Underage grades 1950's

big_drive

Wondering would anyone here have knowledge of what grades or age groups were available to underage players in the 1950's

Was it just u14 and minor once you left primary school?

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058353721/underage-grades-1950s

A somewhat old post, but have only seen it now. Can only speak for my own county of Wexford, but the different age grades here were introduced as follows:

• Minor (U18) - way back in the early 1900s, but not run every single year during the first few decades
• Juvenile (U16) - started in 1943
• U14 & U12 - both started in 1971

obi604

Silly Q time.

going to jump on this - In 2024 can someone refresh me on the ages, I think minor and under 21 are done away with?

In chronological order:

U12
U13
U14
U15
U16
U17
U18 (more popularly known as Minor, not a thing anymore)
U19
U20
U21 (not a thing anymore)

Exiled1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122534697#Comment_122534697

Pretty much the same across all counties. In Kilkenny, Cumann na m/Bunscoileanna was founded in 1951 and it took very many years before every parish had a team in the knockout competition. There was no league. Bord na Óg 'organised' knockout u14, 16 and minor competitions. B Competitions for small clubs began in the mid seventies.

Feile na Gael began in the mid seventies, though the first final was in 1971.

Colleges was even more hit and miss. Few teams, u15, 17 and 18 in Leinster. there was a Leinster Colleges senior football league in the early seventies but nothing before.

It was not uncommon for players to play their first competitive game at adult level. I know of one club where five players made their hurling debuts in a senior championship quarter final in the late sixties. They won…. which tells much about 'the good old days'.

Stationmaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604280#Comment_122604280

Some counties still have u18 and u21 competitions and not all counties have u19 competitions.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604444#Comment_122604444

ah ok, but high level, was under 18 and under 21 kinda phased out?

Stationmaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604503#Comment_122604503

Yea. Intercounty is now u17 and u20.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604518#Comment_122604518

what was the whole reasoning behind this?

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604418#Comment_122604418

Forgot about the Cumann na mBunscoileanna stuff when I was outlining when different things started in Wexford. Here, it's called the Rackard League, as it was set up by Nickey Rackard sometime in the mid-1950s. Was first just for rural primary schools as urban schools ran their own competitions within the towns, but the whole lot came together around the early 1980s.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604561#Comment_122604561

One of the main reasons for changing minor from U18 to U17 was actually to do with decoupling at club level.

When minor was U18, and minor players were also allowed to play the adult grades, there were many examples of one competition being held up unduly by another, particularly in a dual county.

Say for example, and particularly at this time of year, that a club had one minor player who also played senior hurling with them, another who played senior football, and a couple who played junior in either or both codes. Say junior hurlers are fixed to play next Saturday, senior hurlers on Sunday, junior footballers the following Saturday, and senior footballers the following Sunday. You couldn't play a minor match on any of those days.

Minor matches could therefore only be played midweek, and at this time of year, that would mean needing floodlights. Not every club due to have home advantage would have floodlights. Not as simple either as just fixing the matches for other grounds that do have lights, because that would impact on the ability of the clubs who own those grounds to train for their own upcoming adult championship matches.

So, the idea was that by running minor at U17, and decoupling such that U17 players couldn't also play adult, the minor and adult competitions wouldn't have to work around each other any more.

Some counties, including Wexford, have moved back to U18 for club minor championships. We still decouple the minor and adult grades, such that even an 18-year-old can't play adult. The rule is unpopular in some quarters, but without it, our minor championships would genuinely now be on hold until our adult championships are completed on the first weekend of November.

With the rule, we're instead able to play our minor semi-finals and finals over the coming weeks, so that the vast majority of those minor players involved (i.e. those who wouldn't also be playing adult) aren't left sitting around doing nothing for about two months.

U17 is still Croke Park's preference for minor, and that fact that they run the inter-county competitions at U17 reflects this.

The change from U21 to U20 was simply so there'd be a continuation of the three-year age gap between the grades, instead of a four-year gap between U17 and U21.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604909#Comment_122604909

thank you for the explanation!!

slegs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604280#Comment_122604280

Kildare oddly have retained U-18 as minor and there is no U-20 championship. All underage is in the even numbers. Most other counties seem to have gone with the odd numbers if they have only one grade every 2 years (to line up with U-17 for minor and U-15 for Feile na nGael now everywhere)