The Ulster Senior League is an association football league featuring amateur, intermediate, and

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s. Together with the Leinster Senior League Senior Division and the

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 ...

, it forms the third level of the

Republic of Ireland football league system The Republic of Ireland football league system currently consists of 12 levels. Traditionally association football leagues in the Republic of Ireland have been classified as either senior, intermediate or junior. These leagues are effectively nation ...

. Ulster Senior League teams also compete in the FAI Cup and the

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup ( ga, Corn Comortais Peile na hÉireann), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate ...

. The winners of the Ulster Senior League have also been invited to play in the

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

. Despite using the

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

name in its title, almost all of its clubs are based in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

and the City of Derry. The most successful club in the league has been Fanad United who have won fourteen league titles and ten league cups. Since 2006 the USL has operated as a summer league with the season typically operating from April to October.

History

The Ulster Senior League was formed in 1986. The driving force behind the establishment of the league was Fr. Michael Sweeney, a pioneer of junior and intermediate association football in

. In addition to founding the USL, Sweeney had earlier been instrumental in both establishing the Donegal League and forming Fanad United. Fanad United were the inaugural USL champions in 1986–87 and they subsequently went on to become the league's most successful club, winning fourteen league titles and ten league cups. In more recent seasons, Cockhill Celtic have challenged Fanad United's dominance, winning their first title in 2010 and then nine consecutive titles between 2013 and 2022. The winners of the Ulster Senior League have regularly been invited to participate in the

. In 1987–88 Fanad United were semi-finalists. Cockhill Celtic, Culdaff and Swilly Rovers have all represented the USL in the League of Ireland Cup. Fanad United have also won the

twice while Letterkenny Rovers were finalists in 2015–16. September 2020 saw the leagues most successful club, Fanad United, announce their withdrawal from the USL to join the Donegal Junior League 2021 saw Monaghan United F.C., a former League of Ireland club, join the Ulster Senior League, the first club from Counties Cavan or

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

to do so.

2022 teams

Champions

List of winners by season

List of winners by club

Ulster Senior League Cup

The Ulster Senior League Cup has had four different sponsors since first being played for in 1986–87. Initially, the competition was sponsored by the Hotel Glenveagh in

Gweedore Gweedore ( ; officially known by its Irish language name, ) is an Irish-speaking district and parish located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. Gweedore stretches some from Glasserchoo in the north to Crolly ...

before being sponsored by Hydro Seafoods and then

Marine Harvest Mowi ASA, formerly known as Marine Harvest ASA (until January 1, 2019), (Pan Fish prior to February 6, 2007), is a Norwegian seafood company with operations in a number of countries around the world. The company's primary interest is fish farm ...

. It is now known as the '' Donegal News'' Ulster Senior League Cup.

Finals

;Notes

Representative team

An Ulster Senior League representative team competes in the FAI Intermediate Interprovincial Tournament against teams representing the Leinster Senior League, the Munster Senior League and

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

Notable former players

;

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

internationals *

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

; Northern Ireland U21 international * Michael Duffy ; League of Ireland First Division Top Scorer *

Kevin McHugh Kevin McHugh ( ga, Caoimhín MacAodha); born 19 January 1980 in Letterkenny, Ireland) is an Irish former footballer and current manager of Finn Harps F.C. under-15 League of Ireland team. He is considered one of Donegal's best-known sportstars. ...

;

manager *

Paul Hegarty Paul Anthony Hegarty (born 25 July 1954 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player and manager. He was captain of Dundee United during their most successful era in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Scottish league championship in 1983 and th ...

References

{{UEFA third leagues 3 1

Ire Ire or IRE may refer to: Ire * Extreme anger; intense fury * Irē, the Livonian name for Mazirbe, Latvia * A town in Oye, Nigeria * ''Ire'' (album), a 2015 album by the Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive * Ire (Iliad), a town mentioned in ...

1 Summer association football leagues 1986 establishments in Ireland Sports leagues established in 1986 Professional sports leagues in Ireland