Leitrim have conceded tomorrow’s Allianz League game with Fermanagh, citing lack of available players.
In a statement issued today, the Leitrim county board advise that just 13 outfield players are fit to play. The board also cite the Connacht U20 championship beginning on Wednesday as impacting player availablitiy.
The decision to concede the game, means Leitrim are officially relegated to division four.
The Leitrim GAA statement in full.
“Leitrim GAA regrets that it has to concede the Allianz Football League Round 6 game to Fermanagh which was due to be played in Ballinamore tomorrow. The reasons for this are genuine and revolve simply around the availability of enough fit to play players to fulfil this fixture.
This weekend the Team Management has a total of 13 outfield players who are fit to play tomorrow, including two players who are just coming back from serious injury one of whom has been out for 14 months & has played only 12 minutes in the last game versus Offaly. This does not include our two goalkeepers who are recovering from head injuries and are not fit to play.
In addition to this, six members of the panel are not available tomorrow due to the fact that they are in preparation for a Connacht Under 20 Championship match versus Galway on Wednesday evening next.
We must stress that the Leitrim players were very keen to play this game if it was at all possible but due to overall player welfare considerations and a duty of care towards the group for the greater good, we have had to take this unprecedented and unfortunate decision. In reality, we could find ourselves with only 12 players on the field tomorrow.
The complete background to this decision includes the fact that in the preparation for this year’s campaign, an inordinate number of last year’s panel had declared themselves unavailable for the 2025 season and the current Team Management appointed at the end of October has had to deal with forming a panel in a much-delayed timeframe in which preparation only commenced in December. Due to the unavailability of former players, they found themselves reliant on a large number of inexperienced players and younger players from the Under 20 age group. The workload in preparation for this season has cumulatively taken its toll and a multiplicity of simultaneous injuries has brought us to this unfortunate situation, which has resulted as outlined”.
