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Meath Forum

North West Meath

(Oldest Posts First)

what is going on with clubs struggling in north west of meath , only teams left are in junior , junior b , is it time to amalgamate clubs or go down the kerry route it seems to work down there , this would stop bigger clubs sniffing around these smaller clubs for there better players

brian (Meath) - Posts: 2001 - 12/09/2026 08:52:15    2693581

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Replying To brian:  "what is going on with clubs struggling in north west of meath , only teams left are in junior , junior b , is it time to amalgamate clubs or go down the kerry route it seems to work down there , this would stop bigger clubs sniffing around these smaller clubs for there better players"
Ultimately the planning rules and urbanisation has left Meath North West cut adrift. Despite more remote working, most opportunties are still Dublin based. Meath North West clubs with exception of town clubs are in detrimental decline. The odd thing is facilties and investment in so have never been as good. Maybe investment needs to go elsewhere to try and support maintaing players and keep.players playing. This means little however if playing pool of players is deminishing. While there are occosional green shoots every few years at underage, in comparison to Meath East and South, they are falling behind.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 1058 - 12/09/2026 12:44:27    2693598

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Usual story; rural depopulation, aging population, big gap to clubs with high numbers etc.

While obviously pride in the area is a big part of the GAA identity, the catchment areas of clubs are based on outdated model of society. In the 1970s the average Irish woman had 4 children, so even into the 90s/00s you only needed a small number of families in an area to field entire teams. Obviously only half of those were boys, and not everyone played football or hurling, but that was still a high baseline.

Today's adults were born in an era where the average woman had 2 children, so you've already doubled the number of households needed just to keep playing levels steady. Add into that modern lifestyles that give more distractions and opportunities away from the GAA, its' easy to see how these clubs just don't have the numbers.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1761 - 12/09/2026 15:15:04    2693611

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