New season new rules

The start of the new football season in Mayo is upon us and a few rules have been changed ahead of the big kick-off.

The rule changes were agreed at the annual general meeting of the Mayo Football League, held in Milebush Park, Castlebar.

The first concerns clubs with B teams, from which five players can be sourced to play for the club's A team if the need arises. The previous limit was three.

The second rule change also concerns numbers, namely the amount of substitutes that can be used by a team in a game.

Up to this year it was three subs per team per game. That has now been changed to five - but only for Mayo Football League competitions.

League chairman Padraig McHale explained to club delegates at the annual meeting that using five substitutes per game contravenes FAI rules but can be agreed as a local rule for Mayo competitions only.

“I'm in favour of it,” said Mr. McHale, “because it gives players a chance to play.”

Both of those rule changes were proposed by Westport United and adopted by a clear majority. Westport United took full advantage of the substitutes' rule change at the weekend in the Liam McEntee Charity Shield final, as did their opponents on the evening, Castlebar Celtic.

The final rule change adopted on the night was proposed by the Mayo League itself. It concerns a player being sent off in error due to a case of mistaken identity, and gives clubs more time to mount a defence to the disciplinary body if such a scenario arises.