Barcelona Gaels are preparing for an AIB Leinster Club JFC Quarter-Final.
By Cian O’Connell
It has been quite a 2024 European adventure for Barcelona Gaels. With one AIB Leinster Club JFC victory already collected, Barcelona Gaels head for Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday afternoon heartened.
Last weekend’s win over Conahy Shamrocks at UPMC Nowlan Park highlighted Barcelona Gaels’ potential. An action packed spell for Barcelona Gaels continues with chairperson Eoin McCall excited about the progress being made ahead of the upcoming encounter against Kilcavan. “Anyone that could, tried to stay on in Ireland for the week,” McCall explains.
“For some people that wasn't possible. We knew what we were getting into when we entered Europe. That is the plan every year, to try to be in this position.
“It is the first time we've ever been in this position, but it is what it is. I'd say probably two thirds, at least, or three quarters of us have stayed on.”
These are exciting times for Barcelona Gaels, who play blitzes and tournaments in Spain. To deliver in the AIB Leinster Club JFC was a significant statement. “It was huge, we don't play any 15 a side games, our 15 a side games, that we get to play each year, are the games in the European Championships,” McCall replies.
“So, we played one against Amsterdam, one against Berlin, that was the first time we played on a 15 a side pitch since losing the final last year. Those opportunities are few and far between. Everything we do in Spain is done on Astro or 11 a side on rugby pitches with lower crossbars.”
It is an unprecedented time of success for Barcelona Gaels. “Last year we had a great year, we won every Championship that we entered,” McCall adds.
“We won senior mens, senior ladies, intermediate mens, intermediate ladies championships. That was great for us, but it is a completely different game to then going towards playing 15 a side on a grass pitch in Kilkenny in November.”
McCall is optimistic about Barcelona Gaels’ future with increasing numbers of Irish people moving to the city. “We've been told that we're the biggest club in Europe at the moment,” he says.
“Thriving numbers wise and also quality of players wise. That is also testament to the hard work going on behind the scenes from a lot of different people, who are on the committee and outside the committee.
“It is a case of when you're in a place that isn't home, you can't just rely on the old lads, who always do things, and that they will always do it. Everyone has to pull their sleeves up, and get involved from there.”
It has been a successful spell for Barcelona Gaels.
McCall enjoys Barcelona. The fact that Gaelic Football is on the agenda brings further joy. “Barcelona is a great place to live,” he says. “It is very attractive for people, it is a lot cheaper than living in Ireland. Part of that is people making decisions to want to go, part of it might be people being forced or having to go, having to live somewhere, but you need to have that work life balance too. It is definitely thriving over the last number of years.
“We went a decade without a championship as a club, that was a disaster. The girls won a championship, the senior Iberian championship in Vigo in 2023, then the whole club did. Every team we fielded won their championship last year in May, that was the first time it was ever done for one club to win everything.”
McCall isn’t surprised that Barcelona Gaels are competing in the AIB Leinster Club JFC. “It has been building towards this,” he says. “We haven't just picked up a freaky crop of players last September. The vast majority of this team have been on the road for a couple of years.
“We lost two European finals, so it has been building towards this. Winning Iberia was great, but what we were really focused on was winning Europe, doing that. We haven't come over here to make up numbers, to get our photos taken with our parents, and to slink off home to Barcelona.
“We wanted to come, to make an impact, and I think we've done that so far, and we hope to keep that going for another couple of weeks, at least.”
Barcelona Gaels are grateful to the Irish clubs, who have played them in challenge matches on trips to Spain. “We train twice a week, Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings,” McCall says.
“Then tournament wise and games wise it is sparse. You play three qualifying tournaments before an Iberian championship. Then, outside of that we've been trying to get as many challenge games as we can in preparation for the level we're looking to play at.
“We played Owenmore from Sligo, who lost the Connacht Junior Final. That was in January, then in July we played Ranelagh Gaels, who lost the Dublin final to Craobh Chiaráin, who then lost to Kilcavan, who we are playing at the weekend.
“When we played Ranelagh Gaels in July, they were a really good staging post for us, to see where we are as a group, compared to teams at home. We know where we are compared to teams in Iberia, playing against them, and we've performed well over the last year.
“Our focus has been looking towards Ireland, getting home to really make a dent with the squad we have, it is an unbelievable opportunity, and one we really want to make the most of.”
Do Barcelona Gaels have players from outside of Ireland? Ninety to 95 per cent are Irish players, then on top of that we've a couple of Australians, a couple of Catalans, and an Argentian lad,” McCall replies.
Barcelona Gaels have captured silverware in Spain.
“The vast majority of our players are Irish. With the intermediate teams, both mens and ladies, we're offering that route back into football for people, who are Irish, who haven't played football for a variety of different reasons for a long time or they mightn't have played at all.”
Ultimately, Barcelona Gaels would like to implement an underage set-up, but McCall outlines why it isn’t possible currently. “It is something we will look towards,” he says. “This boom of Irish people in Barcelona is really taking off, post Covid. It might be a little bit too early to start with that, but it is something we're interested in.
“Getting pitches is near on impossible for us. We really have to work around rugby clubs and soccer clubs, to rely on their goodwill to get training times. While we would love to have an underage set-up, it isn't something we can do right now in this moment. It is definitely something we're hoping to do going forward.
“There is a lot of Irish people in Barcelona. It is a tech hub, but also it is an affordable place for people of our age to live. We're finding more that Ireland is too expensive, and we can provide a very good standard of football, a good community to be a part of, and then these opportunities are there to come back.”
McCall, who played for the Pearses club in Belfast, has combined playing, coaching, and an administrative role with the Gaels. Possibilities exist. “This is huge, this is why we're training,” he says.
“We trained through the summer. The European Championships are in the second or third week of September. We're training in 30 or 35 degree heat in August on Sunday mornings, that is the work that needs to be done. It is really exciting.
“This is the reason we're doing all of that, to put us in the position that we're in now, to really go on, to try to perform and achieve.”
Talented footballers have represented the club, including Eoin Kennedy, who scored the winning point for Cuala in the Dublin SFC Final win over Kilmacud Crokes. “Eoin Kennedy was only with us as a club for about three weeks, he arrived over at the end of January (2020), played at the start of February, and then Covid kicked in,” McCall says.
“Covid kicked in earlier in Ireland than it did in Spain. You look throughout our panel, there is a really good standard of player. Anybody who saw at the weekend saw we're a serious football team. These are lads, who've played at a high level in Ireland.
“I'm sure when they moved to Barcelona, they weren't moving out to play for the Gaels. It is something they had to become aware of, if we weren't a serious team, if there was nothing good or serious going on, these people would have drifted away.
“We attract a lot of good players living in Barcelona. That is a numbers thing based on the amount of Irish living in the city, and hopefully how we run ourselves as a club, too.”
