Laois Ladies' Senior Football Club Championship Explained

Laois Ladies' Football Championship
Code:	Ladies' Football
Founded:	1976
Trophy:	Lulu Carroll trophy
Firstwin:	The Heath
Title Holders:	Portlaoise
Currentordinal:	2
Super:	nd
Most Titles:	Timahoe
Mostordinal:	12

The Laois Ladies' Senior Football Club Championship has been running since 1976 - 46 finals. The competition has seen seven clubs winning the title, with St Conleths winning the latest in 2021, captained by Mary Cotter. The final has been played in a number of grounds around the county, often in O'Moore Park (32 times including replays). The cup is named after Lulu Carroll who was one of Laois' greatest ever ladies' footballers. The winners progress on into the provincial championship and Laois has a good record for a small county, having won the Leinster championship on 14 occasions. All-Ireland glory has proven more elusive, however, with The Heath securing Laois' only two titles, in 1985 & 1986.

Key

	All-Ireland winners	twice
	All-Ireland finalists	three times
	Leinster winners	eight times
	Leinster finalists	13 times

By Year

Year	Venue	Winner	Tot	Runner-up	Tot	Marg
2022		Portlaoise 0-12	12	St Conleths 2-05	11	1
2021		St Conleths 0-11	11	Sarsfields 0-08	8	3
2020		Portlaoise 1-12	12	Sarsfields 0-12	12	3
2019		Sarsfields 4-13	25	Timahoe 1-10	13	12
2018		Sarsfields 0-11	11	Portlaoise 0-07	7	4
2017		Sarsfields 3-15	24	Portlaoise 0-03	3	21
2016		Sarsfields 2-11	17	Portlaoise 0-12	12	5
2015	Crettyard [aet]	Sarsfields 4-10	22	Timahoe 1-11	14	8
		Sarsfields 2-10	16	Timahoe 2-10	16	0
2014 ^[1]		Sarsfields 4-15	27	Timahoe 0-09	9	18
2013 ^[2]		Sarsfields 3-07	16	Timahoe 0-12	12	4
2012		Timahoe 2-09	15	Sarsfields 2-08	14	1
2011		Sarsfields 2-08	14	Timahoe 0-09	9	5
2010		Timahoe 2-10	16	Sarsfields 0-14	14	2
2009 ^[3]		Timahoe 2-11	17	Sarsfields 2-08	14	3
2008 ^[4]		Sarsfields 1-10	13	Timahoe 0-06	6	7
2007		Timahoe 1-07	10	Sarsfields 1-06	9	1
2006 ^[5] ^[6]		Shanahoe 2-09	15	Sarsfields 1-09	12	3
		Shanahoe 0-10	10	Sarsfields 1-07	10	0
2005 ^[7]		Timahoe 1-09	12	Crettyard 0-11	11	1
2004 ^[8]		Crettyard 2-09	15	Shanahoe 1-09	12	3
2003 ^[9]		Timahoe 0-16	16	Sarsfields 0-09	9	7
2002		Crettyard 2-10	16	Timahoe 1-07	10	6
2001 ^[10]		Timahoe 4-12	24	Crettyard 5-04	19	5
2000 ^[11] ^[12]		Timahoe 3-08	17	Crettyard 0-07	7	10
		Timahoe 3-08	17	Crettyard 3-08	17	0
1999 ^[13]		Timahoe 1-12	15	Crettyard 1-05	8	7
1998 ^[14]		Timahoe 2-14	20	Crettyard 1-04	7	13
1997 ^[15]		Crettyard 2-11	17	Timahoe 1-11	14	3
1996 ^[16]		Timahoe 1-11	14	Crettyard 0-09	9	5
1995 ^[17]		Crettyard 1-08	11	Timahoe 1-06	9	2
1994 ^[18]		Crettyard 2-12	18	Timahoe 0-06	6	12
1993 ^[19]		Crettyard 1-06	9	Timahoe 0-04	4	5
1992 ^[20]		Timahoe 1-09	12	Crettyard 2-05	11	1
1991 ^[21] ^[22]		Crettyard 1-08	11	Timahoe 1-06	9	2
		Crettyard 1-07	10	Timahoe 1-07	10	0
1990 ^[23]		Crettyard 3-05	14	Timahoe 2-04	10	4
1989 ^[24]		The Heath 1-07	10	Crettyard 1-04	7	3
		The Heath 1-05	8	Crettyard 1-05	8	0
1988 ^[25]		The Heath 1-06	9	Crettyard 0-07	7	2
1987 ^[26]		Crettyard 2-05	11	The Heath 1-05	8	3
1986 ^[27]		The Heath 2-16	22	Crettyard 0-05	5	17
1985 ^[28]		The Heath 3-07	16	Crettyard 0-03	3	13
1984 ^[29]		The Heath 2-05	11	Crettyard 0-02	2	9
1983 ^[30]		The Heath 0-09	9	Crettyard 1-03	6	3
1982		The Heath 3-08	17	Crettyard 2-04	10	7
1981 ^[31]		The Heath 5-03	18	Crettyard 1-01	4	14
1980 ^[32]		The Heath 3-06	15	Crettyard 3-04	13	2
1979		Crettyard 3-02	11	The Heath 3-00	9	2
1978 ^[33]		Crettyard 1-02	5	Ballyroan 0-04	4	1
1977		The Heath 4-05	17	Crettyard 2-04	10	7
1976 ^[34]		The Heath 0-11	11	Ballyroan 1-01	4	7

By Club

Club	Winner	First	Last	Finalist	First	Last
		1992	2012		1990	2019
		1976	1989		1979	1987
		1978	2004		1977	2005
Sarsfields		2008	2019		2003	2021
		2020	2022			2016	2018
St Conleths
					1976	1978

Back-to-back wins

No.	Team (Years)
7	The Heath (1980–86)
	Sarsfields (2013–19)
4	Timahoe (1998-01)
3	Crettyard (1993–95)
2	The Heath (1976–77)
	Crettyard (1978–79)
	The Heath (1988–89)
	Crettyard (1990–91)
	Timahoe (2009–10)

Head-to-Head Matrix

Winner\Loser	Ball	Cret	Port	Sars	Shan	StCo	Heat	Tima	WINS
	-	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1	-	0	0	1	0	2	7	11
	0	0	-	1	0	1	0	0	2
	0	0	3	-	0	0	0	6	9
	0	0	0	1	-	0	0	0	1
	0	0	0	1	0	-	0	0	1
	1	10	0	0	0	0	-	0	11
	0	7	0	5	0	0	0	-	12
LOSSES	2	17	3	8	1	1	2	13	46

Consecutive Appearances

Apps	Team (Years)
26	Crettyard (1977-02)
16	Sarsfields (2006–21)
14	Timahoe (1990-03)
11	The Heath (1979–89)
9	Timahoe (2007–15)
3	Portlaoise (2016–18)
2	The Heath (1976–77)
	Crettyard (2004–05)
	St Conleths (2021–22)

Top10 All-Time Scorers (Finals)

Pos	Player	Score	Finals scored	Years
1	Tracey Lawlor (Sarsfields)	4-65 (77pts)	13 games	2006-2018
2	Sue Ramsbottom (Timahoe)	5-56 (71pts)	17 games	1991-2007
3	Martina Dunne (Timahoe)	1-47 (50pts)	11 games	2005-2015
4	Linda Brennan (Crettyard)	3-39 (48pts)	13 games	1990-2002
5	Mary Keogh (Crettyard)	5-25 (40pts)	11 games	1990-2004
6	Claire Conlon (Sarsfields)	1-30 (33pts)	12 games	2003-2021
=7	Aileen O'Loughlin (Sarsfields)	5-17 (32pts)	8 games	2003-2019
=7	Laura Marie Maher (Sarsfields)	8-8 (32pts)	8 games	2011-2020
8	Mo Nerney (Timahoe)	4-18 (30pts)	7 games	2010-2019
9	Lulu Carroll (Timahoe)	3-19 (28pts)	11 games	1991-2002
10	Claire Conlon (Sarsfields)	1-25 (28pts)	11 games	2003-2020

Top10 Single-Game Scorers (Finals)

Pos	Player	Score	Year/Opponent
1	Tracey Lawlor (Sarsfields)	2-7 (13pts)	2014 vs Timahoe
=2	Sue Ramsbottom (Timahoe)	2-6 (12pts)	2001 vs Crettyard
=2	Theresa Swayne (Crettyard)	4-0 (12pts)	2001 vs Timahoe
=4	Mary Conroy (The Heath)	3-1 (10pts)	1981 vs Crettyard
=4	Tracey Lawlor (Sarsfields)	1-7 (10pts)	2016 vs Portlaoise
=4	Mo Nerney (Timahoe)	1-7 (10pts)	2019 vs Sarsfields
=7	Linda Brennan (Crettyard)	2-3 (9pts)	1992 vs Timahoe
=7	Tracey Lawlor (Sarsfields)	0-9 (9pts)	2010 vs Timahoe
9	Eight players equal on 8 points

• missing scorers: Ballyroan 1-1 (1976), Crettyard 2-4 (1982), Crettyard 0-5 (1995), Timahoe 0-3 (1995), Crettyard 0-2 (2005), Timahoe 0-1 (2007), Sarsfields 0-1 (2007) & Timahoe 0-1 (2015)
• name in italics: the player was on the losing team that year.

Statistics & Notable Scores

• SCORERS
  • 77 - The overall finals' top scorer is Tracey Lawlor (Sarsfields) who has a total of 4-65 (77pts), scored in 13 finals.
  • 13 - The top scorer for a single game is Tracey Lawlor (Sarsfields) who hit 2-7 (13pts) in 2014 vs Timahoe.
  • 12 -The previous record for a single game was set in 2001, and was, amazingly, a joint record where Sue Ramsbottom scored 2-6 and Theresa Swayne scored 4-0 in the same game!
• APPEARANCES
  • 28 - Crettyard have appeared in a record 28 finals - including a record 26-in-a-row between 1977 & 2002.
  • The competition has thrown up many repeated finals where two teams go head-to-head for a number of years in a row. These are:
    • Crettyard v The Heath (11 years/12 matches) 1979-1989
    • Crettyard v Timahoe (13 years/15 matches) 1990-2002
    • Timahoe v Sarsfields (9 years/10 matches) 2007-2015
    • Sarsfields v Portlaoise (3 years/3 matches) 2016-2018
  • The most common match-ups have been Crettyard v Timahoe (15 finals), The Heath v Crettyard (12 finals) and Timahoe v Sarsfields (11 finals).
  • The Heath, in the first final, and St Conleths (2021) are the only teams to have won on their first appearance. The Heath beat Ballyroan in 1976, while St Conleths beat Sarsfields in 2021. All the other teams - Crettyard (1977), Timahoe (1990), Sarsfields (2003), Shanahoe (2004) and Portlaoise (2016) - have lost on their first attempt.
  • Sarsfields & Portlaoise are the only sides to lose three finals before winning one. Ballyroan & Timahoe lost two, while Crettyard & Shanhoe both lost one.
• TEAM SCORING
  • 21 - Sarsfields' 21pt winning margin in 2017 set a new record, beating their old record from 2014, which in turn had bridged a 28 year old gap in beating The Heath's 1986 record of 17pts.
  • 27 - Sarsfields' 4-15 (27pts) total in 2014 set a new scoring record for the final, beating the previous record of 4-12 (24pts) set in 2001 by Timahoe.
  • 19 - Crettyard's losing score of 5-4 in 2001 would have won all bar the 1986, 1998, 2014 finals and the 2015 replay.
  • 2 - Crettyard also posted the lowest score of any team in the final: 0-2 in 1984.
  • 5 - The lowest winning score is 5pts - 1978 by Crettyard.
• FINALS SCORING
  • 43 - The highest scoring final was the 2001 final between Timahoe and Crettyard. Timahoe won 4-12 5-4, a total of 43 points.
  • 9 - The lowest scoring final was in 1978 when only 9 points were scored between the two teams.
  • 2 - Only two finals have finished goal-less: 2003 & 2018.
• DRAWS
  • 5 - There have been five draws: 1989, 1991, 2000, 2006 & 2015.
  • 17 - 2000 had the highest-scoring draw (17 points each).
  • 8 - 1989 had the lowest-scoring drawn game (8 points each).
  • 10 -Timahoe's win over Crettyard in the 2001 replay was the biggest winning margin in a replay (10 points).
  • 22 - Sarsfield's 4-10 in 2015 is the highest score in a replay.
  • 36 - 2015 also had the highest-scoring replay (36 points).
• VENUES
  • 5 - Sarsfields have won finals in five different venues - their first wins in each venue were: 2008 O'Moore Park, 2013 Ratheniska, 2015 Crettyard, 2016 Portarlington & 2017 Annanough.
• HEAD TO HEAD
  • Crettyard are the only team to beat four opponents in finals, while Sarsfields are the only side to lose to four different opponents.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Laois Ladies Final 2014. Leinster Express. 12 September 2014.
2. Web site: Sarsfields strike late to secure Ladies SFC crown.
3. Leinster Express 1831-current, Wednesday, 23 September 2009; Page: 80
4. Leinster Express 1831-current, Wednesday, 24 September 2008; Page: 88
5. Leinster Express 1831-current, Wednesday, 27 September 2006; Page: 92
6. Leinster Express 1831-current, Wednesday, 15 November 2006; Page: 80
7. Leinster Express 1831-current, Wednesday, 21 September 2005; Page: 87
8. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 25 September 2004; Page: 76
9. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 31 May 2003; Page: 70
10. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 23 June 2001; Page: 68
11. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 2 September 2000; Page: 61
12. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 16 September 2000; Page: 59
13. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 14 August 1999; Page: 52
14. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 15 August 1998; Page: 28
15. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 27 September 1997; Page: 22
16. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 29 June 1996; Page: 51
17. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 1 July 1995; Page: 46
18. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 7 May 1994; Page: 44
19. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 5 June 1993; Page: 52
20. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 8 August 1992; Page: 34
21. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 6 July 1991; Page: 39
22. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 10 August 1991; Page: 33
23. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 7 July 1990; Page: 41
24. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 15 July 1989; Page: 48
25. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 20 August 1988; Page: 27
26. Leinster Express August 1987
27. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 20 September 1986; Page: 4
28. Leinster Express October 1985
29. Leinster Express September 1984
30. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 21 January 1984; Page: 28
31. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 3 October 1981; Page: 19
32. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 13 September 1980; Page: 40
33. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 6 January 1979; Page: 18
34. Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 25 September 1976; Page: 21