Children’s league unveil calendar season plans

THE Drogheda & District Schoolchildren’s League have confirmed arrangements for the transition to calendar football in 2018, which includes an interim short season to run from September to November of this year.

Players will play in the same age group for the upcoming truncated season and the 2018 calendar season and teams will play in the age group one year older than the one they were entered in for 2016/17.

The formation sheet for each club for the short season must be completed and returned by August 10th and the Formation Meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday August 15th at 7.30pm at a venue to be confirmed.

Full details of the inaugural 2018 calendar season will be finalised in the coming months, but there will be no fixtures in July, August, December or January.

The details were announced following a meeting of the League Committee last Tuesday night and the League took the opportunity to thank all the clubs who provided feedback to the proposals.

Meanwhile, The Drogheda & District League have also met with other schoolboy leagues in the region and have agreed, subject to SFAI approval, to implement the first phase of interleague games for clubs in the North East, separate to SFAI Cup competitions.

In the first phase, Premier League winners and runner-ups from last season (U-11 Cup, U-12 Premier, U-13 Premier and U-14 Premier) will take part in a competition that will include their counterparts from the NECSL, Cavan Monaghan and potentially Dundalk.

The plan is to widen this to other divisions following completion of the first phase, planned for between September and December 2017.

The League have thanked Valerie Murray who has stepped down as League Registrar and from the League Committee after 10 years.

NUMBERS drawn in last week’s Duleek AFC/SBG lotto were 1, 17, 18, 21 and the six €20 prizes went to G McKeown, A Dunne, O Finnegan, S Bohan, B Richardson and M Greechan.

The draw takes place each Thursday at 8.30pm in the Duleek AFC clubhouse, tickets are available from committee members and this week’s jackpot remains at €8,000.

Ireland’s call ARDEE native Mark McAuley, with his horse Miebello, has been named as Ireland’s reserve rider for this month’s Longines FEI European Show Jumping Championships in Gothenburg.