Leitrim to forfeit Fermanagh football league clash

The Leitrim footballers will not field a team for their Division 3 clash against Fermanagh in Pairc Sean Ui Eslin in Ballinamore tomorrow due to an injury crisis in the camp and commitments to their Under-20 team.

Twelve footballers have been hit with soft tissue injuries and a number of players have either retired or emigrated to Australia, meaning the squad is down substantial numbers.

Leitrim's U20s play Galway in the Connacht championship on Wednesday and though there is no rule preventing their six dual panellists from lining out in both games, team management and county officials feel there is no choice other than to give a walkover tomorrow.

It will still come as a major shock to Leitrim football people that this decision has now been reached.

Two weeks ago, Leitrim had only 22 players togged out for action against Offaly but for tomorrow's game only 16 players would have been togging out.

The injury list includes the county's two first-choice goalkeepers, who are also unavailable due to recent head injuries.

Steven Poacher is in his first season as Leitrim manager

Their situation hasn't been helped by having one match postponed earlier in the league, which meant Leitrim had to play five games in a row. It highlights the impact of so many games in difficult weather and pitch conditions on counties with small or limited playing numbers.

This Allianz League campaign has been a difficult one for Leitrim, with approximately 20 out of the 32-man panel experiencing inter-county football for the very first time.

According to Steven Poacher, who has been involved in many county teams, this is the first such occurrence of an event of this magnitude that he is aware of. Leitrim are bottom of Division 3 having played five games already, losing them all.

On the decision to forfeit the fixture, the Newry native told RTÉ Sport: "It's an unfortunate set of circumstances. We're probably in unprecedented territory in that we are the one county in Ireland that has six U-20 players that are on the panel - and that five of them started most National League games this year.

"We have a new panel, a young panel, with 20 players coming in who have never played county football before so they have been exposed towards a heavier load of training, S&C and games. We have played five weeks in a row after our first game against Laois was postponed because of the storm.

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"So five weeks in a row coupled with a young panel; the U20 championship on Wednesday night; 12 soft-tissue injuries and the uncanny set of circumstances this week where both our first-choice goalkeepers collided and got concussion, well you couldn't write the script."

Leitrim GAA had earlier released a statement stating their regret for the decision and pointing out that an "inordinate number of last year's panel had declared themselves unavailable for the 2025 season."

"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," it read.

"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.

"In reality, we could find ourselves with only 12 players on the field tomorrow.

"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."

Watch Kerry v Armagh in the Allianz Football League on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1

Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates around the country on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1

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