London county football team
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The London county football team represents London in men's Gaelic football and is governed by London GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Connacht Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.
London's home ground is McGovern Park, South Ruislip, Oxley Park, Watford. The team's manager is Michael Maher.
London defeated Sligo to reach the Connacht Senior Championship final in 2013, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.
History
London entered the National Football League in 1993 and were initially fairly successful with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in their first campaign and the renewed effort coincided with a drive to establish the games in schools. London now fields its second team in the British Junior football and hurling Championships. They played All Ireland series (1900-1910), Louth in 1913 Leinster Senior Football Championship. Their first football team have competed in the Connacht Senior Football Championship since 1975, but in the first 37 years of competing could only manage one win: a 0-9 to 0-6 defeat of Leitrim in 1977.
After going down by 9-19 to 1-10 against Roscommon in 1980 they staged matches at home in Ruislip and came close to victory against Leitrim in 1987, Sligo in 1988 and Roscommon in 2005. Among their footballers was Brian Grealish, whose brother Tony played association football for the Republic of Ireland. Due to the Foot and Mouth crisis in England, London withdrew from the 2001 Connacht Senior Football Championship; their first round championship fixture against Mayo was cancelled until the 2006 fixture between the teams. In June 2011, London were defeated in extra-time against Mayo in the Connacht Championship, London entered the first qualifying round and defeated Fermanagh by 0-15 to 0-9 in Ruislip in the first round of the qualifiers, recording their first championship win for 34 years. London were drawn against Waterford for their second qualifying round match.
In 2013, the GAA banned London from travelling to Ireland for warm-up games, as a result of a GAA rule put in place to prevent teams travelling abroad for training camps in the run up to the championship, putting them at a major disadvantage to other counties.[1] On 26 May 2013, London defeated Sligo by a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-14 to gain their first victory in the Connacht Championship since 1977. Lorcan Mulvey scored the vital London goal.[2][3][4] The day after they defeated Sligo was a bank holiday in England so the players rested.[5] London held Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final then won the replay. After these three games they headed for the Connacht final - their first appearance at that level - but lost to Mayo. They arrived in Ireland for the final on a specially charted jet.[6] Thus they entered Round 4 of the Qualifiers for the All-Ireland Series - also their first time to feature there. They drew Cavan, their first Championship meeting with them and the game was set for Croke Park, another historic occasion for London.[7][8] Cavan won by a score of 1-17 to 1-08 to proceed to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.[9] Lorcan Mulvey was later nominated for an All Star, but was not selected.[10]
In 2018, London fielded a record six London-born starters in their championship line-up in their defeat to Sligo in the Connacht Senior Football Championship, with a further two on the bench.
London withdrew from the 2020 championship due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. London were excluded from the 2021 league and championship for the same reason.[11][12]
Kit evolution
London released home and away jerseys to commemorate its 125th anniversary in 2021. Inspired by the jersey worn in the 1901 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final (the county's only All-Ireland senior win), both jerseys featured a sash from the left hip to the right shoulder.[13]
Current squad
Team as per London vs Louth in the All-Ireland SFC 1st Round Qualifier, Sunday 10 June[when?]
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Current management team
- Manager: Michael Maher
- Selectors: Chris Byrne, Joseph Coulter, Noel Dunning
- Strength and Conditioning: Ross Bennett, Colm Smith
- Performance Analyst: Shane Mangan
Colours
Management history
The following is a table of London's county football managers at senior level since 1990. In October 2019, London-born Michael Maher became the first native to take charge of the London county football team. Maher experienced success while managing London sides at youth level and was part of former manager Ciarán Deely's backroom team for 2019.
| Years | Name | County |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Tom Roche | Kerry |
| 1991 | Paddy Corscadden John McPartland |
Longford Down |
| 1992 | Seamus Carr | Donegal |
| 1993–1994 | PJ McGinley | Donegal |
| 1995–1998 | Pat Griffin | Kerry |
| 1999–2000 | Tommy McDermott | Donegal |
| 2001 | Tom Roche* | Kerry |
| 2002 | Iggy Donnelly Pat Griffin Dermot O'Brien |
Tyrone Kerry Laois |
| 2002–2003 | Chris Lloyd | Longford |
| 2004 | John McPartland | Down |
| 2005–2010 | Noel Dunning | Westmeath |
| 2011–2015 | Paul Coggins | Roscommon |
| 2016–2019 | Ciarán Deely | Wexford |
| 2019– | Michael Maher | London |
Honours
- All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: (6)
- 1938, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1986
- McGrath Cups: (1)
- 1988
- Connacht Senior Football Championship runner-up
- 2013
References
- ^ "Exiles hampered by rules as Sligo call to London - Connacht SFC quarter-final preview: London v Sligo". RTÉ Sport. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "London shock Sligo to secure first Connacht SFC victory since 1977". The Score. 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ "London dump Sligo out of Connacht". RTÉ Sport. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "London end 36-year wait for Connacht championship glory". The Irish Times. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ Foley, Cliona (28 May 2013). "It's boom time for rising Exiles". Irish Independent. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "The London team land in Ireland". Hogan Stand. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "Cavan and London set for Croker date". Hogan Stand. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Qualifier R4 to determine quarter-finalists". Hogan Stand. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ "London 1-08 Cavan 1-17". RTÉ Sport. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ Browne, PJ (4 October 2013). "Dublin And Mayo Dominate The GAA/GPA Football All-Star Nominations". Balls.ie. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- ^ "GAA releases fixture planner with games starting on May 8". Hogan Stand. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ O'Brien, Kevin (8 April 2021). "GAA unveils 2021 roadmap with leagues starting in May and All-Ireland finals in August". The42.ie. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "London unveil commemorative 125th anniversary jerseys inspired by All-Ireland win". Hogan Stand. 3 April 2021.