It has been quite the week for Dublin‘s footballers. Just three days after their provincial exit breathed new life into the waning Leinster championship, Dessie Farrell‘s players now find themselves entering Sam Maguire’s group of death.
If Dublin are to rekindle their season, Wednesday afternoon’s All-Ireland SFC draw has ensured they must do it the hard way.
Group Four will be stacked, with three teams harbouring realistic ambitions of lifting Sam Maguire – the Dubs, the Connacht champions (Galway or Mayo) and the Ulster runners-up (Armagh or Donegal). The group also includes the strongest of the fourth seeds in Derry.
With three teams progressing from each of the four groups, the level of jeopardy might not prove terminal for Dublin, but should Derry rediscover their mojo then one of Gaelic football’s big three could be facing a short summer campaign.
Also, failure to finish top of the table lumps a treacherously demanding schedule on those teams in second and third. The four table-topping outfits advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals but the eight teams in second and third must play a preliminary quarter-final the week after the last round of group games.
The quarter-finals take place one week after those preliminary matches, meaning three games in as many weeks for the second- or third-placed teams left standing.
But if Dublin are wondering what ladder they walked under in recent days, the footballers of Mayo and Galway might also be justified in cursing their luck – for the draw has not been kind to the Connacht finalists either.
The winner of Sunday’s provincial decider in Castlebar will be rewarded with a spot in Group Four – the hardest group of all, while the loser will find themselves as the outlier in Group One, which is effectively a mini-Ulster Championship gathering of Tyrone, Cavan and the winners of Armagh and Donegal.
Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
Group One does, however, carry the juicy possibility of another Tyrone and Armagh get-together. Group Two is also likely to facilitate the renewal of acquaintances between Kerry and Cork.
Chances are Kerry manager Jack O’Connor is quietly chuffed with how the draw panned out for his side. Should they, as is expected, beat Clare in Killarney this Sunday then Kerry will be in a group alongside Cork, Roscommon and the Leinster runners-up, Meath or Louth. The Kingdom would expect to top that group with little fuss.
However, Roscommon won’t be too despondent either, and of the three Connacht sides left in the Sam Maguire, Davy Burke’s men have emerged with the most favourable draw.
But Group Three is the most attractive of the bunch – because it is likely to contain none of the perceived All-Ireland favourites. Monaghan and Down are certain to be there. They will be joined by the Munster runners-up, which barring a shock will be Clare, and the Leinster winners, either Meath or Louth. All four teams will feel they can top that group.
With the four provincial finals taking place over the next two weeks, the exact pairings won’t be known for a fortnight. However, the order of the round-robin games is already predetermined.
The provincial finalists will all have home advantage for their opening fixture – meaning Dublin face a trip to Galway or Mayo in round one while Tyrone will be away to Armagh or Donegal.
The round one fixtures will take place over two weekends. The games involving the Munster and Connacht finalists will be played on the weekend of May 17th-18th. The games involving the Leinster and Ulster finalists will be played on the weekend of May 24th-25th.
Round two fixtures will be played on the weekend of May 31st-June 1st. Round three fixtures will be played on the weekend of June 14th-15th.
This is the last year of the current format as the group stage will not be part of the new structure in 2026.
The new format, which was adopted at GAA congress in February after 92.8 per cent of delegates voted in favour of the change, will again include the top 16 teams contesting the Sam Maguire competition and the remaining sides competing in the Tailteann Cup.
As has been the case, the eight provincial finalists and the next highest eight ranked teams at the conclusion of the National League will play in the Sam Maguire competition.
However, there will be no group stage. Instead, the eight provincial finalists will be drawn at home to play the eight next highest-ranked teams in round one.
The eight winners of those games will then be drawn against each other in round 2A. The eight losers from round one will be drawn to play against each other in round 2B.
The four round 2A victors will advance directly to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The round 2A losers will proceed to play the four round 2B winners in round three. The quartet of round 2B losers are eliminated.
The four round three winners will ultimately progress to complete the All-Ireland quarter-final line-up.
That’s all for 2026, though. There is a 2025 winner to be determined first, but after Wednesday’s draw, scaling that particular mountain suddenly looks a lot more daunting for some counties.
SAM MAGUIRE DRAW
Group 1: Ulster winners (Armagh/Donegal), Connacht runner-up (Galway/Mayo), Tyrone, Cavan
Group 2: Munster winners (Kerry/Clare), Leinster runner-up (Meath/Louth), Roscommon, Cork
Group 3: Leinster winners (Meath/Louth), Munster runner-up (Kerry/Clare), Monaghan, Down
Group 4: Connacht winners (Galway/Mayo), Ulster runner-up (Armagh/Donegal), Dublin, Derry
Round One
To be played weekend May 17th-18th
Gr 1: Connacht runner-up (Galway/Mayo) v Cavan; Gr 2: Munster winners (Kerry/Clare) v Roscommon; Gr 3: Munster runner-up (Kerry/Clare) v Down; Gr 4: Connacht winners (Galway/Mayo) v Dublin.
To be played weekend of May 24th-25th
Gr 1: Ulster winners (Armagh/Donegal) v Tyrone; Gr 2: Leinster runner-up (Meath/Louth) v Cork; Gr 3: Leinster winners (Meath/Louth) v Monaghan; Gr 4: Ulster runner-up (Armagh/Donegal) v Derry.
Round Two (Weekend of May 31st-June 1st)
Gr 1: Tyrone v Connacht runner-up (Galway/Mayo); Cavan v Ulster winners (Armagh/Donegal); Gr 2: Roscommon v Leinster runner-up (Meath/Louth); Cork v Munster winners (Kerry/Clare); Gr 3: Monaghan v Munster runner-up (Kerry/Clare); Down v Leinster winners (Meath/Louth); Gr 4: Dublin v Ulster runner-up (Armagh/Donegal); Derry v Connacht winners (Galway/Mayo)
Round Three (neutral venues) (Weekend of June 14th-15th)
Gr 1: Ulster winners (Armagh/Donegal) v Connacht runner-up (Galway/Mayo); Tyrone v Cavan; Gr 2: Munster winners (Kerry/Clare) v Leinster runner-up (Meath/Louth); Roscommon v Cork; Gr 3: Leinster winners (Meath/Louth) v Munster runner-up (Kerry/Clare); Monaghan v Down; Gr 4: Connacht winners (Galway/Mayo) v Ulster runner-up (Armagh/Donegal); Dublin v Derry.
TAILTEANN CUP DRAW
Group 1: Kildare, Sligo, Leitrim, Tipperary
Group 2: Offaly, Laois, Wicklow, Waterford
Group 3: Westmeath, Limerick, Antrim, London
Group 4: Fermanagh, Wexford, Carlow, Longford
