With the championships in Antrim now reaching the semi-final stages we at the Saffron Gael are busier than ever as we continue to bring you reports and photographs from all the championship games.
Every club in Antrim will have seen our photographers and reporters at some of their games in 2025 while we have combined with club P.R.O.’s to bring you coverage of the games we have been unable to attend.
The increasing readership of the Saffron Gael would suggest that the site is as popular as ever and we are delighted but like all things in life, this coverage comes at a cost.
When we launched our initial appeal for financial support we got a great response and a combination of sponsorship, advertising and annual donations from clubs has enabled us to keep going for the 8 years since the Saffron Gael was launched.
A dedicated team of like-minded photographers and reporters are out every mid-week and weekend to bring you coverage of our games. Our primary purpose when launching the site was not to make money but rather an effort by genuine Antrim GAA lovers to promote Gaelic games in Antrim.
We believe, and indeed you have told us that the Saffron Gael has been a great success and it would be sad if a lack of finance would lead to a much reduced coverage or indeed the demise of the site. The other option of course would be to put the site behind a pay/wall but this is something we do not want to do as it would greatly restrict the youth and lifeblood of our county from having access.
We carried comprehensive reports of every Antrim’s National football and hurling league game this year as well as reports on county camogie and ladies county football games. We have attempted to bring you coverage of Juvenile football, hurling, camogie and ladies football when it comes to the knockout stages.
As you may gather such coverage is time consuming and involves quite a large team of photographers and reporters which in turn incurs expense. We are extremely grateful to clubs who have made donations to the Saffron Gael to date and would encourage all clubs who have not done so to make a donation. This will enable us to continue our extensive coverage.
Finally if you are not in a position to support us through any of the above methods but would like to make a personal donation you can do so through the link on the site or by personally approaching John or myself (Paddy) at one of the games. No donation is too big or too small.
Good luck to all players and clubs who are still involved in the various championships and no doubt we will bump into some of you over the coming weekend.
If your club would like to make a donation to the Saffron Gael at one of the up-coming games just approach John or myself (Paddy) and we will get a wee photograph of you making the contribution.
Alternatively contact John at john.mcilwaine@yahoo.co.uk or Paddy at ptrckmclwn@yahoo.co.uk and we will forward you our bank details to make your contribution direct.
