Kraft Foods today announced the renewal of the Cadbury sponsorship of the GAA U21 Football Championship for another three years.

The renewal builds on a successful 7 year partnership between Cadbury and the GAA which has seen the Championship go from strength to strength with greater TV coverage now than ever before and over 20,000 fans attending the final in Croke Park last year. This success has been built on innovative sponsorship activation especially in the area of new media which has seen an ever increasing engaged audience of GAA fans participate in the Championship discussion.

Launching the Championship at an event in Croke Park today were promising Under 21 footballers; Patrick McBrearty (Donegal), Michael Quinlivan (Tipperary) and Cillian O'Connor (Mayo), GAA Director General, Paraic Duffy and Cadbury Hero of the Future (HOTF) Judges: Paul Caffrey, Dermot Earley and Micheál Ó Domhnaill.

Speaking at the launch, Shane Guest, Kraft Foods Ireland said "We are delighted to be able to renew our sponsorship with the GAA and look forward to building on the success of the past 7 years. The skill and determination these young footballers demonstrate continues to astound us and we look forward to another exciting championship in 2012".

Speaking at the launch Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Críostóir Ó Cuana said:  "The GAA U21 Football Championship has served as an important stepping stone for many of the players who progress to reach the highest level of our game and those who follow the grade closely have been treated to some excellent campaigns in recent seasons. To that end we are delighted to acknowledge the three year extension to our arrangement with Cadbury. Their support and innovation has helped bring great energy to the competition in recent seasons and I look forward to the continuation of what has been a fruitful partnership ahead of what promises to be another intriguing championship."

Last year's championship culminated in a great spectacle which saw over 20,000 attendants in Croke Park watch Galway earn a hard fought win against Ulster Champions Cavan and this year the Cadbury GAA Facebook Community have again identified Cavan and Galway as the two counties most likely to battle it out for the All Ireland title. The Cadbury GAA under 21 Football Championship is widely regarded as an important stepping stone to senior success with a large number of Under 21 players already starring for their senior county teams in the National League and in previous Senior All Ireland Championships. Amongst those is 2010 Cadbury Hero of the Future Rory O'Carroll who starred at full back as Dublin claimed the All-Ireland for the first time since 1995. Previous Cadbury Hero of the Future award winners; Colm O'Neill, (HOTF 2009), Killian Young (2008) and Fintan Goold's (HOTF 2007) have also gone on to claim All-Ireland Senior success.

Cadbury Hero of the Future Awards:

Former Cadbury Hero of the Future Award Winners:

2006: Keith Higgins from Mayo
2007: Fintan Goold from Cork
2008: Killian Young from Kerry
2009: Colm O'Neill from Cork
2010: Rory O'Carroll from Dublin
2011: Thomas Flynn from Galway

Cadbury Scholarship

The Cadbury Scholarship programme now covers 9 third level institutions with 13 students receiving awards so far in 2012.

·         Gary Sweeney - Galway - (NUI Galway)

·         Einne O' hEochaidh - Galway (NUI Galway)

·         James O'Meara - Limerick (UL)

·         Eamonn Kiely - Kerry (UL)

·         Damien Cahalane - Cork (UCC)

·         Kevin Hallissey - Cork (CIT)

·         Kevin O'Sullivan - Meath (TCD)

·         Patrick O'Higgins - Dublin (TCD)

·         Aaron Murphy - Wicklow (UCD)

·         Cormac Boyle - Westmeath (UCD)

·         Ciaran Cafferky - Roscommon (DCU)

·         Jack McCarron - Monaghan (DCU)

·         Bernard Allen - Offaly (DIT)

·         2 x University of Ulster - scholarships yet to take place

Cadbury GAA Online

For the 2012 season, Cadbury will continue to build on its digital platforms for its dedicated online community who follow every move of the Championship throughout the season. With established social media platforms including Facebook www.facebook.com/U21GAAFootball  Twitter http://twitter.com/CadburyU21  and Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cadburyu21football and a newly updated website www.cadburygaau21.com GAA fans from every corner of the globe can contribute with comments, photos and videos and of course vote for the 2011 Cadbury Hero of the Future. Tweet

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