JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.
Shop your local oneills.com
In September 2018 the All Ireland Ladies Football final attracted a record attendance to Croke Park of 50,141 people to watch the players of Dublin, Cork, Meath, Tyrone, Limerick and Louth contest the Senior, Intermediate and Junior All Ireland Finals. It was a festival of football, full of colour, noise and spectacle. It was also packed with skill; athleticism and passion from six highly motivated and dedicated teams of ladies footballers.
Attendances for the ladies football final have been rising incrementally over recent years but to put the most recent final in perspective, the attendance is greater than the 23,771 full house that watched the recent headline grabbing Naomi Osaka / Serena Williams US tennis open final, and for women’s sport, the event comes close to the 53,341 who were at the women’s soccer World Cup Final in 2015. Mayo ladies footballers along with Ulster LGFA teams like Antrim, Armagh, Derry and Donegal ladies have played their part in increasing interest in the game with All Ireland campaigns.
The number of spectators watching the 2018 ladies final at Croke Park is greater than the capacity for example for the English Premier league’s Everton or Chelsea football home matches, and is almost enough to fill the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, home of FAI soccer and IRFU International rugby matches in the Six nations. The attendance and interest is in large part to the growing spectacle that is LGFA, it has built parallel interest in its three different tiers or football with the Senior Final featuring Dublin and Cork top of the bill but there was very considerable interest in Tyrone and Meath in the Intermediate Final and also Louth and Limerick in the junior final. All teams featuring in the Ladies All Ireland Final day are cherished equally in terms of build up, media coverage, live footage and profile. Yes there is a priority focus on the teams in the main event, since 2014-2016 and 2018 this has featured Dublin and Cork, with the Jackie’s breaking Cork’s tremendous winning streak in 2017 and 2018 finals. Undoubtedly the presence of two Gaelic games superpowers in Cork and Dublin helps, but the format whereby six teams are showcased is a proven winner and a great day out at headquarters. Also the participation of major sponsors has played its part in the growing popularity of ladies Gaelic, and O’Neills International Sports is proud to support the women’s game as it grows and develops. We are kit suppliers to teams across the four provinces and internationally as international ladies football clubs are growing globally. LGFA is becoming a global phenomenon.
The game has also benefitted enormously from the support of TG4 showing matches regularly, many of them live championship games. The addition of retail giant LIDL to the sponsors mix has given the Ladies Gaelic football product a massive shot in the arm nationally. The LIDL brand has demonstrated an uncanny ability at a number of levels to empathise with the Ladies game recognising that it is a different product than men’s Gaelic football, but with a series of thoughtful and well-executed advertising approaches, it has propelled the visibility of the game forward.
Now LIDL has managed to engage the grassroots player that is undoubtedly important to its own advertising. It is an excellent fit and one that has helped the ladies football from grass roots to elite. The recent viral videos that subtly articulate the two sides of female sport and challenge old stereotypes and cleverly and marvellously represents the dedicated athlete and strong woman interested in fashion, fitness and fun that resides in a single LGFA player. It is the same with all women in sport, tough, dedicated, strong, healthy, fashion wise and intelligent.
Sure there are challenges for ladies Gaelic football as it presses ahead. Dublin Ladies have spearheaded the movement to catch up with a rampant Cork team, they upped the ante significantly with their skills development focus. Other teams are following suit and the investment in coaching and tactical development will follow suit. How long before the LGFA All Ireland Final fills Croke Park. Not long we think.