*Originally published April 9th 2024 https://conalldiggin.substack.com/p/support-your-local-irelands-newest
Last season, attendances in the League of Ireland were up by 20% from the year before. The FAI Cup final was played in front of over 43,000 people, and interest across the league has never been higher.
So as shouts of “support your local ” continue to grow louder, something easier said than done for most. The island contains many blank spots where many can’t go on a Friday evening and support their local side.
But those times may be changing as the League of Ireland has expanded to a brand new market all the way down in the Kingdom of Kerry, but the journey to where they are now was far from smooth.
The infrastructure of a club was always there for Kerry FC, they had been competing in the underage levels of the League of Ireland since 2016.
It was a frantic start to joining the Irish league system, following the merger of Cabinteely and Bray Wanderers, there was an open licence for a team in the First Division.
In April 2022, Irish-born American businessman Brian Ainsgough approached then Kerry District League General Manager Sean O’Keeffe to gauge interest in bringing a team to the Kingdom.
The talks were clearly successful, as on June 22nd, Kerry submitted their application to participate in the League of Ireland for the 2023 season, with it being granted in mid-November, and from then on, it was all systems go.
Kerry had been given a short turnaround of three months to set everything up. “We have a great facility here in Mounthawk Park, but a lot of work needed to be done to bring it up to League of Ireland Standard,” said Kerry FC Chairman Sean O’Keeffe.
“We had to replace seats, relay the astro on the pitch, improve the lighting, and add railings around the pitch,” said O’Keeffe.
The works on the ground were all but complete except for the new dugouts, which were still not installed the day of the club’s inaugural fixture against Cobh Ramblers.
“It was very touch-and-go, I think the dugout was only fully installed about an hour before kickoff,” said O’Keeffe.
All that work also included signing a whole squad of players who would not get a preseason together, finding a manager, and hoping that fans would want to come. But early-season ticket sales and multiple sellouts quenched any doubts very early. O’Keeffe said ,“we weren’t surprised by the season ticket numbers, we knew there was going to be a fanbase, but seeing how big was even better.”
The match wouldn’t be a dream start. Kerry lost 2-0 to Cobh, and even after a 0-1-4 start to the season, fans were always with them, “We had waited so long for a team we were hardly going to turn on them only one year in,” said season ticket holder Michael Casey.
“The club just means so much to us. For years, if we wanted to see a match, we would have to head to Limerick or Cork, but as a Kerryman, supporting a team from those two counties just feels wrong,” said Casey.
Even without results, support did not falter for Kerry FC. The club had multiple sellouts and passionate but patient fans in a season where they only accrued 10 points and failed to win at home in the league.
A similar story may be unfolding in the west, as it was announced in July 2023 that Mayo FC had begun their process of joining the League of Ireland, one that will not be as rushed as Kerry’s.
As of now, the club has men’s under-14 and 15 sides, along with a women’s under-17, with the hope that by 2028 or 2029, they will be competing at all levels of the men’s and women’s games.
That does not account for the possibility of a senior men’s third division, which, according to Mayo FC Secretary John Durkan, could be a very real possibility. “They (the FAI) did indicate to us that the association was looking at a possible third tier. The Premier Division, First Division, and as well (adding) the Division two maybe divided up in North and South. That’ll hopefully become a reality in possibly 2026.”
“It would be our aim to try and get a senior men’s team in the third tier if it comes in”, said Durkan.
The players have always been in Mayo but would have to travel to Galway, Sligo, and Athlone to play in an academy, but with Mayo FC, those players can now be nurtured on their own patch.
“Parents had to bring these kids to training three times a week, and it was taking six or seven hours out of their time, said Durkan. “We said, Look, can we not cater for these players in Mayo and give them the same level of football.”
It is only the first season for the youth sides, but Durkan said the first performance he saw from the boys under 15s was ‘a different level’ describing it as ‘total football’ in a 9-1 win against Limerick FC, high praise for a county similar to Kerry, where the word ‘football’ is often referring to its Gaelic counterpart.
“At this point in time, the emphasis is now with the three teams that we have in, will be on development. That is the key thing as far as we’re concerned,” said Durcan.
Even without a senior side, there has already been the formation of a supporters club and kits for sale online and in Elverys around the county.
Mayo will be hoping their start can be more like Kerry’s second season. The Kingdom have gone unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions, are in the final of the Munster Senior Cup, and most importantly to all those fans, they got their first home league win last week with a 3-0 victory against Longford Town.
In the Southwest, the idea for the future is simple stability, “In 5 years, I want us to be in a good place, pushing into the promotion spots, and have a few good seasons. My dream (outside of Kerry FC) would be to have a League of Ireland club in every county, there’s so many big areas in the midlands and in the west without a club,” said O’Keeffe.
Attendances are up across the country, the interest is there, but for some, there isn’t a local club to support and one of the driving factors around sport is to make us feel a sense of pride and community along with a healthy sense of tribalism for where we are from.
The task of starting a club isn’t a simple one, but something that was seen as an honour and privilege for both Sean O’Keeffe and John Durkan. The hours are long, the money isn’t big, but the reward of seeing your team get their first home win in front of a thousand fans makes it all worth it.