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London GAA Clubs Article

If you're just over from Ireland and you're looking to play either Gaelic Football or Hurling in London one of the first questions you're probably asking yourself is how competitive London GAA Clubs really are? What's the London Gaelic Football championship like - how competitive is it, how many divisions are there, how many clubs are there? That's what this article attempts to answer.

How competitive are London GAA Clubs?

It's probably easiest to answer this firstly by looking at the intercounty London GAA teams and how much success they've had in recent years. London take part in the main All-Ireland Gaelic football championship and almost pulled off a shock win over Roscommon this year which would have been a major scalp for the London side. This is an indication that improvements have been made to the standard and structure of the London setup in recent years.

But what about the London hurling squad? Well, they've just won the tier three All-Ireland championship this year (2005), the Liam Rackard Trophy - this means take will now take part in the Christy Ring Cup going forward, the tier two All-Ireland Championship under the new hurling setup. This is probably about the right level for London GAA right now in Hurling as there is no way they're go to compete with the likes of Kilkenny or Cork anytime soon. Although did you know that London have won the All-Ireland hurling title on one occasion (back in the early days of home finals & away finals) - shocking but true nonetheless.

London GAA Clubs competitiveness depends heavily on the flow of Irish players into and out of London. Many Irish people come to London for the summer and take part in the London Championships for one year, others stay longterm, and many others come for a couple of years and head back home again. Most squads in London are a mixture of the three types.

So how many divisions are there in the London Gaelic Football Championship?

In the London Gaelic Football Championship there are three grades that London GAA Clubs take part in with relegation and promotion of one team each year - these levels as you've probably guessed are Senior, Intermediate, and Junior. In the London Football League, the format is more or less the same except we just call the London league groups Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3. Cuchulainns are currently at Intermediate level in the London GAA Clubs championship and in Division 2 for the London league.

In the London Hurling Championship there are just two grades for London GAA Clubs to take part in as there are less London GAA Clubs that play hurling - these grades are Senior and Intermediate. The London Hurling league only has one division where all teams get to play each other.

How many London GAA clubs are there?

There are approximately 25 London Gaelic Football clubs and 12 London Hurling Clubs. Cuchulainns are one of the few London GAA clubs that play both Gaelic Football and Hurling, so we welcome everybody no matter where you're from - and if you're a dual player then Cuchulainns would be a good choice for you. Call one of our Club officers by going to out Contact us page now.