Club Titles – SFL

Our research found the following Leader Cup title changes which were supplied to and adopted by Coiste Chontae an Longfort from 2014 onward. This marked the first material change to the official record since Leader Cup records began.

1937
Was: No Record
Now: Drumlish

1938
Was: Drumlish
Now: No Competition

1941
Was: St. Brigids Killashee
Now: Ardagh St. Patricks

1946
Was: Mullinalaghta
Now: Drumlish

Titles are allocated to club units (not parishes). Where a new club unit was formed by two or more clubs amalgamating, the previous titles of the individual clubs prior to the union are kept separate from titles won by the new club unit. Here are some examples from across the country of similar practice (📑 Examples). For teams made up of two or more clubs in an amalgamation, titles are allocated to the combination team and not assigned separately to the individual club units within it (thus avoiding double-counting).

To allocate titles accurately and consistently to club units, it was necessary to dig into specific instances where key titles were won by different or differently named entities from the same parish down the years, and determine using as much primary evidence as possible how to allocate those titles to club units.

Longford has seen a large number of clubs come and go over the years, including multiple clubs in the same parish at the same time (This was true in multiple instances prior to the 2010’s, and is still true today for the Longford and Granard parishes). Historically there are a few instances of key titles won by different or differently named units from the same parish. Some were merely the same club renamed over time, while others were separate club units including new clubs formed by the merging of two or more existing club units.

There are five key examples of title allocations which needed clarification:

1. Longford Parish
2. Mostrim Parish
3. Granard Parish
4. Drumlish Parish
5. Ardagh & Moydow Parish

Note: Titles in this context refer to SFC, SFL, SHC, IFC, IFL, JFC, JFL or U-21 ‘A’ Competition titles.

Medal/Cup Inscription: It is worth noting that for many years of the old Senior League, competition began in one year and often was delayed and spilled into the following year, in many cases not completing until late in the following year and in some instances resulting in competition for that following year not happening at all. Medals were often inscribed with the year in which the title was won , rather than the year that the competition related to. In some cases where competition spilled from one year into the next, medals were inscribed with both years. Our research attempted to map out when competitions began and ended and therefore which years winner were which, rather than adopting what was inscribed on medals. We have found many instances in our research of medals inscribed with incorrect years and incorrect title names, just as we have found many instances of cup bases inscribed with incorrect winners. Extreme care must be taken when using trophy bases and/or medal inscriptions as the basis for establishing proof of a competition win.

A new Senior Football League competition was introduced in 1911 and ran until 1935 when it was then replaced by the new Leader Cup competition. From it’s beginning to the mid 1920’s it was mostly referenced as ‘Senior League-Championship’ and thereafter as ‘Senior League’. It was often confused with Senior Football Championship competition in some past records. The old Senior League competition was regarded by some in the early years as having equivalent importance to the knockout Senior Football Championship. The format changed in 1928 with the top team in the table being declared the winner (i.e. no final between top 2 teams). The competition continued until 1935 and ended thereafter with the new Leader Cup competition beginning in 1936. Old Senior League  titles are kept separate and distinct from Senior Championship titles, even though it was common for League winners to receive medals with ‘Championship’ or ‘Champions’ on them. These titles are also kept separate and distinct from Leader Cup (1936 onward). It had a sister league competition at Junior grade which was called the Junior League-Championship and later became more commonly referenced as Junior Competition or Junior Championship until the arrival of a knockout Junior Championship competition in 1927, from which point the two competitions were Junior League and Junior Championship.

No published record found of any Senior League winner or competition held for the 1932 season. The 1931 Senior League competition spilled over into 1932 and took most of 1932 to complete, hence the 1931 winner was decided in 1932. We found no published evidence of a separate competition for the 1932 season. The title cited as 1931-32 was the 1931 competition title, completed and won in the Summer of 1932.

No published record found of 1935 Senior League being completed.

The 1935 Senior League began in June 1935, while the 1934 Senior League had still not concluded. Games in the 1935 competition were played up to November 1935 and then spilled over into 1936 with games played sporadically in March and May 1936. Drumlish and Mullinalaghta emerged as top 2 teams from the Northern Division while St. Brigids Killashee and Ardagh St. Patricks emerged as top 2 teams from the Southern Division.

In February 1936 the fixtures for the last four of the 1935 Senior League were published, with St Brigids v Drumlish on March 15th at Longford and Mullinalaghta v Ardagh St. Patricks on March 29th or April 5th at Longford.

Drumlish played and beat Killashee by 1-6 to 1-1 on 15th March 1936 to secure their place in the 1935 Senior League decider. However Killashee lodged an objection, citing an illegal Drumlish player per Rule 12, Page 67. The objection was reviewed and upheld at the County Board meeting on 16th April 1936 in the Courthouse in Longford, and Killashee were duly awarded the game, while the player in question was reinstated.

The Mullinalaghta v Ardagh St. Patricks game was then fixed for May 1936 but thereafter we found no record of it being played. The 1935 League appears to stall as the 1936 Senior Championship gets underway, and we found no published evidence of the 1935 League resuming after the 1936 Senior Championship concluded. Hence no evidence of any winner from the Mullinalaghta vs Ardagh St. Patricks game and no evidence of the 1935 Senior League final involving that games winner vs Killashee. The new Leader Cup competition was then introduced later in 1936 and the first Leader Cup draw was made in October 1936. The Convention summary in late December 1936 cites Drumlish as Senior League winner and Seán Connollys as Junior League winners, however Drumlish lost the 1935 League game vs Killashee on objection, while Seán Connollys won the 1935 Junior League title played in March 1936. The same convention summary notes that the 1936 Leagues (including the new Leader Cup) are still in progress and further reports in early 1937 show that to be the case with the 1936 Leader Cup eventually abandoned in May 1937 and the 1936 Junior League final eventually played in November 1936. Hence we show the 1935 Senior League as Not Completed.

The Longford Leader Cup competition was first introduced in the Summer of 1936, with games beginning in October 1936. The convention summary in local media in late December 1936 noted that “the 1936 Leagues including a new competition between Senior Teams for the Longford Leader Cup – a trophy presented by Mr. A. M Farrell – are in full progress“. This was a new competition, distinct and separate from the old Senior League that had gone before. Although the Leader Cup began in 1936, that years competition was abandoned and the following years competition spilled into 1938, hence the first winner lifted the trophy in 1938 for the delayed 1937 competition.

The 1936 Leader Cup began in October 1936 but progress proved very slow and games spilled over into 1937. A decision was then made in May 1937 to abandon the inaugural 1936 Leader Cup and start afresh with the 1937 Leader Cup instead.

The 1937 Leader Cup was won by Drumlish in May 1938. Competition began in May 1937 but was beset by delays and disruption because of the success of Longford in the Leinster and All-Ireland Junior Championship that year. Competition did not complete until a year later in May 1938 with Drumlish winning the title by topping the league table to win the delayed 1937 Leader Cup title with a game to spare and became the first team to lift the new Longford Leader Cup. The delay of the 1937 competition into 1938 meant that there was no Leader Cup competition played for 1938, in part because that years Senior Football Championship was not completed on time either. The Leader Cup then started afresh in 1939 with no competition for 1938.

The inscription on the winning medals (see below) for the 1937 Leader Cup win displayed the year in which the title was won (1938), but did not reflect the year of competition, which in this case was the 1937 Leader Cup, which began in May 1937 and completed in May 1938. Leader Cup records prior to our research (example here) showed Drumlish as winners in 1938 & 1939. However when the full span of games from 1937 and 1938 is assessed it shows that Drumlish won the 1937 Leader Cup (spilled into 1938 with Drumlish topping the table and deemed champions with a game at hand in May 1938) and Drumlish also won the 1939 Leader Cup with final played against Whiterock Slashers on 18th June 1939, with no separate Leader Cup competition for the 1938 season. 

(Medal Source: Cyril McKeon)

There was no Leader Cup competition for 1938 due to the fact that the 1937 Leader Cup spilled into 1938 and was not completed until May 1938. The delays to the 1937 Leader Cup was in part due to the success of Longford in the Leinster and All-Ireland Junior Championship of 1937.

The 1939 Leader Cup competition was won by Drumlish.

An article in local media in March 1940 noted a Ceilidhe held in Drumlish at which the 1939 Leader Cup and Senior Championship medals would be presented. In addition, Drumlish and Whiterock Slashers met in the Senior Football Championship semi-final later in 1939 and the preview mentions that Whiterock Slashers had previously given them “…a good game for three quarter of a way in the Cup Final” referring to the Drumlish victory in that years Leader Cup final.

The 1941 Leader Cup competition was won by Ardagh St. Patricks who beat Clonbroney Seán Connollys in the final by 3-6 to 2-4 on 1st June 1941 at Pearse Park. It is interesting to note that Ardagh beat the Army team in the Leader Cup semi-final on 18th May 1941. 

Note: Other prior records had incorrectly allocated the 1941 title to St. Brigids Killashee.

The 1943 Leader Cup final in December 1943 ended in a draw (Drumlish 3-3, Mullinalaghta 2-6). The replay was scheduled for 12th March 1944 however in the days before the final Mullinalaghta indicated that they were not prepared to travel for the game. Hence the title was awarded to Drumlish. 

The 1946 Leader Cup competition was won by Drumlish who defeated Mullinalaghta by 2-4 to 1-2 on 1st September 1946. In some previous published records this years title was incorrectly allocated to Mullinalaghta. 

The 1949 Leader Cup competition contained just six teams and was confined to Senior teams only.

• Clonguish
• Longford Wanderers
• Mullinalaghta
• Cashel
• Ballymahon
• Colmcille

The 1950 Leader Cup competition saw a big increase in teams from six in 1949 to eleven in 1959.

Leader Cup (South)

• Ardagh St. Patricks
• Killoe Young Emmets
• Cashel
• Clonguish
• Longford Wanderers
• Ballymahon

Leader Cup (North)

• Dromard
• Mullinalaghta
• Drumlish
• Colmcille
• St. Marys Granard

The 1952 Leader Cup completed in February 1953. It is worth noting that Clonguish won this Leader Cup title as a Junior side, having gained entry into the competition when a vacancy arose. This was first time that a Junior side won the Leader cup.

The 1953 Leader Cup final involved a Senior club (Drumlish Young Irelands) and a Junior club (Ardagh St. Patricks) with Young Irelands running out winners. This is one of the few times a Junior club reached the Leader Cup final.  

The 1954 Leader Cup was completed in 1955 with the final played in Purth (David Jones’ field) on 1st May 1955. Colmcille beat Longford Slashers by 5-5 to 3-4. 

The 1960 Leader Cup final was played between Ballymahon and Colmcille. Ballymahon had just won the Junior Football Championship and went on to win the Leader Cup too.

The 1962 Leader Cup final was played between Longford Slashers and Killoe Young Emmets. The game ended in some controversy when the ref announced that the game had ended in a draw, much to the surprise of Longford Slashers players and supporters (and others in the crowd) who had assumed that Slashers had won the game by a point (1-10 to 2-6). The matter had to wait for the referee’s report to be read at the County Board meeting a week later, where the referee stated that he had consulted with his umpires who unanimously agreed that the correct score was 1-10 to 2-6 in favour of Longford Slashers. The referee also mentioned that he believed he failed to record a point scored by Slashers in the second half, leading to his full-time conclusion of a draw. 

The 1963 Leader Cup final between Longford Slashers and St. Marys Granard was played on 29th March 1964. Longford Slashers won the League quadruple for 1963 winning the Juvenile, Minor, Junior and Senior League titles. 

The 1965 Leader Cup final between Clonguish and Longford Slashers was delayed and went to a second replay. Competition was massively delayed due to Longford’s success in the 1965/66 National Football League. The 1965 Leader Cup final was played on 6th November 1966 and ended 2-7 apiece. The replay was on 19th February 1967 but the match was abandoned with six minutes remaining (and Clonguish 1 point up). The match was eventually replayed many months later on 26th November 1967 with Clonguish winning by 0-5 to 0-2. 

The 1966 Leader Cup competition was delayed by compound delays to the 1965 competition due to Longford’s success in the 1965/66 National Football League. The 1966 final was eventually played on 4th February 1968 with St. Marys Granard beating Clonguish by 2-5 to 1-5. 

The 1965 & 1966 Leader Cups both spilled into (and through) 1967 which left no time in that year to play a 1967 Leader Cup, hence no 1967 Leader Cup competition took place. Clonguish beat Longford Slashers after a second replay to claim the 1965 title in November 1967, while St. Marys Granard beat Clonguish in February 1968 to take the 1966 competition title (medals inscribed 1967).

The 1968 Leader Cup spilled into 1969 with the final played on 20th April 1969 and Clonguish defeating St. Marys Granard by 1-12 to 0-4. The winning team included five sets of brothers and eight cousins.

The 1969 Leader Cup fixtures were published in January 1969 (here) with 8 clubs involved in Senior League competition which was split into North and South sections as follows:

SFL North
Mostrim
Éire Óg (Drumlish)
Clonguish
St. Marys Granard

SFL South
Cashel
Carrickedmond
Longford Slashers
Kenagh St. Dominics

In March 1969, partway through the league programme, the clubs of Éire Óg (a Senior club) and Ballinamuck (a Junior club) – both in the same parish of Drumlish – amalgamated to form Fr. Manning Gaels and affiliated at Intermediate grade. Hence the SFL of 1969 continued past March of that year with just 3 teams in the North section and 4 teams in the South section.

1980 saw the introduction of the All-County Football League (ACFL) structure in Longford. Within this league structure the Leader Cup was retained as the Senior Football League trophy, and was played for by the top two teams in ACFL Divisions 1 & 2. This remained the case until 1990 when the ACFL was restructured to spread all 24 first teams in the County evenly across four divisions. This also meant that from 1990 to 1994 the Leader Cup was played for by the top two teams in Divisions 1 & 2, along with the winners of Divisions 3 & 4. This changed again in 1995 and since then only top teams from ACFL Division 1 compete for the Leader Cup at the end of the league season.

The 1986 Leader Cup final did not take place until 15th March 1987 due to delays caused by a number of different reasons. Fr. Manning Gaels beat Longford Slashers in the final by 0-7 to 0-5. Five months later Fr. Manning Gaels were back in the 1987 Leader Cup final, this time beating Mostrim by 2-9 to 1-10 on 23rd August 1987, becoming the first (and thus far only) club to win two Leader Cup titles in the same year.

Note: This was the last game played by Kevin Hughes. The former Longford inter-county and Mostrim footballer died in a car accident just 11 days later on 3rd September 1987. He was 28 years old. The cup currently presented to the winner of the U-21 Football Championship bears his name.

The 1990 Leader Cup saw changes to the competition structure following the introduction of a new cup for the team finishing top of Division 1. The top two teams in Divisions 1 and 2 along with the top team from Divisions 3 & 4 competed in a Super League competition at the end of all rounds of the League to determine the winner of the Leader Cup. In 1990 the final was between Colmcille (Division 1) and Seán Connollys (Division 2) with Colmcille emerging as winners.

The ‘Super League’ competition format saw Winner of Division 4 vs Winner of Division 3 and the winner playing the Runner-Up in Division 2 to decide who progressed to the semi-final to play the Winner of Division 1 and Winner of Division 2. The Super League format continued until 1994 and thereafter reverted back to Leader Cup being played for by the top teams in Division 1 only. During the Super League period the Leader Cup was won by a Division 2 team twice, in 1992 (Mostrim) and 1993 (Ardagh St. Patricks). This is the only time in the history of the ACFL that a non Division 1 team won the Leader Cup. 

The 2018 Leader Cup final was not played. Mullinalaghta St. Columbas and Killoe Young Emmets reached the final but it was not played due to Mullinalaghta’s involvement in the Leinster Club Championship campaign (which Mullinalaghta won) and then the All-Ireland Club Championship which stretched into 2019, hence the Leader Cup final was never played and there is no title winner for 2018.

The 2020 Leader Cup competition was not played due to the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2022 Leader Cup final between Mullinalaghta St. Columbas and Colmcille was scheduled for 23rd July 2022. In the immediate run up to the final, Colmcille requested a postponement to a later date but this was declined. On 22nd July the final was called off and the Leader Cup title seemed to be awarded to Mullinalaghta due to Colmcille being unable to fulfill the fixture on the scheduled date. However the Mullinalaghta club did not accept the decision to award them the title, requesting instead that the game be refixed and played. However the game was not refixed and the club subsequently refused the medals. Hence the 2022 Leader Cup title was is marked as ‘No Winner’. 

The 2023 Leader Cup final between Mullinalaghta St. Columbas and Killoe Young Emmets was held on Sunday 16th July 2023 and doubled up as both the Leader Cup and ACFL Division 1 final between the sides. The game went to extra time and ended in stalemate at 0-14 each before being decided on penalties with Mullinalaghta winning by 5 to 4 to claim both titles.