galeforce: thik you have it wrong regarding southdown clubs not traveling to the ards it was the other way round only ballycran travled ports and galets did not field home r away against us. so we think it is agreat setup the ulster league.

nosides (Down) - Posts: 239 - 11/01/2014 17:53:46    1530449

galeforce: thik you have it wrong regarding southdown clubs not traveling to the ards it was the other way round only ballycran travled ports and galets did not field home r away against us. so we think it is agreat setup the ulster league.

nosides (Down) - Posts: 239 - 11/01/2014 17:55:01    1530450

Ulster league is a total nonsense as it stands. Give me a trip to Mc Kenna or Portaferry any day than hurling strongholds like Cootehill or Letterkenny. Scrap the idea and sort our own league out. If one or two south down teams want into Armagh then let the rest of us get on with it.

sliabhnaslat (Down) - Posts: 93 - 11/01/2014 18:46:25    1530471

How can not having ur own county league be a good idea, an ulster league is fine running along side or after a one way down league including all down teams, travelling will be a problem for the likes of kilclief etc it might be ok for newry and w'point teams, has there been any days mentioned for this league cause weekends a no go especially for duel clubs/players...I think this could be the end of teams with small squads maybe that's wat some teams want so they can actually win something

LPD83 (Down) - Posts: 7 - 11/01/2014 19:04:51    1530481

Lad's what do you expect from a county board who haven't even given our U16 All Ireland Blitz winning team their medals yet. If it had been the football team tere would have been a big night for them months ago

allseeingeye (Down) - Posts: 66 - 12/01/2014 12:35:48    1530611

Matches are proposed for a sunday,this totally rules out any Ards club taking part as they have Antrim league,this causes a big problem for Ports,Crans and Galgets,what do they do with players coming through from minor into adult hurling,only one match a week for a larger panel,some players will go with very little hurling if this proposed ulster league goes ahead,PROMOTE the hurling in our own county first,as already suggested an ulster league run alongside our own is an option but to be honest we cant even finish our own leagues never mind having to travel to helms deep in an ulster format.As far as ards teams not travelling this must have been in div 2,giving that ards clubs already have 26 players named before they field a third string even to put a team in is credit to them,co board agreed to help these teams out regarding fixtures but when it came to the nitty gritty of it they buckeled as usual,this league would not have happened if ards clubs didnt put a team in it,show me any other clubs in down (hurling or footbal) that can field 2 teams in one night minus their named seniors,wouldnt happen.....one for all and all for the big ball.

THE.SHAFT (Down) - Posts: 198 - 12/01/2014 14:33:38    1530633

Can someone enlighten me? What nights are the big ball games played? Is it friday nights for senior and wednesday nights for Reserve?

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 13/01/2014 13:03:14    1531069

reserve football always on a sunday

god68 (Down) - Posts: 32 - 13/01/2014 18:14:56    1531322

so what would be stopping Down county board running a hurling league off on a Tuesday night?

Also,

If the reserve football is played on a sunday, what happens a dual player whose club is in this Ulster league?

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 14/01/2014 11:18:30    1531510

Reserve football moved to Wednesdays. Minor football will be on Sundays this year.

Any agenda for the meeting of clubs tonight? Hopefully something sensible will come out of it.

Frank Mitchell (Down) - Posts: 1082 - 14/01/2014 11:23:06    1531517

Anything to give players a break between the antrim league fixtures, even though its a bit more of a streamlined format this year. Most clubs would welcome tuesdays, i think....

DownAndOut (Down) - Posts: 344 - 14/01/2014 12:02:11    1531535

With the football reserve league moved to a Wednesday night there's no way a dual player would be allowed to play the night before an all important reserve league fixture...

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 14/01/2014 14:04:31    1531622

Has hurling clubs agreed to NO Down league???? There should be just a non ards league. Plenty of competetion without having to go away to Derry City or Donegal!!! Monday or Tuesday, no point weekend as duel players could have football training or matches, bit of common sense required asap!! If games for Ulster league are on Sunday I can see a lot of teams not fielding!!! We need a down hurling league in some shape or form!!!

westdown (Down) - Posts: 1 - 15/01/2014 13:46:08    1532147

Things sounding a bit more positive about retaining down leagues. Hopefully people have come to their senses....

Gaelforce1 (Down) - Posts: 36 - 15/01/2014 18:32:11    1532341

Did anybody hear what happened at the meeting the other night?

I heard there are some changes to the Ulster league and there will be a Down league after all. Seems games in Ulster will be played at neutral venue if there's a long distance involved.

Frank Mitchell (Down) - Posts: 1082 - 16/01/2014 10:22:45    1532475

I think the Betsy Gray and Joe McCrickard will be played as two leagues, i.e. Div 1 and 2. Each team plays each other once then top 4 go through to the semi-finals. That alongside the Ulster league should get the non-ards teams enough games.

Down_champs (Down) - Posts: 37 - 16/01/2014 12:48:20    1532539

As i said earlier the county board (or whatever you call it now) have finally driven the last nail into down hurling.Ulster league to go ahead,NO Down leagues,they have offered a mickey mouse alternative to a league by trying to run the Joe McCrickard and Betsy Grey over more matches,what happens to the respective trophies awarded for previous div1 and div2,throw them in the bin????,no respect given to them.Honestly cant believe that this has been allowed to happen,a county that won a Christy Ring is now not prepared to offer its own hurlers their own league!!!!.Must be plenty of money in the office in Castlewellan,dont need our league fees.

THE.SHAFT (Down) - Posts: 198 - 16/01/2014 19:51:52    1532770

League/Affiliation fees will be the same irrespective of what adult competitions you enter into within the county, so don't be expecting any great discounts due to the lack of league structure.

So, with this reinvented Joe McCrickard and Betsey Grey how many games can a club hurler in Down look forward to in the coming year?

7 or 8 in the Ulster league supplimented by 4 to 6 games in the inter Down compo's and possibly 3 championship if you're successful..

That's a probably max of 16 games spread over 40 odd weeks, not even close to a game a week FFS..

Now, compare that to our footballing comrades who can look forward to at least 20 games alone in the Down leagues not to mention play offs and whatever championships..

Can someone involved in the county board please explain to me how a hurler is meant to develop on 16 odd games in a year but a footballer in the same county can enjoy the better part of 30 games, almost twice as much???

It was never good, but TBH this is a crock of the highest order..

Are Derry and Armagh cancelling their domestic leagues as well??

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 17/01/2014 15:12:34    1533069

The county board seem to be doing a good job in keeping their heads down in regards to releasing official information on the two hurling leagues. Is it the head in the sand syndrome, if we keep quiet it will disappear. Can the fixture secretary from the co board press release the county's decision on the hurling in Down so that the clubs know officially what is happening and the clubs can then go to Croke Park and show officials what a good job our fellow county men are doing to promote hurling in Down.

swan song (None) - Posts: 451 - 22/01/2014 13:11:20    1535098

Has there been any confirmation of what is happening yet?

guest123 (Down) - Posts: 39 - 23/01/2014 13:13:17    1535614