As summer approaches, the French men’s and ladies Gaelic football caravan is once again on the move, this year stopping in Brest. For the club’s 25th anniversary, the hosts have put together a great celebration that should be shared by as many people as possible, since this 2025 edition of the French championships looks set to be the biggest ever organised, with 48 teams and 680 participants.
On the ladies side, the competition is played over 3 rounds. The first two took place in Strasbourg (5 April) and Bordeaux (26 April).
Teams score points in each of the 3 rounds, and the team with the best total is crowned French champion.
In the men’s competition, everything is played on a single day. The teams are split evenly into 4 divisions (up from 3 previously) according to their position in their domestic championship (Brittany or federal).
In 2025, 6 teams will play in D1, 6 in D2, 11 in D3 and 12 in D4.
The federal top 3 and the Breton top 3 meet in D1, the federal and Breton teams ranked 4th to 6th in D2, and so on
With just a few days to go, here is where the teams stand.
Once again, D1 promises to be thrilling!
After the historic Breton clean sweep of 2024 (Liffré, Rennes and Nantes), it is very hard to say who will lift the cup this year.
In Brittany as in the federal championship, matches have been extremely tight and have often been decided by small details. With its many international and Irish players, the division will offer high-level matches for the crowd, whether they know the game or not.
See you at the Petit Kerzu stadium to find out who will succeed the Liffré boars!
The D1 schedule and results
With D1 down to 6 teams (from 8 in previous seasons), there are some serious title contenders.
Having competed all season with the best Breton sides, Vannes will start as favourites to win back the title they won at home in 2019. But reigning champions Strasbourg, along with a Lyon side well used to the top level, will try to play spoiler. Watch out too for the Rennes reserve side, who won the division in 2023, and for Lorient, who have a good hand to play. Meanwhile the reigning D3 winners, Angers, will be keen to perform in the higher division.
Just as in the top division, it is hard to pick out a favourite.
Toulouse have had a magnificent season, winning Division 3 of the European championships and federal Division 2, but the Bordeaux and Clermont reserve sides, as well as Lille, will be lying in wait. On the Breton side, Nantes B and St Coulomb will start as top seeds, but Brest, playing at home and in top form after winning Breton D2, will be serious rivals, as will their neighbours to the south, Kerne (Quimper). Jersey will also be in the division, back for the first time since 2013. The Channel Islanders could well play spoiler.
So this will be a first! With more teams entered, the organisers had no choice but to create a 4th division.
Le Mans-Arthon, recent finalists in the federal cup and 3rd in D3 last year, will be among the favourites, as will Le Havre, D3 finalists in 2024. As top seeds in Brittany, the well-drilled sides of Liffré B and Vannes B will be serious contenders for the title.
But here too the Channel Islanders from Guernsey, as well as the various combined teams entered, could get involved in the fight.
So who will win the first D4 in history? See you late in the afternoon at the Cavale Blanche ground to find out!
Ahead of this 3rd round, there is less suspense among the women.
Impressively controlled since the start of the season, Rennes, Brittany champions in March, have already won the first 2 national tournaments. They only need to finish on the podium to secure the title.
Even so, the women should give us, as usual, a great show in the fight to win the tournament, with Bordeaux and Paris as formidable as ever (despite a mixed record for the capital’s players).
Beyond the title, Clermont, Lorient and Paris will battle for a place on the podium. It would be a historic podium for both the Auvergne and Breton sides, and would reward a fine season for both teams.
Behind them, 8 teams, including Brest at home, will fight for the places of honour and will be keen to perform one last time before the summer.
Here too we will see the great return of the Channel Islands, with teams from Jersey and Guernsey, in what will be the biggest French women’s tournament ever organised!
The women’s schedule and results
