The Laois referee taking centre stage at Croke Park today

A day after hosting the All-Ireland Senior football replay Croke Park will again open its gates today for the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies football finals.

Ladies Football is enjoying massive levels of popularity and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country in recent years. Last year, a record breaking 50,141 people attended the All-Ireland Finals in Croke Park. Furthermore, a total of 475,000 viewers tuned in to TG4’s live coverage of the Ladies Finals peaking at 284,000 during the closing stages of the Senior Final between Dublin and Cork.

Primed to be at the centre of today's action is Laois referee Kevin Phelan. Representing the St Brigid’s LGFA club in the county, and men’s club Barrowhouse, Phelan has been handed the honour of overseeing the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship Final between Fermanagh and Louth in what will be his Croke Park debut.

Ten years on from answering a plea from Laois GAA for more referees, published in this very newspaper, Phelan will lead his loyal crew of umpires and linesmen out through the tunnel for the first game of today's triple-header at Croke Park.

"It was an article in the Leinster Express about the lack of referees, and I was coming towards the end of my playing career and knew I'd have to hang up my boots eventually. I was nearly in my 40's at this stage," said Phelan.

"There was pressure being put on clubs to supply at least one referee given the shortage, so I said I'd do it for the club. 

"I did it for a while and then my wife, Martina, is heavily involved with the Ladies football and I used to help out a bit as well. Then Mary Wheatley, who was the President of the LGFA, asked me if I'd be interested in doing the Ladies games and I went ahead and did it.

"So I started refereeing the women's and I progressed onto the Leinster panel, and then the National referees panel in 2013."

That same year, he took charge of the Leinster Minor A final between Dublin and Meath and, a year later, he was the man in the middle for the Leinster Intermediate Final between Offaly and Longford. 

In 2016, Phelan oversaw the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship semi-final before he was awarded the 2017 All-Ireland U14 A Final. In late 2018, Phelan refereed the prestigious Gourmet Food Parlour Ladies HEC Division 1 League decider involving University of Limerick and UCD, which was played in Stradbally. 

This year, Phelan was the referee for the All-Ireland U16 A Final clash of Galway and Kerry, and he also patrolled the TG4 Leinster Intermediate Final between Wexford and Meath. 

"I enjoy it, I really do. The umpires I bring with me enjoy it as well. I have about eight lads that answer the call and I could only pick four, so there's a few disappointed lads now that would usually come with me. 

Phelan comes from a footballing background himself, kicking with his club Barrowhouse and indeed even pulling on the Laois jersey. His wife Martina, the current Laois LGFA Treasurer and selector on last year's Minor team, is a stalwart of Ladies football in the county.

"I've been in and around Ladies football since the late 80s, my sister (Mags) and my wife (Martina) played football with Laois for years.

"Ah, sure Martina must have lost about five All-Irelands. And of course the one year Laois won it in 2001 she was pregnant with our second child. Typical!

"I would've kicked up and down with Barrowhouse over the years. We won an Intermediate title in 1992, and won a few league titles too. 

"I was on the Laois Junior team that won Leinster. I came on as a sub in the final, and I played in the All-Ireland semi-final in the same year over in Lancashire. I won a Colleges All-Ireland with Carlow too, but you can't beat winning with the club. The lads you grow up with.

"As I keep telling the lads in the club, I played adult football with Barrowhouse in four different decades! You don't tend to retire in Barrowhouse if you're still able to walk out on the pitch."

Phelan will take his place at half-way mark in Croke Park for the TG4 All-Ireland Junior football final between Fermanagh and Louth at 11.45am.