With the overwhelmingly positive news that 67 clubs across Ireland have applied to take part in a League of Ireland third division in 2026, it will be interesting to see not only which counties and clubs form the new tier, but also how they will adapt to competing in the league.
The National League, to consist of 20 teams divided into North and South groups, will provide clubs with an opportunity to climb the ladder of Irish football. The variety in clubs that take part are likely to range from former League of Ireland teams, such as Mervue United of Galway, to the likes of Mayo F.C., a club participating in the League of Ireland already at underage level but with no senior team as yet, as well as B teams and phoenix clubs.
The change from participating in a regional league to a national one, or in some instances having never had a senior team before and entering the new tier, will be an exciting one, which will hopefully build on and grow the clamour of support that the domestic league is currently receiving.
An intriguing facet to the new division will be how they fare against longer established clubs. While the first season will likely see many teams in the same boat in terms of experience at this level, when the time for promotion and relegation comes around, it will be fascinating to see how quickly the new clubs will adapt to the First Division.
However, a good indicator of this may be the most recent addition to League of Ireland men’s senior football – Kerry F.C.
Formed in 2022 and debuting in the First Division in 2023, Kerry F.C. endured a difficult start to life as a League of Ireland club. To turn the clocks back two years to their maiden season, Kerry travelled to Eamonn Deacy Park, where they fell to a 9-1 defeat to eventual First Division title winners Galway United in Gameweek four. The club went on to finish bottom of the First Division on 10 points, 27 points adrift of 9th placed Finn Harps.
Since then, Kerry’s stock has grown. Although the club may have finished bottom of the First Division in both their first and second seasons, the stories were quite contrasting. Their second season saw major improvements, seeing their goals scored rise from 29 to 34 from the previous season, with 36 fewer goals conceded. Ryan Kelliher finished the season second in the scoring charts with 13 league goals, just four off the division’s top scorer Dean Ebbe of Athlone, now at Dundalk.
The club went toe to toe with Bohemians in the FAI Cup at Mounthawk Park, drawing 2-2 and ultimately going out on penalties, before finishing the season on 27 points, with a margin of just two points separating them from Longford Town in 9th place.
Fast forward to today as the league once again finds itself in Gameweek four. Kerry F.C. sit fifth in the table after a narrow home loss to Dundalk last weekend, and welcome Bray Wanderers to Mounthawk Park on Friday night. While it is still early days in the 2025 season, Kerry F.C. continue to further their reputation as a difficult team to play against.
This is in part due to the efforts of first team coach Conor McCarthy, a man who took over the mantle as being the youngest head coach in League of Ireland history from former Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny, as well as positive recruitment. But perhaps the most encouraging component in Kerry’s progress has been how the players themselves have adapted.
Sean O’Connell, Kevin Williams, Ryan Kelliher, Ronan Teahan, Sean McGrath, Nathan Gleeson, Samuel Aladesanusi and Cian Brosnan all featured in the 9-1 defeat to Galway in 2023, with Kelliher scoring the first of his 29 goals for the Tralee based club. Each of these players are still involved with Kerry (Williams departed for a stint in Malta but has returned for the 2025 season). But not only are they involved regularly, many of them would be considered to be key players in the clubs present and future.
These players, from Tralee and Killarney to Cahersiveen and Ballyduff, are showing exactly why the League of Ireland and Irish football as a whole will benefit from more teams and from a broader range of areas. It gives players a chance to showcase what they can do at the highest level available. And performing at this level will improve the players, and subsequently the existing clubs will have to improve in the hope of staying above any newcomers.
While Kerry F.C. are far from the finished product and will surely be thankful that there will be no relegation this season to the 2026 third tier, as time goes on, hopefully they will continue to look up the table with aspirations of pushing their ceiling higher. Likewise, many of the third division applicants will be looking at how Kerry have developed in the past two years and will share these aspirations.