In 2021 the All Britain Competition (ABC) will return for its ninth Instalment in the Tir Chonail Gaels, Greenford Grounds from Friday 10th to Sunday the 12th of September. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the competition had to be postponed in 2020. We are delighted that in 2021 that the ABC will return and we get to see our players and clubs back in action.

In 2019, 2,496 boys and girls took part from the Go Games all the way to U18. For the 2021 competition the committee have decided to align with the majority of GAA counties and the Go Games will change to U7 and U9. U11 boys will now change to non-competitive to align with the Go Games model with the main aim at these age groups to maximise participation and ensure that the games are as fun as possible.

In 2021, the boy’s competitions will begin at U13 with competitions at U15 and U17. At Girls, 352 girls played from U12 to U18 in 2019. With the great work being done by all the LGFA boards, this number is expected to be increased in 2021. The ABC competition begins for girls at U14 with competitions also at U16 and U18. One of the areas that has really improved in Britain and can clearly be seen over the previous ABCs is the development of Hurling. In 2019 there was 158 players spread across 4 clubs. With the great work being done in the counties, this number will be increased in 2021 as all clubs are in a better position with the introduction of different programmes such as Nursery and Games centres.

In 2021, there will be a competition for U17 hurlers. This is a great step as we are very close to seeing hurlers start at Go Games and progress through the age groups in their counties and at the ABC. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the committee had to make the decision not to include Primary or Secondary Schools for the 2021 competition. In previous years the schools contributed massively to the competition and the committee hopes that the Schools section can return to the competition in 2022.

In total, from the Counties of London, Hertfordshire Warwickshire, Gloucestershire and Lancashire, 29 of our British GAA clubs were represented. Ulster also had two teams represent them as they had cross community team Cuchulainns take part. In 2021, there is plans for all the British Counties to be represented with Scotland and Yorkshire sending teams. From our 29 clubs there was 166 teams alongside 62 school teams making the number of teams taking part to 228 in 2019.

Across the four days of the competition there were 542 games played. On Thursday, the Primary Schools opened the competition with some excellent displays of Football. Early Friday it was the turn of the Secondary schools to play their part in the festival followed soon after by the Go Games football.

The Go Games football is the peak moment of the weekend for a lot of people. This is where we see the future stars taking their first leap into our games and the fun and laughter is a joy to witness. On Saturday, it was the turn of the U11 and U15 boys alongside the U12 and U16 Ladies Footballers. With some magnificent football being played and many happy faces so far it was time for the final and closing day. The Sunday was opened with the very enthusiastic Go Games hurlers. To hear the joyous screams of laughter and enjoyment in between the clashes of the ash from these young hurlers as they opened the final day was a joy to behold.

Following the Go Games hurling was the U11 and U14 Hurling, U13 and U17 Boys Football, and the U14 and U18 Ladies Football. The Saturday and Sunday were by far the busiest days with the full site in West London being used. At its busiest there was 12 pitches set up across the site with the helpful volunteers well prepped with the changeover to ensure that pitches are ready for the next group. The games on each day would not go ahead without our referees who give up their time to officiate the games over the 4 days.

With the return to play, the majority of our GAA clubs have worked tremendously hard to rebuild our clubs and provide a platform for all our players to train and play our games. After the various lockdowns our players have been very enthusiastic about returning to play and as a result our clubs have gained players through this as the kids have brought their friends with them to a local club. Through the success of Super Centres and Gaelic4girls programmes and the success of Youth Hurling over the past year, the ABC Committee expects that just over 2,000 kids will take part in this year’s competition. Without the schools this year to reach a number of 2,000 would be excellent for the GAA in Britain and it would show that the GAA is going in the right direction in each of our counties in terms of Games Development.

The ABC would not be possible without the work of all the great volunteers that are involved in the Committee. Volunteerism is what makes the GAA what it is and the GAA manifesto ‘We All Belong’ can be seen in action as there are patrons with many different demographical and cultural backgrounds playing, watching, and, most importantly, enjoying our games.

Over the previous eight All Britain Competitions the tournament has grown from strength to strength and with great work under the Chairmanship of John Gormley the committee has regrouped in 2021 and has the plans in place for another very successful tournament.

We’d also like to thank our associate sponsors ESB, O Neill’s and the Irish post for their support in 2021 and hopefully for the future. We also have more sponsors who we greatly appreciate being involved with the promotion of our games and finally to thank the continued support of the Coaching and Games department alongside the Irish Ambassador in the UK and his staff for allowing the ABC committee launch the Tournament in the embassy.