Despite having to cancel the conclusion of last year's soccer season, the Mayo League is getting ready to bounce back into action in the coming weeks and the appetite for soccer has not been dented by last year's cancellation of the league mid-season.
There will be 43 teams competing in the Mayo League this year - up from the 34 that took part last season, a 26 per cent jump - and 14 teams have put themselves forward to take part in the league's first u21 season, as the league looks to bridge the gap between underage soccer and adult soccer for a number of players in the county.
Due to the expansion in team numbers taking part in this year's Mayo League season, the league has added a fifth division this year to its structures.
Ballinrobe Town will be returning to adult soccer in the county for the first time in half-a-decade, while Ballyhean, Ballyglass, Fahy Rovers, Moy Villa and Swinford, will all be entering B teams, with Conn Rangers, Claremorris and Manulla all putting C teams into the league this year.
The new season will get underway on the weekend of June 12 to 13 with the first round of the new u21 League, with the adult sides getting their season up and running in the Super and Premier Cups over the weekend of June 26 to 27.
League structures similar to last last year
The league has decided to stick with the same structure as last season, with a shortened competition due to Covid. The Super League and Premier Division will both have ten team divisions. There will be nine rounds of games, where every team plays each other once and then the division will be split in two after those nine rounds of games.
The top five sides will all play each other once more and the bottom five will play each other once more. The points total that teams have after the nine rounds of games, will carry into the new five-team grouping, to decide overall places in the table at the end of the season.
The league seasons are scheduled to kick off over the weekend of July 17 to 18, by that stage most teams should have games behind them in both the Super and Premier Cups and the the Divisional Cup competitions.
The league season is due to wrap up on the weekend of November 6 and 7, with cup finals scheduled to take place on the two weekends after that, to bring a conclusion to the domestic season.
