DERRY club Glenullin GAC is considering legal action against its county board in a bid to gain access to the senior football championship this season.
The north Derry club has won back-to-back intermediate championships – but will have to win a third consecutive intermediate title to play senior championship in 2025.
Glenullin chairman Dan Mullan described the situation as “farcical” and “unjust” – even though the clubs voted in favour of a restructure that is primarily designed to decouple both the Leagues and Championships in the county.
The end game of the restructure will see straightforward one-up-one-down promotion and relegation between the championship grades in Derry, coming into effect in 2025 – but it’ll come 12 months too late for Glenullin.
Unlike most other counties, Derry’s junior and intermediate champions have never been promoted to the higher championship grade the following season as league placings have determined which championship a club competes at.
Glenullin currently play in the intermediate league in Derry where they finished in fifth spot last season and therefore don’t qualify for senior championship status because of their league position.
“Everyone knows the Derry leagues are glorified friendlies,” Mullan said.
It’s a strange anomaly that a back-to-back intermediate championship winning club cannot compete in the senior football championship because the proposed restructure won’t be completed until 2025.
The fact that Glenullin has to play intermediate championship again, Mullan believes, is having a demoralising impact on everyone associated with the club.
“The players were told and are absolutely gutted,” said the club chairman.
“Having won the intermediate championship in Derry two years running, from our point of view, it’s farcical that we are competing in intermediate for a third year in a row.
“It’s completely unjust. The county board is hiding behind a rule rather than making the change that needs to be made because two years ago nobody could have foreseen a team doing back-to-back intermediates or showing that level of strength.”
Mullan feels, in the interests of fairness, Derry’s CCC should iron out the perceived kink in the restructure and grant Glenullin the right to play senior championship this season.
Glenullin delegates made their feelings clear at a county board meeting at the end of January and although the room was “generally sympathetic” to their situation, nothing has changed in the way of re-examining the north Derry club’s case to play senior championship in 2024.
“It’s not something that happens in any county, really,” Mullan added. “You win your intermediate you’re entitled to have a crack at senior.”
Former Derry ace Paddy Bradley has guided his native club to back-to-back intermediate championships.
Like his chairman, Bradley is frustrated with the situation that condemns his back-to-back intermediate winners to a third intermediate championship campaign.
“When I started with Glenullin we were always a senior club,” said Bradley.
“We have had to take our medicine the last few years and have rightly been playing in intermediate grade, even though it’s been tough to watch at times.
“We have had to rethink how it is we go about our coaching structures the last few years and winning the last two intermediate championships is evidence that we are on the right path again.
“These players are highly motivated and want to challenge themselves at the highest level. We have a good crop of youngsters coming through, having won the U17 A league last year too.
“We feel we are good enough to go up and compete in senior football and more importantly, stay there for years to come.”
Bradley added: “Not giving us the chance to do this is going to hinder the development of the club.
“I’m not sure in any other county up here a team can compete in intermediate three years in a row having won two previous championships.”
Mullan paid tribute to Bradley’s work and the players professional approach over the last couple of seasons.
“Paddy, his management team and the players’ approach is far more professional. They’ve turned the fortunes of the club around.
“The management and players have the full support of the committee to make the players as good as they can be, and they went and won two intermediate championships.
Mullan added: “We’re not sitting here saying we’re going to go out and beat Glen - but we should be entitled to challenge them.
“We’re not showing any disrespect to any of the teams in intermediate. But I don’t know of any sport in the world that can penalise you and not allow you to move up.
“We would have to win the intermediate championship this year for a third year in a row to get out of the intermediate championship.”
Despite calls from some clubs for Derry’s top division to revert back to 16 teams, the county’s CCC is sticking with a 12-team league and championship – voted by the clubs in 2023 - with Ballinderry, Coleraine and Glenullin among the intermediate championship contenders this season.
It has been a torturous few years for Derry’s CCC in trying to map out a correct and equitable league and championship restructure for its clubs as the senior championship was often regarded as too bloated and lacking a competitive edge in the early rounds.
The Glenullin club, who is undoubtedly feeling the pain of the current restructure, has informed the Derry CCC of its decision to seek legal advice and hopes that some wriggle room can be found to include the back-to-back intermediate champions in this season’s senior championship.
The Derry CCC was contacted for comment.