The GAA is preparing for a major departure with Tuesday’s draw for the senior football championships. At lunchtime, live on GAAGO, the group stages for the Sam Maguire and the Tailteann Cup will be drawn with the fixtures taking place over the coming weeks.
Qualification is based on either reaching a provincial final or after that, on league position – the first time the national league has been linked to the championship.
Feargal McGill, the GAA director of games administration, queried the extent to which people were aware about the new structure.
“From being out and about, I don’t think the GAA public fully grasps what lies ahead,” McGill said.
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“They probably know their team has been knocked out of the provincial championship and have heard there is something different about what happens next but aren’t entirely sure what it is.
“They’re not aware of the structure and the fact that everyone is getting three games at least. Until people see it happening over the next couple of weeks and find out when the matches are on and where they’re being played it won’t dawn on them.”
With both the tier one Sam Maguire and tier two Tailteann Cup running simultaneously, for the first time in a championship, all counties will be involved on the same weekend.
Sunday’s results from the provincial football championships in Ulster and Leinster finalised the qualified teams – Kildare and Cork sealed their places in the Sam Maguire as a result of Offaly and Down not winning their provincial semi-finals.
It means that this year’s tier one championship has ended up excluding three ranking counties (ie, from the top two divisions of the football league), Cavan and Fermanagh who were promoted from Division Three and Meath, who finished sixth in Division Two.
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As none of the three reached a provincial final, they were excluded by non-Sam Maguire ranked counties Sligo and Clare proceeding to the Connacht and Munster finals, plus the qualification of Westmeath from Division Three by virtue of having won last year’s Tailteann Cup.
McGill said that the new structures are very demanding because of all the other fixtures in progress at this time of the year.
“This is new for us as well. It’s different to national league. We can spend all of September, October, November getting those fixtures right,” McGill explained.
“We’ve a very small window to do this and balance it off with things like the under-20 championship, involving the same counties.
“It’s quite challenging from an administrative point of view. Match officials have to organised. We’re going to be stretched.”
One criticism of the format is that teams have three matches before just four out of 12 are eliminated. This was to counter the possibility of dead rubbers but by taking those precautions the problem of “lack of jeopardy” has instead arisen and some teams may be surprised after potentially failing to win a single match to find themselves still involved.
Lack of familiarity with the new format may also cause a nasty surprise for one county in the Tailteann Cup. One of the third-placed counties will lose out because New York have to be accommodated.
“New York come in at the preliminary quarter-final stage,” McGill said. “They are ranked as a third seed but won’t be playing the round-robin matches.
“Only three of the four third-placed teams in the Tailteann Cup will be advancing.
“The lowest ranked, based on points and scoring difference, will not progress. New York will take their place and play one of the second seeds in a preliminary quarter-final.”
All-Ireland draws
Sam Maguire seeding
Pot 1: Galway/Sligo, Kerry/Clare, Dublin/Louth, Derry/Armagh
Pot 2: Galway/Sligo, Kerry/Clare, Dublin/Louth, Derry/Armagh
Pot 3: Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tyrone
Pot 4: Donegal, Cork, Kildare, Westmeath (Tailteann Cup holders)
Tailteann Cup seeding
Pot 1: Meath, Cavan, Fermanagh, Limerick
Pot 2: Down, Offaly, Antrim, Wicklow
Pot 3: Longford, Tipperary, Laois, Wexford
Pot 4: Leitrim, Carlow, Waterford, London
Dates
Weekend May 14th: Seed 1 v Seed 3; Seed 2 v Seed 4*
Weekend May 21st: Seed 3 v Seed 2; Seed 4 v Seed 1*
Weekend 4th June: Seed 1 v Seed 2; Seed 3 v Seed 4**
*First named at home
**Neutral venue
Fixtures to be finalised, Friday May 5th
