Struggles and Successes in the 1990s

The 1990s opened with Mayo badminton still fielding four divisions in its county league, a structure that remained in place until the 1992/1993 season. Clubs continued to compete strongly at provincial and national levels, with Ballinrobe Badminton Club setting the early standard. In 1990 the club won both the Mayo League and the Connacht Championship before finishing runners-up in the All-Ireland Club Finals. This was a landmark moment, as it marked the first year the national club finals were officially organised. Two years later, in 1992, Kilmeena claimed both the Mayo League and the Connacht Championship, a strong achievement that reflected the continued improvement of Mayo clubs within the province at that time.

As the decade progressed the league began to contract. From the 1993/1994 season Divisions Two and Three were combined, while Divisions One and Four continued as stand-alone competitions. Despite these changes, in-house leagues remained popular, particularly in the larger town clubs, and provided regular competition at local level even as the county structure was being pared back.

Mayo clubs also enjoyed outstanding success on the wider stage. In 1996 Belcarra Badminton Club won the Mayo League, the Connacht Championship, and the Division Five All-Ireland Club title, becoming the first Mayo club to secure an All-Ireland crown. Ballina added to the county’s success the same year by winning two Connacht titles, while Ballinrobe returned to prominence in 1997 by again capturing both the Mayo League and the Connacht Championship.

Playing standards were also refined during this period. From the 1996/1997 season, Divisions One and Two competed with feather shuttlecocks, while the other divisions continued with plastic. Junior leagues remained an important feature throughout the decade, ensuring strong participation among younger players, though by the end of the 1990s juvenile numbers too had begun to show signs of decline.

Senior league badminton, however, faced its greatest challenges towards the end of the decade. In the 1997/1998 season only a single division could be organised due to a lack of entries. The following year the county failed to run any senior leagues, the first such occurrence since 1958. By then the Mayo League had run uninterrupted for forty consecutive seasons, and its absence marked a dramatic shift from the vibrant structures of earlier years and underlined the seriousness of the decline.

Yet Mayo players and clubs continued to demonstrate determination. In 1998 Ballina Badminton Club won the Division Six All-Ireland Club title, adding another national success to the county’s record. The county team itself enjoyed one of its strongest periods in national competition, reaching the All-Ireland semi-finals in both 1997/1998 and 1998/1999. In 1999/2000 Mayo advanced to the All-Ireland final for the first time, only narrowly losing to Tipperary in a thrilling five to four contest.

Ballina Badminton Club also carried the Mayo banner with distinction when local competition faltered. In 1998/1999 their Division One team joined the Sligo League, which also featured Roscommon clubs, and went on to win the competition. The following season they entered two teams in Sligo, one in Division One and another in Division Three, and remarkably won both titles. Their achievements continued in 1999/2000 when they captured the Division Two All-Ireland Club title, adding yet another national honour to their name.

The 1990s proved to be a decade of contrasts for Mayo badminton. While the number of clubs and adult players declined sharply, ending with the suspension of the senior league after forty seasons, Mayo teams were still enjoying some of their best moments on the bigger stage. Local clubs won All-Ireland titles, the county team reached the national final, and Mayo players continued to show that they could compete with the very best. Following the growth of the 1970s and the changes of the 1980s, the 1990s became a turning point, remembered as a time when the determination of players and clubs kept badminton going through challenging years.