'There's a kick of the ball between all the teams' - Armagh manager Shane McCormack

Just over 16 months on from hosting a maiden game at the facility, Armagh LGFA recently reached another milestone in the ongoing development of their McKeever Park training base.

June 2021 was the date for a clash between the county's Under-16 team and Ulster rivals Antrim at the Killean venue - the only one of its kind across Ireland that is solely dedicated to women's football.

As historic as this moment was, however, it only represented an early phase of the Armagh board’s ambitious plans for the site.

The next big leap forward for McKeever Park arrived last Friday week, when newly installed floodlights were turned on for the first time at the ground.

Shane McCormack will be the first senior manager within the Orchard County to avail of this fully lit surface, albeit it has been used by the squad on a semi-regular basis since April of last year.

He outlined how much of a game-changer it could be for not just Armagh, but the sport of women's football as a whole.

"We’ve a fantastic county board and it’s headed there by [chairperson] Sinéad Reel. The work that woman has done is unbelievable for Armagh ladies," said McCormack.

"At the start of the year we wouldn’t have had the lights. For pre-season training, we would have had to go to different places in Armagh for lights. Wolfe Tones and Silverbridge were very accommodating."

"It’s great. You can just arrive there now and have our own lights for the pre-season training. It’s so important for the development of the ladies game. I know a lot of counties have plans in place to follow us, which is brilliant.

"It needs support, the support has to be there. We’re very lucky at this time with the work Sinéad and her team have put in the last couple of years. It’s very exciting for the