Joe McNally Masters comes to St Anne’s

The Joe McNally Invitational Masters Football 7s tournament takes place on Saturday, September 14 at St Anne’s GAA club Bohernabreena, reports James Ffrench.

McNally, also known as “Big Joe”, is no stranger to success being an All Ireland winner himself, but puts the success of the tournament down to the demand which exists for it.

“The idea was to get lads back playing football and having the craic.

“There is a big community of lads over 40 which would have played football with and against each other across the country, in Australia I know they have done something similar.

“One of our ex-players is actually playing in Liverpool and he’s bringing his GAA club over for which is brilliant.”

“It’s a great family day out, and it allows lads who wouldn’t have seen each other for years to catch up aswell.

“The year before last, both games in the semi-finals went to penalties so the atmosphere that day was brilliant.”

This year’s iteration will be the fourth instalment of the tournament, with 24 clubs from around Ireland and the UK set to take part.

Teams participating range from St Mark’s, St Kevins and Thomas Davis to Drumbaragh Emmets of Meath.

John Mitchel’s GAA Club of Liverpool will be taking part for the first time in the competition, with the club one of the oldest of its kind in the UK.

The three previous winners of the tournament are Baltinglass of Wicklow in 2019, St Mary’s of Saggart in 2022 and Railyard of Kilkenny in 2023.

Players participating in the invitational must be born in 1984 or before.

Registration begins at 10am on the day with the games commencing at 11am.

14 players will be on the field at all times during each match, seven per team with a maximum of 12 players allowed per squad.

Each game will last 15 minutes altogether, seven and a half minutes each half with substitutes allowed to roll on and off.

Entry fee on the day is €250 which includes a food and drink voucher along with entertainment in the clubhouse.