Croker calling for Mayo and other leading contenders in TG4 LGFA championships
Stars from the competing counties gathered at Croke Park today to officially launch the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships.
All roads lead to Croker on Sunday, August 4, when the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland junior, intermediate and senior champions will be crowned.
Before that, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Thursday, July 18, with special celebrations planned in Thurles, the birthplace of the association, to mark the occasion.
For the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland Championships launch, and with Croke Park the big target for each of the competing counties, TG4’s Peil na mBan Beo lead anchor Máire Ní Bhraonáin was joined on the streets surrounding the famous Dublin stadium recently by Clodagh McCambridge (Armagh), Ailbhe Davoren (Galway), Aishling O’Connell (Kerry) and Carla Rowe (Dublin), representing the four recently-crowned TG4 provincial senior champions.
Intermediate representatives Niamh Feeney (Roscommon) and Aoibhinn McHugh (Tyrone) were also present, alongside junior players Róisín Ambrose (Limerick) and Ruth Bermingham (Carlow).
The 2024 TG4 All-Ireland Championship season gets underway next Sunday (June 2) with eight group games across the intermediate and junior grades.
The senior championship will commence on Saturday, June 8, when Armagh host Meath at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, followed by three more senior championship ties on Sunday, June 9 – including Dublin v Mayo at Parnell Park.
The groupings for the All-Ireland senior and intermediate championships were determined as the provincial campaigns progressed.
At senior level, Mayo have landed in a tough group (Group 4) alongside defending champions Dublin and Lidl Division 2 winners Kildare, managed by former Mayo player Diane O'Hora.
Group 1 features Lidl Division 1 and Ulster champions Armagh, Meath and Tipperary, with Munster champions Kerry, who were TG4 All-Ireland senior finalists in 2022 and 2023, in Group 2 alongside Donegal and Waterford. Group 3 contains Galway, who defeated Mayo to win the 2024 Connacht championship, along with Cork and Laois.
In the intermediate championship, last year’s finalists, Clare, will be hoping to go one better this time and they’re in Group 2 with Monaghan and Offaly.
Group 1 contains Ulster champions Down, Westmeath and Cavan, with Wexford, the Leinster champions, in Group 3 with Roscommon and Antrim. Group 4, meanwhile, contains Connacht champions Leitrim, Wicklow and Tyrone.
The junior championship will be contested by nine counties, with London, Sligo, Fermanagh, Derry and Carlow in Group A, and Kilkenny, Louth, Limerick and Longford in Group B.
In the senior and intermediate championships, two teams will emerge from each group to contest the quarterfinals, with the top two teams in each of the junior groups progressing to the semi-finals.
COVERAGE
Last week, the LGFA and TG4 also confirmed live linear television coverage of 15 fixtures, while all senior championship ties not shown live on TV will be live-streamed via the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel in a historic development.
The LGFA and TG4 also confirmed that the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland senior championship semi-finals will be played as a double-header at Glenisk O’Connor Park in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, on Saturday, July 20 (5.15 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.).
The 2024 TG4 All-Ireland finals will be staged as a triple-header once again at Croke Park on Sunday, August 4, with the junior final at 11.45 a.m., followed by the intermediate decider at 1.45 p.m. and the senior showdown at 4.15 p.m.
Former Galway star Máire Ní Bhraonáin will lead TG4’s Peil na mBan Beo coverage once again for the forthcoming championship season. The commentary team will be headed up by Brian Tyers.
They will be joined by expert panellists including Rena Buckley and Rhóna Ní Bhuachalla, former All-Ireland winners with Cork, ex-Waterford ace Michelle Ryan, Dublin All-Ireland winner Sorcha Furlong, Donegal's Emer Gallagher and Róisín Rodgers, and more.
TG4 have been title sponsors of the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships since 2001 and the partnership has evolved into one of the most recognised and innovative in world sport.
In 2022, TG4 announced a five-year extension of their sponsorship of the inter-county championships, with this deal set to last until the conclusion of the 2027 season.
PRIVILEGE
Speaking on behalf of TG4, director general Alan Esslemont said: “It has been my privilege this year to be involved in some of the provincial celebrations of the LGFA’s 50th anniversary and to hear at first hand from some of those involved about how the advancement of the LGFA was achieved, person by person, parish by parish and county by county.
“The present success of ladies Gaelic football is a wonderful reflection on the tireless efforts and vision of the volunteers in the earliest years and over the decades. Their stories of how society shunned and snubbed ladies football deserve to be told and TG4 will have a role in sharing these stories. However, the LGFA has grown to be a best-in-class organisation with a vision to achieve true equality.
“I salute, and all of TG4 celebrates, those who have contributed to building excellence in the playing of ladies Gaelic football and in the administration of the sport.
“Personally it has been a great honour for me to have worked over the last eight of the 50 years with Uachtarán Marie Hickey, Uachtarán Micheál Naughton and LGFA chief executive Helen O’Rourke and her fantastic team. The professionalism of the LGFA organisation is inextricably linked to the quality of Helen’s leadership. The partnership between the LGFA and TG4 since 2001 has seen us both grow and flourish. It is a partnership of mutual respect, close alliance and shared ambition.
“This year every match in the TG4 All-Ireland senior championship will be shown live by TG4, on our linear or online platforms. This is the first time TG4 has committed to showing every single game in the championship. In total, TG4 will show at least 10 more live games in 2024 than we did in 2023.”
Mícheál Naughton, president of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, commented: “We’ve already seen some brilliant action throughout the Lidl National Leagues and into the TG4 provincial championships, and now it’s almost time for the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland series to commence. This is a very special time for the Ladies Gaelic Football Association as we get ready to celebrate our 50th anniversary on Thursday, July 18.
“In almost half a century, we have achieved so much and partnerships like our long-standing relationship with TG4 have helped to elevate our sport to new and unprecedented levels. We can look ahead once again to wide open races for the silverware on offer at Croke Park on August 4, when we will crown our 2024 TG4 All-Ireland junior, intermediate and senior champions.
“With us every step of the way once again, as they have been since 2001, will be TG4. TG4 have been with us for so many milestones and they’ll share our joy and pride in reaching 50 years in existence.
“We have confirmed another bumper schedule of live TV fixtures and, for the very first time, all senior championship fixtures not shown on live TV will be available live to viewers via the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel. This is yet another outstanding example of TG4’s outstanding commitment to our sport. Many thanks to TG4 director general Alan Esslemont, head of sport Rónán Ó Coisdealbha and the entire TG4 team for their continued and unwavering support of ladies Gaelic football.”
Mr. Naughton concluded: “As the road to Croker begins, we’re looking forward to seeing more and more people attend our various championship fixtures, and I wish each and every county and player the very best of luck along the way.”