WDFL hope to finish on time Plans for a women’s league currently being explored
AS the Wicklow League season approaches the home straight, PRO Eoin Devlin took some time out to update us on the season’s progress.
Thoughts on the season so far?
“We have been very lucky this year regarding the weather, in the first half of the season we had football almost every weekend right up to the Christmas break, but since the new year we have not been so lucky. Traditionally we would lose a few months of the league due to the weather, so we are ahead of where we thought we were going to be at this stage of the season.”
Is the season on course to finish on time?
“Because of the World Cup in Russia, we aim to finish the league at the end of May and the Wicklow Cup final on the June bank holiday weekend. The Tommy Earls awards are pencilled in for the 29th of June in the Parkview Hotel. As it stands we are on target to finish on time.”
How is the Charlie O’Leary Cup progressing? How big a boost has the new competition been to the WDFL?
“The draw for the Charlie O’Leary cup was held in early December and the first round of the cup was held at the start of February. The Wicklow League were honoured that this year the Leinster Football League (our partner league) invited all the Wicklow teams in the Premier and Division 1 in to their main cup competition. Charlie O’Leary is a president of the LFL and at 92 years of age is going strong.
“He is best known for being Jack Charlton’s kit man for the Republic of Ireland’s senior team.
“The competition has all the LFL teams in all their divisions and 15 Wicklow League teams. The fiinal is pencilled in for the 12th of May.
“We are always looking to new ventures to improve the league and football across County Wicklow.
“This year we added the Tommy Heffernan Charity Shield as the opening game of the season between the Premier League winners and the Wicklow Cup holders.
“A Co. Wicklow Women’s League is something we are exploring and the response we have back from the clubs is very promising, we aim to start off with a five/seven-a-side tournament to begin with, it is great to see Greystones United enter a under-17s women’s team in the national league.
“We are also in talks with several Leinster Senior league Wicklow clubs to organise a pre-season tournament between them and Wicklow league clubs.
“We also need to focus on the Youths football and develop it as these players are the lifeblood for clubs going into the future.
“Our Youths Interleague team have against all odds reached the quarter finals nationally which will be played on the 24th of March v the Cork League, its is important for us to keep this progress going forward. Also, with the FAI appointing a new development officer for Co Wicklow and the proposal of the North Wicklow Sports campus in which The FAI and Bray Wanderers have offered financial backing to develop a home for Wicklow Football the future looks very exciting and promising.”
What do you put the vast improvements in the running of the league down to?
“I believe that launching the league on social media has helped. Clubs, players, supporters and referees are informed of things in real time and so as soon as the league are aware of things so are they. Communication is key and that works both ways. We talk to the clubs and the clubs feel they can talk back. All the officials this year attend matches week in and week out, and the clubs see us out there. The response the league is getting back from all this season seems to be very positive and supportive.”
Will midweek fixtures come into play as the season progresses?
“We are unfortunate that since Christmas with the weather, the snow, St Patrick’s weekend and then Easter all affecting the schedule, yes, mid-week games will start in mid-April for the clubs that need to catch up. There will be plenty of football played before the end of May.”
Do you envisage many/any structural changes next season?
“At this stage it is possibly a bit early to know what next year’s horizon will look like, but on a positive note, we have been contacted by several clubs looking to bring teams back into the Wicklow League.”