23 Interesting Gaelic Football Facts You Should Know About!Antonio Brown facts

Gaelic football is, without a doubt, one of the most popular and most-played sports in Ireland.

Gaelic football is similar to other sports such as rugby, basketball, volleyball, and soccer or football. Gaelic football is a popular sport played between two teams comprising 15 players each.

It isn't easy to ascertain who invented this sport. Records in Ireland suggest that Gaelic football was being played in Ireland in the 14th century, although it was of a different variety. Sports historians agree that Gaelic football is older than both soccer/football and rugby.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, rugby had emerged as the most popular sport in Ireland. People in both towns and villages were drawn towards this game.

Seeing one of the traditional Gaelic games under threat from an import (rugby came from England), a group of concerned individuals came together. It formed the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884.

Their task was to promote Gaelic football in Ireland and protect it from outside influences. The GAA is the governing board of Gaelic football and other Irish Sports such as hurling and camogie.

Like many other sports in the world, women too have been playing Gaelic football since the early 20th century. The Ladies' Gaelic Football has been gaining some serious ground since the 1970s and enjoys excellent support in the whole of Ireland.

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History Of Gaelic Football

The version of Gaelic football that we get to see in Ireland today was developed in the late 19th century. However, its presence in Ireland can be dated back to the early 14th century.

Legal records in Ireland show that in 1308, an Irishman named John McCrocan came out of his seat in the spectator stand and used his dagger to strike a player.

This player's name is also given in the record, and it reads William Bernard. We cannot find any more information other than this about that fateful incident.

Sometime in 1695, playing all kinds of team sports, including Gaelic Football, was prohibited by the Sunday Observance Act. A fine of one shilling was put in place as well.

The exact reasons behind this odd rule remain unknown. But no law could keep the people away from playing this field game.

As the popularity of Gaelic football grew in Ireland, new forms of tournaments and competitions were put in place. As per records, the first instance of a cross country game of Gaelic football game was played between the teams Meath and Louth in Slane in the year 1712.

The modern version of Gaelic Football took birth in 1887 when the game's laws were arranged and codified.

Championships: Gaelic Football

In Ireland, the GAA organizes and controls most major Gaelic football competitions. The premier competition is the All-Ireland Football Championship. It is played in the present-day Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, where the GAA mandates the rules and regulations of this competition. The competition is played first at the county level.

Winners of each county then take on one another at the national level. Finally, two teams are left in the competition. These finalists qualify for the final.

The Championship final matches are played every year in the Croke Park stadium in Dublin. This iconic stadium can seat more than 80,000 spectators and is the third-largest sports stadium in Europe by capacity.

One of the more bizarre moments in the history of Gaelic football took place in a final match in 1992. This was the final match of Connaught's Irish western province division and was being played in McHale stadium between Mayo and Roscommon.

The McHale stadium, located in Castlebar, Mayo, was at full capacity that evening. The game was drawing towards an end, and Mayo was placed comfortably ahead.

Then, suddenly, a player from the Roscommon team, Enon Gavin, while trying to defend the goal from three charging players of the Mayo team, broke the crossbar. The 21,000 fans present at the stadium had to wait for more than an hour to watch the game restart.

Football Clubs: Gaelic Football

One of the most famous and well-known Gaelic football clubs in Ireland is named Mayo. They play in the western division and have remained in the public eye severe since an infamous incident that took place in 1951.

As a victorious Mayo team was returning home after beating Meath, the bus driver disrespectfully overtook the funeral procession of an older man.

The grieving widow did not take the insult lightly and is said to have cursed the whole team, that till the day even one player would remain alive, they would not win a championship title. As things would turn out, they are yet to win a title to this day!

You may find it hard to believe that two of the most famous Gaelic football teams are based not in Ireland but somewhere close to the Arctic Circle! The Helsinki Harps and the Oulu Irish Elks are Gaelic football teams based in Finland.

Achievements: Gaelic Football

In the history of any sports, serving as President of an association for 20 years is a big deal. James Nowlan made history when he served as the President of the GAA from 1901 until 1921. This remains the longest period a person has served as President of the GAA.

The GAA has always been an amateur organization. This means that it has never signed big-money deals with sponsors. The lack of strong financial backup implies that more than one person can be seen handling various portfolios. 

However, what happened in 1954 is something the world of sports is yet to see anywhere else. A player named Peter Mcdermott was tasked to referee the final match of the All-Ireland Competition in 1953 between the teams Kerry and Armagh. 

The following year, Peter Mcdermott was again seen in the final match. Yet, this time he was captaining the Meath side. So he remains the only referee to have ever won the All-Ireland Football Championship to date.

Gaelic Football Rules

The rules of Gaelic football are pretty simple. The game is played with a round ball on a rectangular field divided by lines based on distance. The players' objective is to score a maximum number of points by putting the ball over the opposite team's goal. A Gaelic football referee officiates every match.

To those of you who have never played this game, it may seem physical from a distance. On the contrary, Gaelic Football is the least physical game out there. The rules of the game strictly dictate that two players should have limited physical contact. An exception is made to shoulder bumps. 

The kind of tackling you see in soccer is prohibited in this game. It is thought to be an easy game compared to many other field sports. You can start playing Gaelic Football after a day's practice!

Those of you who have played soccer in school or elsewhere would be familiar with the concept of the Offside Rule. It is a frustrating rule that makes scoring goals harder. Gaelic football does not have this rule in its books.

This may come as a shock to most of you since sports stars are often in the news for breaking transfer records. Would you if we tell you that no Galic Football player in Ireland gets a single penny as salary from their respective teams?

This is because Gaelic Football is technically an amateur league and remains the only one of its kind. Imagine famous Gaelic Football players doing day jobs to support their sporting activities. In Ireland, that is precisely the case!

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