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Despite soccer’s fragmented development in the county and some ‘alarming communications’, Mayo FC will on Saturday host St Francis in the FAI’s new National League
Despite soccer’s fragmented development in the county and some ‘alarming communications’, Mayo FC will on Saturday host St Francis in the FAI’s new National League Mayo FC manager Anthony O'Neill with assistant David McNicholas at Umbro Park, Castlebar, in advance of the club's National League debut against St Francis on Saturdaykick off their first ever senior competitive match on Saturday against St Francis at Umbro Park in Castlebar.
Both clubs are founding members of theThe FAI hopes Mayo’s building work can help fill some of the many gaps left by the League of Ireland’s erratic spread across the map. The sport has developed across the country by ad-hoc means, with clubs and leagues popping up to meet demand. The FAI never could coherently zone land in the name of a rational use of space.
So although Mayo FC may be a planned creation, soccer in the county has generally grown naturally and haphazardly. Robbie Keane’s relentless ambition continues to be hindered by decision to manage in Israel The earliest clubs emerged in the major towns. Westport United were formed in 1911 and Castlebar Celtic followed in 1924, and both were among the founding members of the Mayo League in 1954.
The formation of this league, allied to the dissemination of the sport’s good word by the proliferation of TV, saw the sport grow around the GAA’s edges. A spate of clubs popped up in the 1970s in half-parishes such as Ballyhean, Manulla, and Ballyglass.
The Mayo League developed its headquarters at Milebush in Castlebar in the 1980s and switched to a summer calendar in 1994, their hand forced by a single season in which more than 400 games were postponed because of rain. Some of their clubs grew into impressive operations, including Westport United, who won the FAI Junior Cup in 2005.
Mayo FC were inaugurated in 2023, entering academy teams to the FAI’s national underage leagues after the teams run by the Mayo Youths’ League withdrew. They introduced themselves to the public at a launch event at Breaffy House, pointing to Kerry FC as they declared their intention to enter senior men’s and women’s sides into the League of Ireland. The men’s hour has dawned, accelerated by the National League’s lower entry point.
But nothing in Irish soccer is built on clear land, and Mayo FC were given an early introduction to the tricky business of managing relations with those around them. Mayo FC and St Francis are among the founding members of the FAI's National League.
Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho Though the club was initially formed by the Mayo League, a row erupted between it and the league at the end of last year as to the appropriate level of rent payable for the use of Umbro Park in Milebush. The beef stemmed from building too hastily.
The committees of the club and the league had too many common members and, as a result, some Mayo League clubs felt left in the dark about decision-making – it emerged that the club had been allowed to use Umbro Park rent-free for its first two years of existence to help it get on its feet. The episode was resolved earlier this year after the entire Mayo League committee stood down and was replaced.
The Connacht FA took interim charge of affairs. Mayo FC chairman Joe Faughnan says the disagreement was blown out of proportion when it made its way into the media. He said there had not been a fallout with all of the league clubs, but that the issue had arisen because of a couple of clubs “who didn’t want Mayo FC when we first came in”.
There was a separate confrontation with the Mayo Youths’ League over invitations to youth players to train at the club’s academy. The league angrily told the club to rescind the invitations and apologise, while some clubs wrote to parents to say their children could be suspended for attending. Faughnan called a press conference to dismiss “alarming communications”, saying these were incorrect as players were not being asked to sign up to the club.
He also said the club would not be “bullied”. It’s difficult to imagine a similar imbroglio among clubs whose young Gaelic footballers had been identified for trials with the county teams. Faughnan says one of Mayo FC’s main ambitions is to provide a pathway to professionalism in the League of Ireland for local players, whom he says have so far had too few avenues open to them after playing in the Kennedy Cup.
The busiest pathway has been through Sligo Rovers, with others going to Galway United and some to Longford Town, most obviously Andy Moran. These are long journeys that compromise opportunity. After Mayo’s All-Ireland victory, for example, Gaelic footballer Ryan O’Donoghue thanked his parents for their commitment to his sporting dreams, which at one point included regularly driving 90 minutes from Belmullet to Sligo Rovers’ academy. Mayo FC’s Castlebar base is as central a node as the county can offer.
Faughnan’s ultimate dream is to produce a senior Irish international. Whileis proud and closely in touch with his Achill roots, the last man born in Mayo to represent Ireland was Ollie Conmy in 1969 – and he had emigrated to England as a child. Former Irish underage international Noe Baba in the red and green of Mayo FC.
Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho But whereas every Gaelic footballer born in Mayo has the ultimate ambition of playing for the county, the same cannot yet be said for soccer players and Mayo FC. Westport United, for example, have an official partnership with Sligo Rovers that they won’t be ending anytime soon. These are the downsides of starting late. Anthony O’Neill has been tasked with building a first-team squad in every sense of the word.
“I’m the first ever manager of Mayo FC,” he says with a smile. “I guess I’ll be the only person ever to have that title. Most players have an opportunity to join a club. We have an opportunity to build a club.
That’s the difference. ” A former first-team assistant to John Caulfield at Galway United, O’Neill stepped up from the club’s Under-20s to take charge. The club published a call-out for players in April and received more than 100 applications, from which they retained six players. O’Neill tapped into contacts to recruit players from across Connacht.
Former Irish underage international Noe Baba has come on board to bolster a squad that blends local junior talent with players of First Division experience. Seven of O’Neill’s Under-20s have been named in the senior squad. Their first team meeting was on the Tuesday after Mayo’s All-Ireland win, and O’Neill pointed to it to tell his players they could be part of something bigger than themselves.
He also told them to take something from the Gaelic footballers’ aggressive, high-pressing style of play. They have been training three nights a week and working in the gym once a week to prepare for their inaugural league season and a leap into the unknown. The debut season is truncated, with a full launch due next year.
The FAI will provide some financial support to all clubs to help cover travel costs, but player and accommodation expenses will mean clubs will need annual budgets of more than €250,000 to keep the show on the road next year. Faughnan is busying himself with the last preparations for a historic matchday, making sure all is in order with stewarding, security and parking; ensuring vendors are primed and ready while all is in place for MidWest Radio to broadcast live commentary.
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