| Formation | 1892 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | National Sports Campus |
| Location | |
Region served |  Leinster |
General Secretary | Peter Doyle |
President | Noel Jordan |
Parent organization | Football Association of Ireland |
| Affiliations | Irish Football Association (1892–1921) |
| Website | http://www.leinsterfa.ie |
TheLeinster Football Association (LFA) is the governing body forassociation football in theIrish province ofLeinster. It is responsible for organizing theLeinster Senior Cup and theLeinster Senior League as well as numerous other leagues and cup competitions for junior and youth teams. It was founded in1892 and is the oldest football association in what is now theRepublic of Ireland. Outside of theUnited Kingdom, only the nationalfootball associations ofDenmark and theNetherlands are older. It was originally affiliated to theBelfast–basedIrish Football Association, but following thepartition of Ireland in1921, it seceded from the IFA and subsequently played a leading role in the establishment of theDublin–basedFootball Association of Ireland. It remains closely associated with the FAI and even shares a headquarters.
The LFA was founded on 27 October 1892 at a meeting in the Wicklow Hotel on Exchequer Street,Dublin. Representatives of five football clubs –Dublin University,Bohemians,Leinster Nomads, Montpelier and St. Helen's School – attended the meeting. Rev. Canon Morley of St. Helen's School took the chair and Dudley T. Hussey of Bohemians was appointed the first honorary secretary of the association. Shortly after the LFA became affiliated to theIrish Football Association who promptly donated £50 to the new association. The LFA soon organized their own cup competition, theLeinster Senior Cup which was first played for in 1892–93. The inaugural final saw Leinster Nomads defeat Dublin University 2–1. Within a few seasons theLeinster Senior League was also established. Ciarán Priestley highlights a printed notice in the 4 September 1894 edition ofThe Irish Times. Under the headline "Leinster Football League" there is a report of "a general meeting of the league... held the other evening at 27D'Olier Street". Priestley also lists Bohemians, Britannia, Dublin University, Leinster Nomads, Phoenix and Montpelier as participants in the first season. However other sources suggest the league started a little later and was first played for in 1896–97 and that an unidentifiedBritish Army regimental team where the inaugural winners whileShelbourne were runners up.[1][2][3][4]
Clubs affiliated to the LFA regularly competed in competitions organised by the IFA.Dublin University had competed in theIrish Cup since 1884.Bohemians andShelbourne both won the Irish Cup and, along withTritonville, also played in theIrish Football League.St James's Gate andUCD also won theIFA Intermediate Cup whileFrankfort were finalists. Chapelizod andShamrocks Rovers both won theIFA Junior Cup andOlympia andJacobs were runners-up. However, during the 1900s and 1910s relations between the LFA and the IFA gradually began to deteriorate. Neal Garnham identifies four main areas that contributed to this. These included disputes over the gate money from Irish Cup games, most notably after the 1908 Irish Cup final between Bohemians and Shelbourne. There were also disagreements when it came to organizingBritish Home Championship games. The LFA accused the IFA of favouring Belfast over Dublin, both with the selection of players and choice of match venue forIreland games. The LFA also favoured playing games onSundays while the IFA were opposed to this idea. In addition the LFA were staunch advocates of amateur and junior football while in contrast the IFA was focused predominantly on the professional and senior game.
As a result of the disruption caused by theFirst World War and then theIrish War of Independence, the two bodies were effectively separated from 1915 onwards. TheIrish Football League was suspended between 1915 and 1918 and the senior teams of both Bohemians and Shelbourne competed in theLeinster Senior League while their northern counterparts competed in the Belfast & District League. The1919–20 and 1920–21 seasons saw a brief return to some all-Ireland competitions. However, in February 1921 an incident involving the waving of theIrish Tricolour, the flag of theIrish Republic, during an international between Ireland andFrance served only to push the two associations further apart. During the Irish War of Independence teams fromBelfast andDublin also grew increasingly reluctant to visit the other city. In March 1921 Shelbourne andGlenavon met in the 1920–21 Irish Cup semi-final. After a scoreless draw was played out at a neutral ground in Belfast, the replay was due to be played in Dublin. However, when the Glenavon players expressed concerns about travelling south,the IFA requested that Shelbourne return to Belfast. However Shelbourne refused and received the backing of the LFA. This episode led directly to the LFA deciding to disaffiliate from the IFA. This decision was confirmed at a meeting on 8 June 1921. In September 1921, the LFA and the newLeague of Ireland subsequently founded theFootball Association of Ireland.[5][6]
In February 2009, the LFA sold their headquarters at 43 Parnell Square to Maurice Lyons, a solicitor and one of the founders of Mount Merrion F.C.[7][8]
Within a few a years of the LFA forming, a Leinster XI began to play an Ulster XI, selected initially by the IFA and later by the County Antrim FA, in a regular series of representative matches. Ciarán Priestley identifies one of the earliest such games as taking place inBelfast on 9 December 1893. According to the Peter Byrne, these games were a valuable source of income for the early LFA.[9][10][11]Since 1999–2000 a Leinster XI has played in an annual fixture against aScottish Amateur Football Association XI. The winners were originally awarded the Alan R. MacKay Trophy. However, since 2014they were awarded the Graham Harkness Memorial Trophy.[12]A combined Leinster &Munster team finished as runners up in the2011 UEFA Regions' Cup. They lost 2 – 1 to a team representing theBraga Football Association.
As of October 2022, the leagues affiliated to the Leinster FA included:[14]
Women's
Youth
Former affiliated leagues include:[22]
