While a very few sports dominate the sporting headlines there are many others which are under the radar. It’s a particular feature here in Scotland where one sport dominates all, despite the lack of success it brings. While most people don’t even know about other sports which are played here there are always groups of enthusiasts keeping them going.

One example is Gaelic Football, the Irish version of the game where they have football goals and rugby posts and they handle the ball as well as kick it. You may have seen it on Sky Sports. The game is played by the ‘Irish-heritage’ community in Scotland and 2019 has been a strong year for them. In the GAA world (GAA being the governing body of Gaelic sports) Scotland has the status of a county, one of seven in the British province. Two Scottish clubs field senior teams while there are five which play at Junior level.

The County Board Chairman, Peter Mossey, recognises that having only two senior teams is a weakness. In search of fixtures they’ve played in a joint competition with some English counties in a North British Cup, but that too has brought some frustration as the English teams have been reluctant to travel to Scotland. Links are being forged with the Ulster province in search of more competitive games. There was success though as both Scottish teams, Glasgow Gaels and Dunedin Connollys, came through to contest the North British final at Clydebank Community Sports Hub, an excellent new facility which the sport uses. It’s the Gaels who’ve been successful this year. They not only won that final but they then went on to beat their rivals again to take their first Scottish Championship for years. They’ll be playing for the provincial British title soon.

Meanwhile Glasgow Gaels women’s team were representing Scotland at an arguably higher, intermediate, level when they reached the semi-final of the North of Britain Championship.

Peter Mossey is particularly proud of the youth development work going on in the sport and has brought a high level of participation in under 10s and under 12s.

The big highlight of the year though was away from the club scene with the Scotland national team who have been playing as a county at junior level. They had a famous seven point victory over Kilkenny in the semi-final of the all-British Junior Championship, which many saw as an upset. The final was played at Clydebank too. The opposition came from the mighty tradition of County Kerry (whose senior team lost narrowly in the All-Ireland final this year) and proved to be a step too far for the Scots. Nevertheless, it’s been the most successful season in their history.

To find out more about Gaelic football, or the other Gaelic sports Hurling and Camogie, in Scotland a good place to start is the Scotland GAA Facebook page.