The road to the Aviva Stadium to begin for local national schools

Kevin O'Neill

Local primary schools will gather tomorrow (Friday, March 6) at Willow Park FC astro-turf facility, as the opening rounds of the 2026 FAI Primary Schools five-a-side soccer tournament take place in Athlone.

The winning schools from tomorrow's regional competition will progress to county level and then to provincial finals, with 28 schools nationwide eventually making it to the Aviva Stadium for national finals on Wednesday, May 27.

The annual competition offers boys and girls from 4th, 5th and 6th classes the opportunity to participate in a fun, blitz day format competition. Last year’s edition was the largest in the competition’s history with more than 44,000 players involved throughout the country. The programme has seven sections to cater for all school sizes and There are separate competitions for boys and girls, with girls also permitted to play in the boys’ competitions. There will be 316 events as part of the national programme across the country.

Proceedings at Willow Park FC are scheduled to kick-off at approximately 10am tomorrow morning (Friday, March 6).