2024 Louth county football team season explained

Club:	Louth county football team
Season:	2024
Manager:	Ger Brennan
League:	NFL D2
League Result:	6th
Cup1:	All-Ireland SFC
Cup1 Result:	Quarter-finalist
Cup2:	Leinster SFC
Cup2 Result:	Finalist
Cup3:	O'Byrne Cup
Cup3 Result:	Quarter-finalist (Shield Winner)
League Topscorer:	Sam Mulroy
Season Topscorer:	Sam Mulroy
Prevseason:	2023
Nextseason:	2025

The following is a summary of Louth county football team's 2024 season.

Competitions

O'Byrne Cup

See main article: 2024 O'Byrne Cup.

Fixtures

O'Byrne Shield

Teams defeated in their first match played in a shield tournament, which Louth won.^[1]

Fixtures

National Football League Division 2

See main article: 2024 National Football League (Ireland). Louth began with an away fixture against Armagh.^[2]

On 6 December 2023, the GAA announced that all Division 2 Round 7 games would be played separately from the Round 7 games in Division 1, 3 and 4, on Saturday, 23 March 2024, at 19:00, including Kildare v Louth at Dr Cullen Park.^[3] The rest of the fixtures were also confirmed on 6 December 2023.^[4]

Fixtures

Leinster Senior Football Championship

See main article: 2024 Leinster Senior Football Championship. The draw for the 2024 Leinster Championship was made on 21 October 2023, with Louth drawn to face Carlow or Wexford in the quarter-final.^{[5] [6]}

Fixtures

GK 1 Stephen Cluxton (Parnells) RCB 2 Cian Murphy (Thomas Davis) FB 3 Michael Fitzsimons (Cuala) LCB 4 Eoin Murchan (Na Fianna) RHB 5 Tom Lahiff (St Jude's) CHB 6 John Small (Ballymun Kickhams) LHB 7 Seán Bugler (St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh) MF 8 Brian Fenton (Raheny) MF 9 James McCarthy (Ballymun Kickhams) (c) RHF 10 Ciarán Kilkenny (Castleknock) CHF 11 Cormac Costello (St Vincent's) LHF 12 Niall Scully (Templeogue Synge Street) RCF 13 Paul Mannion (Kilmacud Crokes) FF 14 Con O'Callaghan (Cuala) LCF 15 Colm Basquel (Ballyboden St Enda's) Substitutes: 16 Jack McCaffrey (Clontarf) for Scully 17 Paddy Small (Ballymun Kickhams) for Basquel 18 Brian Howard (Raheny) for Lahiff 19 Ross McGarry (Ballyboden St Enda's) for Bugler 20 Killian McGinnis (Skerries Harps) for Mannion

GK 1 Niall McDonnell (St Fechin's) RCB 2 Dan Corcoran (Geraldines) FB 3 Peter Lynch (Roche Emmets) LCB 4 Donal McKenny (St Mary's) RHB 5 Niall Sharkey (Glyde Rangers) CHB 6 Anthony Williams (Dreadnots) LHB 7 Conal McKeever (Clan na Gael) MF 8 Tommy Durnin (Inniskeen Grattans, Monaghan) MF 9 Bevan Duffy (St Fechin's) RHF 10 Ciarán Downey (Newtown Blues) CHF 11 Ciarán Keenan (St Mary's) LHF 12 Conor Grimes (Glen Emmets) RCF 13 Leonard Grey (St Patrick's) FF 14 Sam Mulroy (Naomh Máirtin) (c) LCF 15 Craig Lennon (St Mochta's) Substitutes: 16 Dermot Campbell (Dreadnots) for Sharkey 17 Conor Early (Na Fianna, Dublin) for Williams 18 Ciarán Byrne (St Mochta's) for Durnin 19 Ryan Burns (Hunterstown Rovers) for Keenan 20 Liam Jackson (St Mary's) for Grey

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Louth were drawn into Group 4.

Fixtures

Louth advanced to a preliminary quarter-final against Cork, which they won, in a surprise victory to qualify for a first ever All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.^[7] Louth were knocked out in the quarter-final.

Notable events

• Louth appeared in consecutive Leinster finals for the first time since 1957 and 1958.
• defeated in the championship for the first time since 1975.^[8]
• reached the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals for the first time. (They had reached the semi-finals and final on previous occasions, but had not reached the quarter-finals since that stage was introduced in 2001.)
• Sam Mulroy scored seven goals in league and championship.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Positives to be taken from Wicklow's O'Byrne Shield final defeat to Louth. 11 February 2024. Independent.ie.
2. News: Colm. Keys. Allianz League openers revealed as Dublin to take on Monaghan at Croke Park. Irish Independent. 27 October 2023. 27 October 2023. In Division 2, Jim McGuinness will have a home game against Cork on Saturday night as his first competitive fixture since returning to the fold earlier this year….
3. News: Frank. Roche. GAA unveils 'Super Saturday' climax to NFL Division Two in 2024. Irish Independent. 6 December 2023. 6 December 2023.
4. News: Your complete guide to the 2024 GAA inter-county fixtures list. Irish Independent. 6 December 2023. 6 December 2023.
5. News: Raf. Diallo. 2024 Provincial football championships draw — recap. RTÉ Sport. 21 October 2023. 21 October 2023.
6. News: Ulster SFC draw pairs Jim McGuinness against Mickey Harte. RTÉ Sport. 21 October 2023. 21 October 2023.
7. News: Gordon. Manning. Louth stun Cork to secure maiden All-Ireland quarter-final appearance. The Irish Times. 23 June 2024. 23 June 2024.
8. Web site: Louth power past tragedy-hit Meath to earn first championship win over Royals since 1975. 25 May 2024. Irish Independent.
9. Web site: Mulroy front and centre in Louth's impressive goal rush. Eamon. Donoghue. 20 June 2024. www.rte.ie.