Club Titles – IFL

The appointed referee did not show up for the 1966 Intermediate Football League final at Ardagh. Jimmy Casey was at the game and agreed to take on the duties. The game suffered from regular incursions onto the field by supporters and with three minutes remaining and Kenagh leading by 0-9 to 0-3, the referee was left with no choice but to call off the game due to supporters on the field. A County Board meeting was held and it was agreed to award the game to Kenagh.

The 1969 Intermediate League fixtures were published in January 1969 (here) with 9 clubs involved in Intermediate League competition which was split into North and South sections as follows:

IFL North
Ardagh St. Patricks
Seán Connollys
Killoe Young Emmets
Colmcille

IFL South
St. Brigids Killashee
Cashel
Legan Sarsfields
Ballymahon
Rathcline

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. Fr. Manning Gaels did not compete in that years IFL after March 1969 because competition was almost at knockout stage by the time the club was formed.

The Intermediate League final was scheduled for 6th September 1970, but neither team showed up. A subsequent meeting agreed that the game be replayed on 25th October 1970 and Rathcline ran out winners by 0-13 to 0-5.

The 1974 Intermediate League final was scheduled for 21st July but was delayed and did not happen until 20th October, ending in a draw. The replay took place on 10th November with Fr. Manning Gaels running out winners by 0-8 to 1-2 and captain Berney Gill lifting the Patsy Reilly Cup.

The 1975 Intermediate League final between Clonguish and St. Marys Granard took place on 26th October with Clonguish running out winners by 1-10 to 1-9 to win the club’s first Intermediate grade title. Confusingly, a few weeks time later a ‘New Intermediate League’ competition concluded with Séan Connollys defeating Fr. Manning Gaels by 2-4 to 0-5 to take that title. It is not clear what this second competition was or how it related to the main Intermediate League.

The Intermediate League was replaced in 1980 with the introduction of an All County Football League (ACFL) with six divisions (1, 2, 3, 1A, 2A, 3A). The cup which had been used for Intermediate League (Patsy Reilly Cup) was repurposed for use in Division 3 of the new ACFL.

In total the Intermediate League was played and won 14 times from 1966 to 1979.

Generally speaking today’s ACFL Division 2 (Michael Moran Cup) and ACFL Division 2 Cup (Patsy Reilly Cup) are both regarded as Intermediate Leagues. In the past the ACFL Division 1A competition was also referred to as an Intermediate League.

A separate Intermediate competition was introduced in 1973 and called Special Intermediate League. It was separate and distinct from the Intermediate Football League. When the ACFL was introduced in 1980, the Special Intermediate League continued to be played separate from ACFL and was eventually replaced as a separate entity as the ACFL structure evolved over time.

All ‘Intermediate League’ winners found in local media throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s were in fact either ‘Special Intermediate League’ winners or ACFL Division 1A winners.