Tipp aiming high for 2025 season

LADIES FOOTBALL: LIDL National League Division 2 Season Preview

By Thomas Conway

TIPPERARY v GALWAY

Fethard Town Park

Sunday, 26th January

Throw-in @ 2.00pm

Referee: Anthony Marron (Monaghan)

2024 was a big year for ladies football.

It was, after all, the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the LGFA, and the narrative of that half-century was captured brilliantly by a recent TG4 documentary, LGFA@50, released last November. It told the story of a sport that has grown from little more than a peripheral side-show to a national sporting treasure, a game that now attracts over 200,000 players, affiliated with over 1,000 clubs across Ireland and Britain. All-Ireland finals regularly draw in attendances in excess of 50,000. Marquee players like now retired Kerry great Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh are national icons. The game is in good nick, and it is evolving, for the better.

This does not belie the fact that an increasing number of players, many of them among the country’s best, are trading the round ball for its oval equivalent. The AFLW, which is semi-professional, has also experienced a popularity surge in recent years. Put crudely, some of the LGFA’s top talent is being lost to Australia. It’s a serious dilemma, to which there is no easy answer.

So where does Tipperary fit into all of this? The county that won the inaugural All-Ireland Championship in 1974 (1975 & 1980 as well) has spent the past several years battling valiantly to retain their senior status. And, in fairness, they have succeeded. Former manager Peter Creedon had to cope with a myriad of injuries and player absences, but he held the squad together and ensured that Tipp remained a top-tier side.

He departed last July. His successor, Moyle Rovers clubman Ed Burke, has just returned from three years at the helm in Carlow, which he guided to three All-Ireland Intermediate semi-finals.

But Burke has form with Tipp. He was the coach behind their breakthrough All-Ireland intermediate final triumph in 2019. Could he lead the county to silverware once again? That might be a bit ambitious, but Burke is an aspirant manager with a clear plan. He’s ruling nothing out.

“For the last couple of years we’ve been highly competitive, that’s how I would put it,” he reflected.

“We’ve been really competitive against a lot of the top sides, and we have a good base of players there. But I suppose we’re looking at it from the point of view that Tipperary haven’t won anything for the past five years. Obviously, we won an intermediate All-Ireland in 2019, but our aim for this year is: we’ve three trophies that we’re competing for, and we want to go and try and win all three. I know that might sound a bit disingenuous in some cases, but we’re asking ourselves why can’t we be in Croke Park on the first Sunday in August.”

Star players

Multiple Tipperary players have forged successful, even stellar careers in the AFLW in recent seasons and like various managers across the country, Burke will have to cope with player absences. But he knows where his squad is at. He knows who’ll be available and who won’t be, at least giving clarity to the situation.

“We will have Anna Rose (Kennedy), we will have Aishling Moloney, we’ll have Niamh Martin. We won’t have Orla O’Dwyer or Aisling McCarthy,” revealed.

“That’s where we’re at, and I suppose at the moment Aishling Moloney is probably an injury doubt for next Sunday - she just came back from the AFLW with a little bit of an injury. But she should be back very, very soon. The other two girls, Niamh Martin and Anna Rose, they’re back in playing at the moment, so all is good on that front.”

Players like Moloney, Kennedy and Martin will act as the vanguard of this Tipperary side, but they’ll be joined by some older heads.

One of Burke’s first acts as manager was to coax some of the players who were part of the 2019 campaign back into the fold. Caitlin Kennedy, Bríd Condon, and Niamh Condon will all feature, further bolstering the squad. But Burke isn’t just focused on experience, he’s a firm believer in youth and wants to integrate a new generation of players into the set-up.

Burke said: “Panel wise, as well we’ve a lot of new players, we have an awful lot of new players, My attitude is, some players have been in before and they’ve been tried and tested and we can know what they can do, but I also want to give a new batch of players a go.”

Many of those newcomers will get a chance to shine throughout the league, which begins with a home showdown against All-Ireland runners-up Galway this Sunday. Managed by Daniel Moynihan, the Tribeswomen have been near the top of the pecking order for several years, although they were well beaten by Kerry in last year’s All-Ireland final.

Tipp will follow that up with a trip to Monaghan on February 2nd, a home bout against Cork on February 9th and an away fixture against Clare on February 23rd. They’ll host Westmeath on March 2nd, before rounding off their campaign with two away trips to Donegal and Roscommon on March 23rd & 30th respectively.

Notwithstanding a couple of minor injuries, Ed Burke feels the health of his squad is relatively good, and likewise the health of the game in general. But he has a message for the public: if Tipperary are to thrive as a force in ladies football, they’ll need support. They can’t do it alone, Burke feels.

“Ladies football is far more popular than it’s even perceived to be,” he said.

“But it’s something I’ve said before, if we want to be successful, we need people to support us, we need people to get to know our players, we need to get out there and get our faces out to the public and get recognised. And that’s so that people will want to come and support us. We play a fairly attractive style of football, so we will be enjoyable to watch.”

Tipperary Senior Ladies Football team v Galway