Ger McDermott’s long association with the Football Association of Ireland will come to an end later this year, bringing the curtain down on a career that helped reshape the foundations of the grassroots game.
After joining the FAI as a student placement in 2007, McDermott steadily climbed the organisation’s ranks before becoming one of its most influential figures in club and community development.
Across nearly two decades, he played a central role in building the modern structures that underpin Irish grassroots football.
Club Mark, now a nationwide mandatory benchmark for governance and coaching standards, stands as one of his signature achievements. Its companion programme, League Mark, was launched under his watch as part of a broader push to lift standards and provide clearer pathways from local leagues to the national game.
Participation grew across multiple areas during his tenure, from women’s and girls’ football to schools programmes and the ever-expanding Football For All initiatives. His ability to strengthen operational consistency across more than 60 staff working across the country marked him out as a steadying influence through years of organisational change.
He was a driving figure in a project undertaken with UEFA, which pinned a Social Value on Grassroots Football in Ireland at €1.8 billion.
But his time at the FAI was not without its flashpoints. McDermott was a key player behind the bid to move all grassroots football to a unified, calendar-year season — a reform the association argued would help long-term player development and align the domestic game more closely with elite structures.
The proposal triggered strong resistance from leagues and volunteers who feared disruption to traditional rhythms of club life. Ultimately, the plan was shelved, with exemptions offered and momentum dissipating. It marked a rare climbdown for a department that had typically driven change at pace.
McDermott’s departure comes amid wide-ranging restructuring across the organisation, with a significant number of roles being vacated through voluntary redundancy.
His exit leaves the FAI with a sizeable leadership gap at a moment when grassroots football faces both opportunity, with a surge in optimism around the League of Ireland and the National teams, and uncertainty over how potential growth might be shaped.
What remains is a substantial legacy. A more structured Grassroots landscape, better-governed clubs, clearer development frameworks, and a deeper appreciation of grassroots football’s social and cultural value.
The question now is who will now pick up the next phase of reform?
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