LGFA and TG4 Confirm Bumper Schedule of Live Summer Action

The Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Championship sponsors TG4 have today announced a bumper schedule of live summer action. It has been confirmed that all 63 games in the 2021 TG4 All-Ireland Championships will be available to watch LIVE – and Friday night football is back! TG4 will screen a total of 13 live games – including an All-Ireland Final triple-header from Croke Park on Sunday, September 5, when the Junior, Intermediate and Senior champions will be crowned.

TG4’s exclusive coverage begins this Friday, July 9, with the meeting of meeting of Galway and Kerry in Group D of the Senior Championship (throw-in, 7.30pm). The Friday night fare continues with the Ulster derby clash between Armagh and Cavan on Friday, July 16, while Tipperary will play Meath in another Friday night offering on July 23. The pivotal Group 4 showdown between Kerry and Donegal is also live on Saturday, July 24, while TG4 will broadcast all four Senior Championship quarter-finals across the August Bank Holiday weekend, along with the Senior Championship semi-finals on Saturday, August 14. In addition, the remaining 50 matches across the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Championships will be available to view live on the LGFA and TG4’s dedicated Championship online portal: https://page.inplayer.com/peilnamban/

This announcement comes as 2021 marks the 21st season of TG4’s sponsorship of the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships – and the 21st year of live TV coverage of the All-Ireland Finals. 31 counties will set out on the road to potential glory, with 13 teams competing in the Senior Championship, 13 in the Intermediate grade, and five in the Junior Championship. Peil na mBan Beo will be available to audiences globally on the TG4 Player at www.tg4.ie/beo and on the TG4 Mobile and Smart TV App.

Spórt TG4 will also have exclusive behind the scenes action from the championships across its social media channels.

Speaking to mark the launch of the 2021 TG4 Championships, TG4 Ardstiúrthóir TG4 Alan Esslemont said: “For 21 years now, TG4 has been the proud sponsor of the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships, during which time we have been the sport’s exclusive broadcaster and passionate partner of Peil na mBan/LGFA. TG4 is delighted to continue to lead the way, ensuring that women’s sport is front and centre for television audiences. Already this year, we have aired 150% more games from the 2021 Lidl Ladies National Football Leagues; we will continue to make even more games available to the public, free to air, nationally and internationally across all our broadcast platforms. Above all, I look forward to all the sporting action over the summer and to hearing the roar of the crowd (however many they may be) at the TG4 All-Ireland Finals in Croke Park this September.”

Ladies Gaelic Football Association President Mícheál Naughton commented: “We’re looking forward to another brilliant season of TG4 All-Ireland Championship Football, coming hot on the heels of a memorable Lidl National League campaign. This is the 21st year of our long-standing partnership with TG4, which continues to go from strength to strength. We’re grateful to our Championship sponsors and official broadcast partner for their continued investment in, and support of, our Championships. We’re in a position, too, where we can welcome back spectators to our fixtures, albeit in a limited capacity for now, but their presence will add to our games and we look forward to welcoming our loyal supporters back through the turnstiles. It promises to be another memorable Championship season up to Sunday, September 5, when we will crown our Junior, Intermediate and Senior Champions for 2021. You can follow all of the action on TG4 and on our dedicated Championship portal – with all 63 games available to view live. For the #ProperFan in your life, this is a real treat and we’re sure to witness many spectacular moments before the West County Hotel, Mary Quinn Memorial and Brendan Martin Cups are handed over.”

TG4 has also confirmed that former Galway star Máire Ní Bhraonáin will lead the Irish language broadcaster’s Peil na mBan Beo coverage once again for the forthcoming season. Máire will be joined on live coverage by a top-class team of analysts. Cork legend Rena Buckley, an 11-time TG4 All-Ireland Senior medallist, is on board again alongside Dublin’s Sorcha Furlong, a leading figure in the breakthrough 2010 win for the Sky Blues. 2020 TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate winner and Players’ Player of the Year Vikki Wall will also provide expert insight – and she’s a key member of the Meath team now preparing for Senior Championship fare. Former Waterford star Michelle Ryan, ex-Dublin ace Sinéad Finnegan, and Cork’s Rhóna Ní Bhuachalla, who netted crucial goals in the 2014 and 2016 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Finals, make up the star-studded TG4 team. A host of leading inter-county stars joined Máire at the stunning Aasleagh Falls, Leenane, County Mayo, to mark the launch of the 2021 TG4 All-Ireland Championships. In attendance were Dublin’s long-serving star Lyndsey Davey, a five-time TG4 All-Ireland Senior medallist, Armagh’s Blaithín Mackin, Mayo ace Niamh Kelly, and Kerry’s Aishling O’Connell. The senior players were joined at Aasleagh Falls by Intermediate duo Sinéad Kenny (Roscommon) and Fiona Claffey (Westmeath), as well as Junior players Gráinne McLoughlin (Limerick) and Niamh McCarthy (Limerick).

In the 2021 TG4 Senior Championship, Dublin are the team to catch as the Sky Blues, who recently captured the Lidl National League Division 1 title, aim for a fifth successive Brendan Martin Cup win. Dublin’s opening fixture in the 2021 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship will be streamed live next Saturday, July 10, when they take on Tyrone at Kingspan Breffni. Dublin will face stiff opposition from last year’s beaten finalists, Cork, who also succumbed to Mick Bohan’s charges in the 2021 Lidl NFL Final. 2020 semi-finalists Galway and Armagh are other teams to watch out for in the Senior grade, along with Mayo, under the management of former county star Michael Moyles. Westmeath, meanwhile, will be aiming to go one step further in the Intermediate Championship, after suffering defeat to Meath at Croke Park last December.

And in the Junior grade, five teams are bidding for glory, namely Antrim, Carlow, Derry, Limerick and Wicklow, who were runners-up last year.

TG4 All Ireland Ladies Football Championship 2021 – All ties at 2pm unless stated

Friday 9th July 2021

TG4 All Ireland Senior Championship – Group 4 - Round 1 – Live on TG4

Galway v Kerry - Cusack Park, Ennis, 7.30pm

Saturday 10th July 2021

TG4 All Ireland Senior Championship – Group 1 - Round 1

Armagh v Monaghan - Athletic Grounds.

Cavan v Mayo - Markievicz Park.

TG4 All Ireland Senior Championship – Group 2 - Round 1

Cork v Meath - St Brendans Park, Birr.

TG4 All Ireland Senior Championship – Group 3 - Round 1

Dublin v Tyrone- Kingspan Breffni.

TG4 All Ireland Intermediate Championship – Group 2 - Round 1

Leitrim v Fermanagh - Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins.

TG4 All Ireland Junior Championship - Round 1

Antrim v Derry - Corrigan Park, Belfast.

Sunday 11th July 2021

TG4 All Ireland Intermediate Championship – Group 1 - Round 1

Westmeath v Longford - TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar.

Wexford v Sligo - Ferbane.

TG4 All Ireland Intermediate Championship – Group 3 - Round 1

Roscommon v Kildare - Duggan Park, Ballinasloe.

TG4 All Ireland Intermediate Championship – Group 4 - Round 1

Down v Offaly - Lannleire, Dunleer, 1pm.

TG4 All Ireland Junior Championship - Round 1

Limerick v Wicklow - John Lockes, Callan.