at the expense of another club’s first team.

The motion did seem to curry favour among clubs at the January County Board meeting, but it was unclear what effect it would have on the current make-up of the six divisions, which were already determined by finishing positions in 2016.

St Nicholas did put forward their motion to limit the number of players a club’s second team could field, but it was heavily defeated. However, their delegate Jim McQuillan issued a stark warning to clubs, stating:

‘We’re heading for a situation in this county where we have 15 super club in divisions 1 and 2, while the rest of us scrap at the bottom. It’s hard enough to hang on to young players, but this is going to make it next to impossible and lads will be looking for transfers and just not playing Gaelic football at all.’