Gaelic Football Team win Malaga tournament

GCU Students’ Association’s Ladies Gaelic Football Team recently won a Gaelic football tournament in Malaga.

Ellie Agnew, Chairperson for the GCU Ladies Gaelic Football Team spoke about the team’s recent success.

The team have recently returned from Malaga where they played a tournament against four Spanish Universities, a trip which was the perfect way to end a successful year for the team.

Ellie said: “This year we did a seven-a-side football tournament with all the Scottish universities who play Gaelic football so there was around 100 people crammed into Clydebank Community Sports Hub which was so much fun.

“It was great to have different universities coming over and actually have a conversation with one another off the pitch rather than just on the pitch. We had an afterparty in Malones with everyone which was really fun.”

The team also competed in and won the annual British University Gaelic Football Championships for the second year running. The Championships are typically hosted by English cities, however this year they were held in Glasgow.

Following their win at the British Championships, the team were keen to travel further afield and were hungry for another win.

Ellie explained: “We contacted the Malaga team through Instagram to introduce ourselves and said we’d love to come over for a friendly tournament and they were super keen.

“They looked like they were good fun on their social media so we thought they might be up for it.

“We organised the dates we were going to go and what flights we were going to book then they got back to us with accommodation and they’d organised a full tournament for us!”

Once the tournament had been agreed, the team set out to fundraise for their trip.

“We fundraised through a pub quiz and a seven-a-side football tournament as well as fundraising buckets in Malone’s on St. Patrick’s Day.”

Once the funds had been raised, the team set off to Malaga to face fierce competition from four Spanish universities from Malaga, Seville, Gibraltar and Marbella.

Ellie explained: “It was really competitive because all the teams at the tournament play together in a league themselves so they were used to playing against each other and were all really competitive. We usually compete in the British Championships so we were the newcomers so I think that made everyone want to beat us, because we were the outsiders.”

The GCU Ladies team were proven unbeatable throughout the tournament, winning each of their matches before beating Seville 14-12 in the final.

Ellie’s Co-Chairperson, Nicole Nugent, was also awarded Player of the Tournament.

The GCU Men’s Gaelic Football Team missed out on their final, Ellie said: “The boys won their first two matches then lost their third so didn’t get through to their final but they still played really well considering they’ve only been playing as a team this year.”

Reflecting on the tournament, Ellie said: “It was back to back matches and it was roasting, I think it was around 29 degrees, so we would come off the pitch and try to soak our jerseys because we were just so warm and sweating and out of breath!

“We had a heatwave when we were over there so it was completely different to what we were used to. We were pouring the bottles of water over ourselves to cool us down whereas here we’re used to playing in thermals so it took a bit of getting used to.”

The tournament was a bit different to most, as not all teams had enough players so different teams were substituted instead. Ellie explained: “The girls had three matches and the final but we had to sub in for other teams because they didn’t have enough players so our team actually played in every match. I subbed in for Seville, I just took my jersey off and put on their one!

“It was actually really cool because I got to play against GCU which was weird because I usually played with them but it was so good to play with other people and learn how they communicate on the pitch and listen to their inspirational halftime talks.

“Playing with other teams was good because they communicate in so many different ways so that was good to experience and take things away from.”

The celebrations following their win was the highlight of the trip for most. Ellie said: “We all stayed together in apartments which had a pool, so after we’d won the tournament we brought our trophy back and jumped in the pool and everyone was just in the pool celebrating together. That was definitely the highlight.”

Ellie also added: “I think people shouldn’t be scared to sign up to any clubs during Freshers’ Week even if they’ve not done it before, this is all a massive part of the University experience and you’ll make friends and memories that’ll last a lifetime. I’ve never played Gaelic football and I still don’t think I’m terribly good at it but I can now say I’m a two-time British Champion and have won a tournament in Malaga with my team!”

You can follow GCU Ladies Gaelic Football Team on Facebook and Instagram.

By Derry Wyllie.