By Denis O'Brien

It’s very early in the new season for European GAA but already one region is poised to distribute silverware with the overall results still very much in doubt.

Brittany in Northwest France is one of the fasting growing areas for the GAA in the world. Brittany is half the size of Ireland but with a similar population of some 4.5 million, the opportunity for growth is very much a reality. The people of this area are passionate about their Celtic heritage and this connection has helped to foster a love for Gaelic football across the region.

At present there are 11 football clubs in Brittany and 10 of these are currently participating in men’s and ladies league and cup competitions. Recent additions to the GAA scene are clubs from Trégor and Plédran, who join forces for games, while the oldest club in Brittany is Rennes. This club was formed in 1998 with Irish immigrants kicking things off, but today even though there are still a few Irish on the team, the majority of players are native and this is the case for most clubs throughout Brittany.

The Brittany League and Cup began last September, with games primarily played on a monthly basis and in both competitions Rennes are unbeaten. The Cup is knockout with 10 teams and this year the club from Nantes is also going very well and has reached the final. They defeated Guerande by 4-7 to 0-7 in the first semi-final. The second semi is due to be scheduled shortly and it features Rennes vs Lorient, with the former favourites to advance to the decider. Rennes knocked off defending champions and the kingpins of football in Brittany, Liffré, in the quarter final.

The Brittany Men’s Championship with 10 teams also, began life in 2004 and is now broken up into two divisions 1 & 2 with preliminary rounds to decide division seedings. The championship is run on a point basis over five rounds and after the recent Round 3 of Division 1 at the end of February in Nantes, the Rennes side lead the standings on 22 points, closely followed by Liffré on 17 and Nantes on 10 with the latter two having a game in hand.

Round 4 will be played in Liffré on March 12 with Liffré, Nantes, Lorient and Vannes in action. Overall, Liffre and Rennes are in the driving seat and these two have been fierce rivals in the past number of years with the all French Liffré team gunning for an incredible 9th championship in a row this season.

In Division 2, there are teams from Pordic, Guerande, Brest/Kerne and Trégor/Plédran combos along with a club called Barbarians. This division was created to help the newer clubs develop at their own pace and with one round left to play the Pordic club command a sizeable lead and as such cannot be caught.

The Ladies football scene overall is in more of a development mode with six teams in the Brittany Championship played over three rounds with the majority of players being local. The top team over the past number of years is Rennes, who are also France national champions, however this season they have not had things all their own way as they trailed Lorient by three points in the standings heading into the final round on February 21.

Rennes in their match versus Lorient had to defeat the leaders by more than 8 points for the title and they duly obliged but with just one point to spare to take the championship. It has been a good Brittany Ladies football championship with each of the six sides winning at least one game this season with greater competition expected next year with the addition of two new teams.

The rest of France competes under the Federal banner with a further 11 teams and their five round/tournament competition is due to begin in late March. In summer both Brittany and Federal teams take part in the men’s Elite (senior), Honneur (intermediate) and Promotion (junior) competitions at the France Championships (began in 2012), with the ladies playing at a single grade level.