The Gaelic Masters Association (GMA) is an Irish
amateur sporting organisation, focused on promoting indigenous
Gaelic games
Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichà Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...
among people over 40 years of age. They are independent of the
Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and were founded by Mayo man John Pat Sheridan in 2011 in response to the GAA disbanding their own Masters competitions in 2009 citing rising insurance costs, having organised competitions since 1990.
Prior to founding the breakaway association he had brought motions to the
GAA Congress in 2010 and 2011 to revive the competitions under the auspices of the GAA but the motion failed both times.
As they were no longer a part of the GAA they were not allowed to train and play matches at GAA grounds and had to use public pitches, expect in a few counties where county boards allowed them to use official GAA grounds.
In 2018 the GMA and the GAA came to an agreement to permit the GMA to use GAA grounds after the GMA put in place the insurance cover required to allow them to use GAA facilities if clubs and counties wished to make them available for Masters games.
16 counties competed for the 2018 Masters Football Championship;
Antrim,
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...
,
Clare Clare may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land
Australia
* Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley
* Clare Valley, South Australia
Canada
* Clare (electoral district), an electoral district
* Cl ...
,
Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
,
Down
Down most often refers to:
* Down, the relative direction opposed to up
* Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place
* Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing
* Downland, a ty ...
,
Dublin,
Galway,
Kildare,
Leitrim/
Longford
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...
,
London,
Mayo,
Monaghan,
Roscommon,
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
,
Tyrone, and
Westmeath.
The 2022 football champions, Tyrone, retained their title by defeating Dublin in a game in which
Denis Bastick
Denis Bastick (born 8 May 1981) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for Templeogue Synge Street and, formerly, for the Dublin county team.
Biography
Bastick attended St. Josephs BNS Primary School in Terenure. Bastick's club side Templeogue Sy ...
was sent off after being issued with a straight red card shortly after taking to the field.
International representation
In 2016 they were represented by a
national team in an
International rules football match against an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
team representing
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
References
{{Reflist
2011 establishments in Ireland
Amateur sports organizations
Gaelic games organisations