The KDFL Celebrated their 30th Anniversary and awards ceremony on Friday evening in the usual venue of the Keadeen Hotel. The festive surroundings of the hotel gave the party feel for what was to unfold as over 260 attendees were directed firstly to the Oak room where they were treated to a prosecco reception to view the League’s extensive media collection dating back to August 1994, shortly before 8 all made their way to the ballroom to enjoy a fabulous meal before launching into the business of the evening as the League presented their various trophies and special award winners for 2024.
45 presentations were made in total, consisting of League, Cup and Shield winners and awards winners. League Secretary Regina Casey opened proceedings by welcoming all guests which included Leinster Football Association (LFA) President Noel Jordan and his colleague Association administrator Peter Doyle. They were joined by representatives from the local press, ISRS Kildare Laois Branch members, association leagues and sponsors. The League also introduced founding members of the League, Jack Connolly, Pat Ryan, Peter O Neill, Frank Tobin and their very own Michael Casey. The founding members were invited as part of the league’s 30th Anniversary Celebrations.
LFA President Noel Jordan addressed the audience by congratulating the League on their 30th anniversary and recalled Michael Casey’s involvement with other Leagues to pursue equal representation for country leagues on the LFA Executive in the late 90s. He applauded the founding members of the league for their foresight in founding the League in 1994.
Administrator of the LFA Peter Doyle spoke about the KDFL’s involvement at Provincial and National Level, stating that both Karen Hickey and Regina Casey take a full and active part in representing their League and provincial body, Karen on the LFA Executive and Regina on the FAI General Assembly. He also wished Bush Celtic, Clane United and Clonmullion FC all the best in their remaining games in the LFA and FAI Junior Cups.
Regina spoke briefly on the formation of the KDFL, in particular regarding the difficulty at the time to have the county boundary restriction lifted and the League achieving District status. She also congratulated the clubs for making the move to summer football which has enhanced the league in the intervening years. She also took time to reflect on the remaining founding members who are no longer with us, Tony Lumsden, Jimmy Langton and Eamon Darcy (RIP) All of whom had changed the landscape of association football in Kildare and it’s environs for ever.
Over the coming weeks in the Leinster Leader all award winners will be recognised with feature bios. A full roll of honour is featured here with the individual award winners also.
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