Fourteen things we learned about London GAA in 2016

1. There were 21 football clubs, six hurling clubs and four clubs fielding both football and hurling in London in 2016

Robert Emmetts' Tomas Lawrence tackles Gabriels midfielder Sean Gilchrist [Picture: Mal McNally]

2. Inter-county transfers into London were down by 23 per cent in 2016 (378) compared to 2015 (493)

Football is thriving while hurling lags behind [©INPHO/Andrew Paton]

3. The highest number of player transfers in to any one club was 22, while the highest number of players transferred out of a club was 20

Neasden Gaels came back up at the first time of asking [Picture: Mal McNally]

4. There were 93 hurling transfers into London, with the senior clubs accounting for 62 of these

London v Antrim, National Hurling League Division 2A, Ruislip, 20/3/2016 [Picture: Mal McNally]

5. In 2016 there were 4,391 London GAA members registered, 2,665 of which were players, with 1,600 being youth players

Youth Gaelic football is thriving in particular [Picture: Mal McNally]

6. New youth club Gael Londain recruited nearly 150 members in less than a year since being affiliated

Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall and the Mayor of Spelthorne Borough Council Cllr Mark Francis and his wife Catherine are pictured with youngsters of Gael Londain [Picture: Mal McNally]

7. Twenty-five Primary Schools received Gaelic football and/or hurling coaching this year, with over 100 teams taking part across the five Primary School tournaments held

The ABC in Greenford was once again a great success

8. In the London Senior Football Championship final, both teams were captained by London-born players, two of 11 homegrown players on the field

London-born Captain Moyles raises the SFC trophy in celebration [Picture: Mal McNally]

9. Intermediate Championship runners-up Harlesden Harps had 11 English-born players in their starting line-up in the final

Harlesden Harps (green) are dedicated to grassroots GAA [Picture: Mal McNally]

10. This year there has been five former members of the Youth Development Squad on the London Senior Football panel

Tir Chonaill Gaels all-English Junior side are likely to provide future players for London [Picture: Jamie Casey]

11. Of the 13 London-born players to have represented the senior county team, all bar one come from north London

London-born Philip Butler with the ball against Waterford's Paul Whyte during their Div 4 National Football League game [Picture: Sean Byrne/Deise Sport]

12. In the last five years, the London GAA Golf Classic fundraiser has helped amass almost £80,000 towards the redevelopment of Ruislip, which has come on a significant amount in 2016.

The new stand in Ruislip is well on the way to completion [Picture via London GAA]

13. Over 200 people have graduated from coaching courses organised by the Coaching and Games Committee in the last four years

14. The Irish Guards - re-named Naomh Padraig at the start of the year - endured a difficult first year in the junior competitions, with many walkovers and heavy defeats suffered.

The Irish Guards in their first competitive outing in Wormwood Scrubs [Picture: Brendan Vaughan]

See More: 2016, Featured, GAA, In Numbers, London, Ruislip

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