*Photograph: Natasha Barton
PLANS to have an aligned calendar year in soccer will be discussed at a meeting in Limerick on Monday.
Implications of the planned introduction of an aligned calendar will be debated at a meeting in Castletroy Park Hotel on Monday (April 7th) at 7pm.
Representatives from leagues and clubs across the province are anticipated to attend the meeting. Clubs are invited to give their views on the impact of the changes.
At the beginning of December, a resolution was passed with a 57 percent majority at a meeting of general assembly delegates of the FAI. The meeting had a large attendance online.
As a result of the vote, a key pillar of chief football officer Marc Canham’s Football Pathways Plan (FPP) will be introduced from 2026 onwards with all leagues in the country switching to a season that will effectively run from February to November.
From 2026 onwards, 5 to 12-year-olds will operate on that schedule, with FAI national competitions also being run across the same year, 13 to 16-year-olds would switch to that schedule from 2027 with all remaining youth and adult leagues making the move in 2028.
