While there is now football at primary level in each of the 26 counties, there remains major scope for development and expansion. Primary schools were active in major urban centres, Kildare and Donegal but the advent of a National 5 a side competition saw significant growth in participation throughout the country. Each year, the FAI Schools organises football for more than 50,000 students throughout the country.įAI Schools established its first International Under 18s Boys' team in 1988 while it fielded its first International Girls' team at Under 15 level in 2002.įootball in primary schools has been played for many years but it's only in recent years that it has begun to develop rapidly.
Nearly forty years later, the Association now boasts a membership of over 500 second level schools as well as 1,000 primary schools. Following some moves to co-ordinate the running of schools football with the ISSFA, the first ever Football Association of Irish Schools was formed in 1970.
Indeed, in 1966 & 1967 the winners of the Connacht Schools' Cup played the Leinster champions for the Irish Schools' Senior Cup. However, football had been played for 13 years prior to that with the Leinster Schools Easter Vacation League having just two official schools entering, though there were a number of "unofficial" members, given the external influences that prevailed at the time! By the mid sixties, this league had grown to over forty teams representing schools in the Dublin area while a similar organisation was being established in the West. FAI Schools was established in 1968 as the Irish Secondary Schools Football Association.
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