Bonagee United held a press conference on Monday to mark the official launch of the club’s participation in the new National League, the third tier of Irish football.
Minister for State with Responsibility for Sport, Charlie McConalogue TD, was in attendance together with senior officials from the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) as well as management, players and officials from Bonagee United Football Club.
Bonagee will join fellow Donegal sides Letterkenny Rovers and Cockhill Celtic in the new league.
It is planned to have up to 20 teams involved, 15 of which have been confirmed, and they will be split into two regionalised divisions – one for the northern half of the country and one for the southern half.
There will be a truncated first season running from September until November this year with just one series of games and no relegation or promotion.
The first full season will be in 2027 and will run parallel of the League of Ireland’s Premier and First Division from February until November.
From 2027, the top two sides in each division of the National League will meet in a play-off at the end of the season and the winner will then play the bottom side from the LOI First Division in a promotion-relegation playoff.
However, to be allowed to play in the First Division, a National League side will also need to have the means to obtain a licence to play at the higher level which means fulfilling a range of criteria.
Highland’ Radio’s Chris Ashmore was at the launch and spoke to a number of people involved.
Manager Michael Funston spoke about how players and clubs now have a clear pathway to playing at the highest level that they can…
Chairman Niall Callaghan outlined the process that has led to them being accepted…
Fran Gavin, the FAI Director of Competitions, explained how the league will work, stressing that this is a long term project and the clubs that have signed up and been accepted have done so for at least three years…
