The Ladies Gaelic Football Association is 50 years old today. The sport has grown to be an outlet for team sport with over 1,000 clubs in every county and well over 180,000 registered players.

It started as a novelty but has steadily grown to become a vital part of Irish sport and particularly so in the growth of sport for Women and girls.

It is mad to think that the parents of most of those now playing at inter county level and in club matches at adult level across the country were not even born when the sport was founded.

That shows just how quickly the sport has grown.

The record attendance for a Women’s sporting event in Ireland was set for the TG4 All Ireland Final in 2019 when 56,114 turned up in the rain to see Dublin beat Galway.

There will be celebrations taking place across the country to mark the occasion and this video below with Hayley Kilgallon of UCD below unearths a number of gems about the development of the sport down the years.

The publicity of a nun playing in the All Ireland Final of 1977 was described as a ‘master stroke of publicity,’ and there is plenty more

Lidl’s engagement as a sponsor in the last decade was an accelerator of growth with TV advertising showing the sport at its best and inspiring tens of thousands to take part.

TG4 have been on board for over 20 years as sponsor of the All Ireland Championships and this year committed to showing every match live in the Senior Championship.

Sports Direct backing for the Gaelic 4 Mothers and Others has been another winner and was credited as the best initiative to promote sport and physical activity among women and girls in the Federation of Irish Sport Industry Awards this year.

AIG, Glenveagh Homes and ZuCar are also on board as sponsors and partners as the association sets out on its second half century, intent on maintaining its own unique identity as part of a single Association representing all codes of Gaelic Games.

 


 

Sport for Business will host its annual Women in Sport Conference in Dublin on Thursday morning, November 28th. This is one of many events planned for the remainder of 2024.

Register your interest to attend a Sport for Business event here.

 

The LGFA, TG4, Lidl and AIG are among the 300 organisations, which include all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies, that are members of the Sport for Business community.

Find out more about joining us today.

Check out our upcoming events to discover ways of connecting in person with our membership.