British Army side lose out narrowly in first ever competitive GAA game

After all the controversy, a little piece history took place in a little green corner of London on Saturday afternoon.

For the first time in GAA history, in the year that Ireland is remembering the 1916 Rising, a team made up of British Army servicemen played a competitive game in a London competition. The game came after months of controversy and struggle. Last year the Irish Guards were given permission to play in the local London Junior Football championships. There were to be the first team linked with the British Army to field in a GAA competition since the abolition of Rule 21 in 2001. However there was controversy as some local clubs were understood to be opposed to their affiliation. In the end the GAA stepped in and told the London County board that they could not revoke the membership, and the Irish Guards, who would play under the name Naomh Padraig, would be allowed field a team in 2016. And on Saturday afternoon in the McCardle Cup, Naomh Padraig lost out to a last gasp goal from Tir Chonaill Gaels in the very first game of the London GAA club season.