Donegal GAA votes to retain reserve league format for the upcoming season

The Donegal GAA County Committee has decided to maintain the current structure of the reserve leagues for the 2025 season following a meeting on Monday night in Convoy.

The vote concluded with 36 in favour and 30 against, preserving the format where promotion and relegation are determined by the position of the senior team, irrespective of where the reserve team finishes in its league.

Before Christmas, representatives from nearly 30 clubs across Donegal attended a fixtures information evening at the Villa Rose Hotel, Ballybofey. The meeting, chaired by CCC chairman David McLoone, focused on discussing the future of reserve football in the county.

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The general feeling at the event was that the current system could not remain unchanged and that an alternative approach needed to be established ahead of the 2025 season.

Previously, the CCC had formed a working group to review the state of reserve football in the county and examine the potential for separating it from the senior leagues. The findings of this group were presented during the evening.

Among the options considered were two proposals for regionalised reserve leagues and a third proposal linking reserve leagues to the lower tiers of the All-County League senior divisions.

Ultimately, the third proposal was put to a vote on Monday night. This option would have introduced a new structure, with Division 1B becoming Division 4, Division 2B becoming Division 5, and so on, down to Division 7.

Under this system, promotion and relegation would have applied, but the proposal was rejected in favour of maintaining the status quo.