The Munster Football Association (MFA) is the governing body for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in the Irish province of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. It is affiliated to the Football Association of Ireland and is responsible for organising the Munster Senior Cup and the Munster Senior League as well as numerous other leagues and cup competitions for junior teams. There are 13 leagues and approximately 800 teams affiliated with the MFA.

History

The MFA was founded in October 1901 and affiliated to the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

–based

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

. In the 1901–02 season the Munster Senior Cup was introduced. According to David Toms there were many civilian and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

teams based throughout the province, most notably in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, but also in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

and

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

. However the original MFA organising committee was dominated by the British Army, and it fell into abeyance following the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In March

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

the MFA was re-established with the help of the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

–based Football Association of Ireland. One of the prime movers in reforming the association was a former

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

international and then Fordsons player,

Harry Buckle Harry Buckle (6 March 1882, Belfast – 1965) was an Irish footballer who played for Sunderland and the Ireland national football team. Club career He made his debut for Sunderland, after joining from Irish side Cliftonville, against Stok ...

, who became its vice president and chairman.

Representative games

Munster began playing representative games in as early as 1905. In that year they played an Ulster XI in

, losing 3-1. A combined

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

& Munster team finished as runners up in the 2011 UEFA Regions' Cup. They lost 2–1 to a team representing the

Braga Football Association The Braga Football Association (''Associação de Futebol de Braga'', abrv. ''AF Braga'') is the district governing body for the all football competitions in the Portuguese district of Braga since 1992. It is also the regulator of the clubs regis ...

Cup competitions

* Munster Senior Cup - since 1901–02 * Munster Junior Cup - since (at least) 1922–23 * Munster Youth Cup - since 1925–26 www.munsterfa.com
/ref> * MFA League Champions Trophy - since 2011–12

Affiliated leagues

Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division The Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division is the top division of the Munster Senior League. It is organized by the Munster Football Association. Together with the Leinster Senior League Senior Division and the Ulster Senior League Senio ...

* Munster Senior League *

Cork Athletic Union League The Cork Athletic Union League, also known as the Cork AUL, is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from County Cork. Its top division, the Premier League, is a seventh level division in the Republic of Ireland footb ...

Kerry District League The Kerry District League (known as the Denny Kerry District League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from County Kerry. The KDL is a winter league run by Adrian Casey. Its top divisio ...

Limerick Desmond Football League The Limerick Desmond League is an association football league featuring amateur, junior, youth and under-17 teams from the part of County Limerick west of the N20. Its top division, the Premier Division, is a seventh level division in the Repu ...

Limerick District League The Limerick & District League is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from Limerick city and County Limerick east of the N20. It also includes teams from Charleville, County Cork, (Charleville AFC) and Nenagh, Cou ...

* West Cork League *

WWEC League WWEC (88.3 FM) is a student-run campus radio station. Owned by Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, PA in Lancaster County, PA, United States, the station is operated by the College's Department of Communications and serves the greater El ...

References

{{Authority control

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Sports organizations established in 1901 1901 establishments in Ireland

History

Representative games

Cup competitions

Affiliated leagues

See also

References