LGFA NFL 2021
SLIGO Ladies Footballers finally have a season to look forward to as the Ladies Gaelic Football Assocation announced the start date for the 2021 Lidl Ladies National Football League. With the government last week giving April 19 as when adult inter-county teams can resume collective training outdoors, the LGFA revealed this national competition schedule, with the NFL commencing on Sunday, May 23. The truncated competition sees the Anthony Brennan-managed Sligo placed in Division 3A alongside Roscommon, Down and Fermanagh. The exact fixtures have yet to be confirmed but Sligo’s three group games will be played on three consecutive Sundays – May 23, May 30 and June 6 (a Bank Holiday weekend). The semi-finals, which will involve the top two teams from each four-team section, are scheduled for Sunday, June 13, with a two-week break until the Division Three decider on Sunday, June 27. The other section in Division Three, Division 3B, features Kildare, Laois, Longford and Wicklow. Participants also have the option of playing their games midweek or a Saturday (with agreement of both counties).
Sligo lost five of their games in last year’s Lidl Ladies National Football League and were bottom of the table and in relegation trouble – with two rounds left to play – when the competition was cancelled due to Covid-19.
This losing streak continued in the LGFA All-Ireland Intermediate Championship last November, under then manager Micheál Bohan, with Sligo recording a further three defeats. Tourlestrane’s Anthony Brennan, whose daughter,
Nicola, was Sligo captain last year, was appointed as manager in January following Bohan’s decision to step down.
There are four teams in seven of the eight groups of this year’s Lidl Ladies National Football League – the exception is Division 4B which has three teams.
Where possible, the LGFA arranged each group in regional fashion to minimise travelling for competing teams and to help ensure the health and safety of all counties. Division 1B brings together last year’s AllIreland Senior finalists, Dublin and Cork. Dublin won that decider, completing a four-in-a-row, while Cork are the reigning NFL Division One champions. Meath, winners of last year’s AllIreland Intermediate title, are in Division 2A, with Junior champions Fermanagh in Sligo’s group, Division 3A.
Galway, Mayo, Donegal, Westmeath
DIVISION 1B: Cork, Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford
DIVISION 2A: Kerry, Meath, Wexford, Clare
DIVISION 2B: Tyrone, Monaghan, Armagh, Cavan
DIVISION 3A: Down, Roscommon, Sligo, Fermanagh
DIVISION 3B: Kildare, Laois, Longford, Wicklow
DIVISION 4A: Louth, Leitrim, Antrim, Derry
Carlow, Offaly,
Limerick
May 23; R2: May 30; R3:
6 (Bank Holiday weekend); SEMIFINALS: June 13; June 27.