History was made today at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny as Barcelona Gaels defeated Conahy Shamrocks in a round one match in the Leinster junior championshi.
It was the first time a side from the continent have beaten an Irish club side in a knockout provincial game. Fittingly the game was played on the 140th anniversary of the founding of the GAA. The diaspora has always been an integral part of the GAA, and today's result proves just how strong European clubs have gotten.
The truth is this was a rout. Barcelona started the game with a wonderful, intricately-worked point.
Barcelona Gaels with some tiki-taka that Pep and co. would be proud of against Conahy Shamrocks 🔥pic.twitter.com/cR5xJnUiZA
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) November 2, 2024
The Catalan club lead 2-06 to 0-03 at halftime and the fulltime score was 3-11 to 1-05.
They'll travel to Laois next week to play the junior champions of the O'Moore County Kilcavan, who today defeated Craobh Chiaran of Dublin by a scoreline of 0-05 to 0-04.
It was clear long before throw-in that Barcelona were not travelling to Kilkenny to make up the numbers. Their squad boasts players like Trevor Horgan, who won Premier A senior medals in football and hurling with Newcestown in Cork in 2023.
Last year Amsterdam lost by a single point to Kilbride of Meath, and today's win for Barcelona is a massive moment for the continental game. The club had only played three games at 15 v 15 due to the unavailability of large pitches in the Catalan capital.
Speaking to Balls.ie during the week, the club's chairman Eoin McCall discussed the huge expense involved for the players.
We’re not going over for the craic like, this is a significant financial burden on everyone...we’re going over to show we’re a serious football team.
Social media critics give Barcelona Gaels some extra fire
Talking to Clubber after the match, Barcelona Gaels manager Tiernan Kennedy said it was a huge achievement for the club.
It’s a huge moment for us. We’re very, very proud. It’s a huge honour. To be able to come here and compete in Leinster, especially to come here and play in Nowlan Park. I know it doesn’t see many football match. But for us, compared to what we’re used to, it’s great for what it is, in the context of gaelic football in Europe.
I’d say the same if we lost. The fact that we won is the cherry on top.
He also re-stated the point that Barcelona were not there to make up the number and said social media commentary had given his players some added motivation.
We’re not here to have our photo taken and have a day out with our family and get pumped by 10-20 points. We said all along we’re here to compete.
There was a bit of commentary online during the week that one of the boys saw during the week - and I know we shouldn’t read too much into social media - but there were some people calling our participation in this competition as ‘inclusivity gone too far’ or something like that, and that lit a fire a bit of a fire underneath us.
We were here to play for football. We’re here to win. It’s a great day for the club. It’s a great day for gaelic football in Europe.
Kennedy said after the game that Barcelona only won the Iberian final over Madrid by a single point. The European clubs are proving they can compete at junior level. It will be fascinating to see if Barcelona can extend their Leinster journey next week.
