The Kerry District League (known as the Denny Kerry District League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

. The KDL is a winter league run by Adrian Casey. Its top division, the Premier A, is a seventh level division in the

Republic of Ireland football league system The Republic of Ireland football league system is a series of association football leagues in Ireland. Traditionally, leagues have been classified as either senior, intermediate or junior. These classifications are effectively national, provinci ...

. The league is regularly featured in the local newspapers – ''

The Kerryman ''The Kerryman'' is a weekly local newspaper published in County Kerry in Ireland by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper was founded in 1904 by Maurice Griffin and cousins Thomas and Daniel Nolan. Independe ...

'' and the '' Kerry's Eye''. Killarney Celtic FC recently won the Premier A for a fifth successive season.

History

The league was formed in 1971 with eight teams competing in its first season. Its founding members included Tralee Dynamos and Killarney Athletic, both of whom had previously played in the

Limerick Desmond League The Limerick Desmond League is an association football league featuring amateur, junior, youth and under-17 teams from the part of County Limerick west of the N20. Its top division, the Premier Division, is a seventh level division in the Repub ...

. Other founding members included St Brendan's Park. Tralee Dynamos were the inaugural champions and subsequently became the league's most successful team.

Mounthawk Park

The KDL purchased Mounthawk Park in

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

in the mid-1990s. It now serves as both the headquarters of the league and as home ground for the Kerry League representative teams. Several KDL clubs, especially those in the greater Tralee area, also use Mounthawk Park as their home pitch. In August 2015 a new all-weather pitch was opened at Mounthawk Park by

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

and John Delaney. It is the home ground of Kerry F.C. in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

and has a capacity of 1,200.

Representative teams

A senior Kerry League representative team regularly competes in the

Oscar Traynor Oscar Traynor (21 March 1886 – 14 December 1963) was an Irish republican and Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Justice from 1957 to 1961, Minister for Defence from 1939 to 1948 and 1951 to 1954, Minister for Posts and Telegr ...

Trophy, playing against teams representing other leagues. In recent seasons they have also competed in the

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

. In 2016 a Kerry League U17 team will play in the

League of Ireland U17 Division The League of Ireland U17 Division is the under-17 division of the League of Ireland. Like the Premier Division, the First Division and the National U19 League the National U17 League is currently sponsored by SSE Airtricity and as a result it ...

. Kerry now have both U17 & U19 teams competing in both the SSE Airtricity National U17 & U19 respectively.

Clubs

Premier A

List of winners by season

References

{{Football in Ireland 7 Association football leagues in Munster 1 1971 establishments in Ireland Sports leagues established in 1971