Limerick soccer leagues '100% against' FAI's change to soccer calendar

SOCCER across the nation is set for a huge change after the FAI general assembly gave the green light to an aligned calendar. 

Following the vote, all football activity across the professional, amateur and underage children's seasons will be aligned by 2028.

Currently, the majority of grassroots leagues are played between August and May, but with significant fragmentation. 

This means that a key pillar of chief football officer Marc Canham’s Football Pathways Plan (FPP) will be introduced from 2026 onwards with all leagues in the country switching to a season that will effectively run from February to November.

From 2026 onwards, 5 to 12-year-olds will operate on that schedule, with FAI national competitions also being run across the same year, 13 to 16-year-olds would switch to that schedule from 2027 with all remaining youth and adult leagues making the move in 2028.

This will directly effect the overlap over players who compete in both soccer and GAA in Limerick county. Limerick Leader Sports department reached out the three schoolboy soccer leagues in Limerick, while also seeking a comment from two Limerick Junior Soccer leagues, about the change in the calendar ruling. 

Rory O'Connor, secretary of the Limerick County Schoolboy League summed up the situation by saying: "All 18 clubs that are affiliated with the Limerick County League voted no to this in a recent delegates meeting that we held.

"We as a league have always promoted girls playing soccer and we have made tremendous growth within the girls game. We have done this long side our boys teams that we as a league have been committed to for the last 50 years.

"Unfortunately, now these players will now have hurling, Gaelic football, camogie to name but a few sports in direct competition with soccer. They will also have to juggle school exams and family holidays into the equation.

"This will result in some rural clubs ceasing to exist as children cannot do everything all at once. The numbers just are not there in rural areas. As it was local soccer clubs could work with other local clubs such as the Gaa and with us as the league committee to facilitate each other to get games played if there was a slight overlap.

"Calendar soccer will result in less players being involved in the sport. We as a league committee believe that everything was fine the way it was. Each league was able to determine which season suited them best to implement a structured environment for the game to be played.

Playing grassroots, underage soccer in a winter or summer season at the moment has no bearing on the international team and their standings in world football."

Limerick District League Secretary Turlough McNamara also spoke about the situation stated: "In relation to the Aligned Calendar that the FAI have now got in, I can confirm that the Limerick District League held a Delegate meeting a number of weeks ago with one item on the agenda. That was to continue with our current season or go with the Fai Calendar season. 

"In what was 100% backing all clubs affiliated to the LDL they all agreed they wanted no change as all were extremely happy with our current playing season and did not want any changes."

This response seems to be the same across the Treaty county with Limerick District League Schoolboy League secretary Karen O'Callaghan saying: "In relation to the aligned soccer season, I can confirm that the LDSL are 100% against the new aligned calendar season.