Connacht football opens back door

The Connacht council will tonight vote on a motion to introduce a modified version of the back-door system ahead of next summer's provincial football championship. The endorsement of such a proposal would be in keeping with the increasingly popular calls for an end to the knock-out format which has stunted the development of both hurling and football in smaller, weaker counties.

The Connacht initiative was drafted and forwarded by the Games Committee and will be studied and voted upon tonight by council delegates in Knock.

"Obviously, it is a method of ensuring that teams get more games in the championship and offers an alternative path to the semi-finals. Reaction to it would seem to be fairly positive but it remains to be seen if it will be endorsed," said Connacht council secretary John Prenty.

If passed, the new system will be based on a preliminary series of three games. The winners progress automatically to the semi-finals while the three losers go into a runners-up section to compete for the one remaining semi-final place. Because seven counties (London and New York are also Connacht championship participants) are involved in the championship, one county will be randomly placed in the runners-up section, thus facing a more laborious route to the final.

Given that London operate a rota system in the Connacht championship, they will automatically play Roscommon in the first of the preliminary games. The remaining five counties will each be drawn for places in the other two preliminary-round games.

The winners of that original series go through to the semi-finals while the three losing teams are paired with the county already placed in the runners-up category. These four teams will again be drawn and will eliminate each other over a three-game knock-out series to qualify for the remaining championship semi-final spot.

"It is similar to the recently adopted Leinster Council motion for the hurling except that here, we don't nominate a county for the bye to the semi-finals. All teams start off in the one hat," clarified Prenty.

The revised structure would extend the championship by three games and would also facilitate the possible meeting of big guns like Galway and Mayo twice in one summer.

The most contentious issue will be the placing (by lottery) of one county into the runners-up section of the draw. That process means that the given county is denied the opportunity to progress to the semi-finals via the original three-game preliminary series.

Also, the added games places a potential burden on New York, who are only beginning to find their feet at this level. If they were to compete in the original preliminary round and lose, they face a possible three visits to Ireland just to qualify for the semi-final.

"That's the aspect which counties must consider; if they are drawn as the odd one out, they miss the chance to go into the semi-finals as preliminary round winners. It's a matter for themselves to consider," agreed Prenty.

However, the system unquestionably broadens the structure and will be more forgiving to teams who have suffered under the knock-out system. Sligo, a team on the threshold of making a provincial breakthrough in recent years, would appear to be an obvious example of a county which would benefit from the new format.

"Well, we have discussed this at county level and have decided that we will support it," declared Lory Quinn, the county's Connacht delegate yesterday.

"Basically, we felt from listening to players and the management that more competitive games could be of benefit to them and the bottom line is that this proposal means more football for teams," he said.

It could be argued however, that a venture into this uncharted territory could prove dangerous for the counties who have flourished under the knock-out system and the likelihood of being thrown into the runners-up play-off section merely to book a passage to the semi-finals may just prompt the more illustrious counties to favour conservatism when it comes to casting votes.

There is a vast discrepancy between the success rates of Connacht teams at provincial level; Galway and Mayo have each taken 39 titles, Roscommon have 18, while Leitrim and Sligo have two each.

If passed however, the Connacht council motion could well pave the way for similar revisions in the other three provinces.