Some of the great club dynasties as Ballygunner's Waterford dominance continues
Ballygunner’s latest routine Waterford county final win, this time over Abbeyside-Ballinacourty, saw them wrap up an 11th successive title.
Ballygunner’s latest routine Waterford county final win, this time over Abbeyside-Ballinacourty, saw them wrap up an 11th successive title.
The 18-point victory also extended their unbeaten run in the county to 58 games, though they have grander ambitions at this stage as they look to win a fourth Munster title on the spin and add to their only All-Ireland success from 2022.
Still, it’s a remarkable period of local dominance for the club, which has now won almost half of its 23 county titles since 2014.
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Here are some other dynasties created by clubs that have also made their presence felt beyond the county boundaries.
Crossmaglen Rangers
Cross re-emerged in 1996 to win their first Armagh SFC in a decade and it started a glorious period for the club as they went on to win Ulster and All-Irelands that season before retaining all three up to St Patrick’s Day, 1998.
But while they couldn’t maintain that pace outside of Armagh, they still held the county in an iron grip, winning 13-in-a-row up to 2008, then six on the trot from 2010-15, as well as amassing 11 Ulster and six All-Irelands.
They’ve also won four of the last six Armagh titles, including the last two.
Birr
Birr won their first county title in 20 years in 1991, ushering in a period of dominance of Offaly hurling, which spread to provincial and national level for a period too as over the course of 18 seasons, they won the Sean Robbins Cup 12 times, including nine in 10 years, the Leinster Championship seven times and the All-Ireland four times.
Featuring the Whelahan, Pilkington and Hanniffy brothers, their best run of county titles was a five-in-a-row from 1999-2003, during which they won two All-Irelands, and then another four on the trot from 2005-08, though they haven’t come out of Offaly since.
Portlaoise
Portlaoise have long been the pre-eminent club in Laois football, but they went into overdrive when claiming 12 titles out of 13 from 2007-19, with Stradbally denying them 10-in-a-row with a dramatic late winner in the 2016 county final.
Although the club has seven Leinster titles, they only managed to win one during that period of dominance, in 2009, though they subsequently lost three finals, each of them to Dublin opposition.
Ballymacarbry
Ballygunner are only in the ha’penny place with their 11-in-a-row when it’s placed beside their fellow Waterford club Ballymacarbry’s achievements in ladies football.
With former Waterford and Westmeath hurling manager Michael Ryan the driving force back in the ‘80s, they went on a winning streak that has been sustained to this day as, amazingly, they won their 42nd consecutive Waterford county title last year.
They have also won 10 All-Irelands and 16 Munster titles.
St Thomas’s
The Peterswell club only won their first Galway hurling crown in 2012 and added an All-Ireland the following spring. They claimed their second county title in 2016 but it was when winning their third two years later that they really took off.
They have now won a record six-in-a-row and while they struggled to assert themselves outside the county, they finally put that right last season as they saw off Ballygunner and O’Loughlin Gaels to claim their second All-Ireland.
Kilcoo
Kilcoo bridged a 72-year gap between county titles when claiming their 10th in 2009 and when they won another three years later, they took over Down football completely.
They set off on a run of six-in-a-row and, after losing to Burren in the 2018 final, they bounced back to win all five since. They’ve also won two Ulster titles and the 2022 All-Ireland club title.
St Gall’s
How do you top a five-in-a-row winning run? Well, in the case of St Gall’s, just come back and put eight county titles together.
The Belfast club won five Antrim SFC titles from 2001-05 but charged back in 2007, winning every championship up until 2014 while also becoming the first Antrim club to go all the way when winning the All-Ireland club crown in 2010 against Kilmurry-Ibrickane having lost the final to Salthill-Knocknacarra four years earlier.
Ballyhale Shamrocks
Given how stiff the competition is in Kilkenny, Ballyhale Shamrocks’ achievements are certainly worth noting, with the club becoming the first to win five-in-a-row in 2022, bettering the four on the spin they won from 2006-09.
Having only been founded in 1972, they already sit alongside Tullaroan atop the Kilkenny roll of honour with 20 championships, while they have a huge haul outside the county too with a record 12 Leinster and nine All-Ireland titles.
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