Dublin championship revamped

News: The Dublin senior football championship has been revamped with the introduction of a backdoor system for the first-round losers. The football review committee under the chairmanship of Con Clarke formulated the new 55-game structure.

This will be played out on a two-year trial basis and will only include the senior championship.

A new Dublin senior hurling championship containing 12 clubs divided into two groups of six has also been confirmed.

Each team will play five games, the group winners going straight into the semi-final and the second- and third-placed sides progressing to the quarter-final.

This system will also apply to the intermediate and junior hurling championships.

The Dublin under-21 footballers look set to suffer from Kilmacud Crokes' progression to the All-Ireland club semi-final. Dublin's Leinster championship opener against Kildare and Crokes' meeting with Salthill/Knocknacarra were both scheduled for February 19th. Dublin objected and two optional dates (February 4th or 18th) have been offered by the Leinster Council and Kildare.

It is highly unlikely, however, Crokes manager Nicky McGrath will release Mark Vaughan, Brendan Phelan, Niall Corkery and Dara Walsh regardless of whether the fixture takes place two weeks or 24 hours before the All-Ireland club semi-final.

If Dublin progress past Kildare they will meet Meath in the quarter-finals.

The other opening-round games remain fixed for February 19th with Longford against Offaly, Louth against Wicklow and Kilkenny hosting Wexford.

Carlow, Laois and Westmeath receive byes.

Meanwhile, Galway boss Peter Ford has named former minor manager Francis Roche as a new selector for 2006. The Monivea/Abbey clubman will join Ja Fallon, Ciarán Ó Fatharta and Frank Broderick in the backroom team that enters its second campaign.

Roche, manager of Connacht minor champions for the previous two years, is expected to be ratified by the Galway football board in January.

Ford and his selectors will enter into the FBD League after Christmas for the first time in three years. Galway will open their campaign against Sligo at Tuam on January 8th when Nicky Joyce, a cousin of Padraic, who left the squad earlier this year, is expected to return.

One man who will not be featuring next year is the long-serving Seáde Paor, who has announced his retirement after a 15-year career with Galway that yielded All-Ireland medals in 1998 and 2001.

The 35-year-old teacher made a successful comeback from a cruciate-ligament injury that saw him miss the 2004 campaign, and it is likely he will continue club football with Carraroe.

The Limerick County Board has given the green light for the appointment of a full-time secretary but the position is not expected to be filled until 2007.

"The terms and conditions of appointment have yet to be drawn up," said county board chairman Denis Holmes.

"The position will then be advertised and candidates interviewed. It will be open to all.

"There are less than a handful of full-time secretaries throughout the country, but with the GAA growing at an enormous rate more and more counties will have to consider full-time administrators. Our current honorary secretary, James Hartigan, has a huge workload"