Kilkenny call on summer soccer season rethink

The summer soccer debate continues to rumble on with Kilkenny among a number of counties that are vowing to oppose the change which is scheduled to arrive in the next few years.

Along with Carlow, Laois, Wicklow and Wexford, the Kilkenny District League attended a meeting last week where a vote was taken among the 200 club delegates and returned an overwhelming majority in favour of remaining with the current winter season.

This follows on from the balloting of clubs in the South-East region before the FAI Assembly vote in December which saw over 92 %of the clubs rejecting the proposal.

The counties involved confirmed their thoughts in a statement after the meeting.

“We have no objection to any league moving to calendar season soccer but without burdening the point, what we seek from the FAI is for all grades of amateur football in Ireland the right to choose how we run our season which over the past few seasons has flourished and has seen a huge increase in participation, particular in the rural areas of the country.

“We also fully support and endorse recent statements made by the LFA and SFAI on the matter requesting the FAI to reconsider their proposal.

“Furthermore, we would also like to thank our four local TDs for their attendance on the night and their assurance of full support on this matter going forward.

“We are calling on the board of the FAI to reconsider the decision to force all levels of amateur and grassroots football in Ireland to move to Calendar Year/Summer Soccer and we sincerely hope this matter can be resolved through dialogue.”

Currently, over 65% of Ireland’s 72 leagues operate on a winter season, but these leagues will now transition on a phased basis over the next four years.

The change is hoped to bring numerous benefits, including improved pitch conditions, fewer fixture disruptions due to weather and better opportunities for player development.

The end result meant from 2026 onwards, five 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.

As it stands this new ruling, would have a big effect on underage sport in the county with a number of youngsters engaging in more than one discipline throughout the course of the year.

The GAA and soccer seasons largely take place at opposite ends of the year and this change would put them in direct competition which would force a lot of dual players to make a decision on one or the other and it’s something that has generated plenty of debate.

Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere has been one of many to voice his concerns over proposals to switch the Kilkenny and District League (KDL) season and many others across the country to ‘summer’ or ‘calendar year’ soccer.

“I feel that this proposal will have a detrimental on member’s wellbeing,” he said.

“I know through my own participation in sport and even my daughters’ participation in sport, if you put the GAA against soccer, the majority of people will pick GAA and that will have a negative impact on the club's and the communities,” he added.