TG4 is to show eight Ladies Football fixtures live this spring including seven key games in the forthcoming Lidl National Leagues and the final of the currentaccount.ie All Ireland Club Championship.
Just under 600,000 viewers tuned into last year’s TG4 All Ireland Final so it is a smart commercial move as well as a continued momentum shifter for the sport.
The action gets underway on Saturday, January 29, when holders Mourneabbey from Cork and Galway’s Kilkerrin-Clonberne clash at St Brendan’s Park in Birr in that final.
This tie is a repeat of the 2019 Final between the sides and on that occasion, the TG4 cameras were also present at the TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick to capture a one-point victory for Mourneabbey.
The LGFA will live-stream the Junior and Intermediate Finals on February 5th and 6th, before attention turns the following weekend to the Lidl National Leagues
The live TV action gets underway on Saturday, February 12, when Donegal host Galway under lights in Ballybofey with a 7.30 PM throw-in.
TG4 will screen a live game from each of the three rounds of group fixtures, with the Dublin v Cork tie at Croke Park on Saturday, February 19, forming part of a double-header with the Dublin v Mayo men’s fixture.
This will be their first meeting in a competitive fixture since the 2021 Lidl National League Division 1 Final at Croke Park, which was won by champions Dublin. The game will get underway at 5.15 pm,
Then on Saturday, March 5 the cameras will be back for the rematch of last year’s TG4 All Ireland Final between Meath and Dublin in Pairc Tailteann, Navan at 3 pm.
TG4 will provide live coverage of the Lidl NFL Division 1 semi-finals on Saturday, March 19, with those games confirmed for 1 pm and 3 pm.
Coverage of the Lidl National Leagues concludes on Sunday, April 10, with the Finals in Divisions 1 and 2, which will be played as a double-header at Croke Park.
The Division 2 Final will throw-in at 2 pm, followed by the Division 1 decider at 4 pm.
Peil na mBan Beo will be available to audiences globally on the TG4 Player and on the TG4 Mobile and Smart TV App.
Former Galway star Máire Ní Bhraonáin will lead TG4’s Peil na mBan Beo coverage once again for the forthcoming season. The commentary team will be headed up by Brian Tyers.
They will be joined by expert panellists including ex-Waterford star and Underdogs selector, Michelle Ryan, Dublin’s All-Ireland winners Sinéad Finnegan and Sorcha Furlong, Meath ace Vikki Wall, a 2021 All-Ireland Senior winner, All-Star and Senior Player’s Player of the Year, and Donegal’s Emer Gallagher.
TG4’s coverage will be produced by Waterford-based production company, Nemeton TV.
“TG4 is delighted to make these games from the Lidl Ladies National Football League and the currentaccount.ie All-Ireland Senior Club Final available to a global audience, free to air, across our various viewing platforms,” said Head of Sport Rónán Ó Coisdealbha.
“For over twenty years, TG4 has been the home of live and exclusive television broadcasting of Ladies Gaelic Football, and we continue to lead the way in the broadcasting of women’s sport in Ireland.”
“TG4 ensure that women’s sport is front and centre for television audiences, from live coverage of games to our flagship Gaelic Games documentary series Laochra Gael, which will celebrate Laois legend, Sue Ramsbottom, next Thursday 27th January.”
“We’re all set for another stunning year of Ladies Gaelic Football, with TG4 leading the way once again with unrivalled coverage,” added LGFA President Michael Naughton.
Sport for Business Perspective:
“After a stunning year for Women’s Sport in Ireland it is great to see the momentum carried forward with these ten games to be televised live. The renewal of rivalries at club and county level that have produced fantastic games in the recent past is enough on their own to raise the temperature of expectation for what 2022 might hold.”
