Joe Bloggs: The All-Ireland senior club championship was first contested in the 1970-71 "season". Don't ask me for dates or anything; I can only guess that the intercounty club games (if that makes sense) between the 1970 champions started to be played in 1971. No idea when the rule was changed to ban divisional teams; it's in the official guide in any case, and I can only imagine they quickly added it in after East Kerry's victory. Having the pick of a pool of clubs (even if they aren't senior players) can't be fair. But then again, I'm only guessing at their reasons; maybe someone knows the details, but there was no internet in 1970 or 1971 so there's no websites with contemporary reports of theirs that I can read.

Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1045 - 14/10/2014 12:29:40    1663475

In my opinion Monaghan has the best championship and league systems I have heard of (however it is a smaller county than most so it is easier to run the fixtures off)
There are 10 teams in senior, intermediate and junior.
If a team is in the senior championship they play in the senior league etc. unlike in other counties like Louth where u have the ridiculous situation of a club playing senior league and junior championship.
Bottom 2 teams in the league are relegated, this avoids the nonesense of relegation play-offs, unless u win the championship, in that case it is the next lowest team.
Promotion- the winners of the championship and the winners of the league go up(top four in the league go into a semi final). if a club does the double whoever finishes top of the league goes up.
In the championship everyone will get a 2nd bite of the cheery, up until the semi final stage.
This system puts more emphasis on the league, unlike in many other counties where the league is made a joke of.
With two rounds of the senior and intermediate league to be played and the junior league finished, there has only been 4 games out of 250 not played. how many other counties can boast a league record like that?

pooper_trooper (Monaghan) - Posts: 108 - 14/10/2014 13:12:21    1663499

Any thoughts on the fomat below coming into effect next year in Roscommon?



A radical new Football Championship format, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, will be used at Senior, Intermediate, Junior A and Junior B level, and subject to numbers a Junior C Championship will be established and will be played in a format similar to the other Adult Championships.

Each Championship will be comprised of two groups of six teams and referred to as Group 1 and Group 2 or for example, "Senior 1" and "Senior 2".
The teams finishing first and second in each of the three groups from 2014 Championship will make up the six teams of the "Senior 1" Group in 2015.
The remaining teams from 2014 championship, excluding the relegated team, will, along with the 2014 Intermediate champions, constitute the "Senior 2" Group.
Each group will be run off on a league basis with the top two teams in "Senior 1" receiving a bye to the County-Semi-Finals.
The third and fourth placed teams from "Senior 1" will qualify for the Quarter-Finals, while the fifth and sixth place teams will be out of the running and will also move to "Senior 2" in the following year.
On the other side of the competition, the top two teams in "Senior 2" will qualify for the County Quarter-Finals and will move into "Senior 1" for the following year. The third and fourth placed teams in "Senior 2" will be out of the running for the Championship and the bottom two teams will contest the Relegation Play-off.
There will be two County Quarter-Finals with the third placed team in "Senior 1" facing the runner-up in "Senior 2" while the fourth placed team will face the winner of "Senior 2".
As mentioned above the winner and runner-up of "Senior 1" will await the Quarter-Final winners in the County Semi Finals.

ross (Roscommon) - Posts: 66 - 14/10/2014 14:01:37    1663533

pooper_trooper
10 teams = 9 rounds of games, each round consisting of 5 games
Total: 45 games.
Total number of games across three championships: 135 games.

Unless everyone plays everyone else twice? In which case double 9, 45 and 135 to 18, 90 and 270, and then subtract 20 (2 rounds in the senior = 10 games + 2 rounds in the intermediate = 10 games) to get 250 games. And 246 games played out of 250 (98.4%) is pretty good going!

Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1045 - 14/10/2014 14:20:53    1663540

The Tipperary C'Ship is actually very straight forward.

Firstly there is four very distinct regions in Tipp. North, South, Mid, West. Each have a number clubs based solely on location. Therefore the number of clubs in each is different.

There is five C'Ships in Tipp: North, South, Mid, West and The Championship proper.

The four regional C'Ships are knockout and contested by the teams in that region. They are secondary competition essentially.

The Championship proper has 32 clubs. Senior A: 16 and Senior B: 16.

1) Both A & B are divided into 4x4.
2) The top TWO in each of the 4 A groups and each of the 4 B groups qualify for the ROUND OF 16.
3) The ROUND OF 16 sees the eight A teams in one hat and the 8 B teams in the other.
4) The eight winners advance to Quarter Finals.
5) And so on..

Relegation

A to B

The bottom team in each group (four in all) are relegated into B for the following year.

B to Intermediate

The bottom team in each group (four in all) playoff in two semi finals followed by a final. One team is relegated.

Promotion:

A to B

The four group toppers in each group in B are automatically promoted to A for the following year.

TheFullBack (Galway) - Posts: 110 - 14/10/2014 14:27:57    1663547

In Galway HURLING:

22 Senior teams.

Round 1:

The intermediate winners (newly promoted club are exempt from the knockout rounds).

21 clubs in the hat.
FIRST 2 drawn out play in a prelim.1stRD.
Winners of prelim.1stRD + 19 other clubs into the hat.
RD1 proper 10 games. Winners qualify for the group stages. losers to RD2.

Round 2:

11 Clubs in the hat
Losing prelim.1stRD loser + 10 RD1 losers.
FIRST 2 drawn out play in a prelim.2ndRD.
Winners of prelim.2ndRD + 9 other clubs into the hat.
RD2 proper 5 games. Winners qualify for group stages. losers + prelim.2ndRD loser to Relegation.

Group stages:

16 clubs. (10 + 5 + 1) 10 RD1 winners, 5 RD2 winners, Intermediate Champions.
4x4 format.
Top two in each group to Quarter finals.

Relegation:

6 clubs

2x3 format.
Top team in each group are safe.
Bottom two teams in each group cross play in semi finals.
Relegation final one team down.

TheFullBack (Galway) - Posts: 110 - 14/10/2014 14:36:25    1663554

In Meath there are 18 Senior, 18 Intermediate, 18 Junior 'A' and 18 Junior 'B' clubs (some clubs have reserve sides playing in the IFC/JAFC/JBFC). Each of these championships are run the same way. There are 3 groups of 6. Each team plays each other once in a neutral venue. Top 3 in Group A & top 2 in Groups B and C go straight into a quarter final while 3rd in Group B and C playoff against each other for the last quarter final spot. Bottom of each group plays in a 3 team relegation round robin format. C'ship starts in mid April and the final between O'Mahonys and Ashbourne is on sunday.

Cavan SFC run a backdoor system basically where if you lose 2 games you're out.

Dublin SFC is a straight knockout with the Round 1 losers entering the Senior 'B' Championship.

Some 2014 county c'ship pages are on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2014_senior_Gaelic_football_county_championships

pooper_trooper: so if a club finishes say second last in senior league but reaches the senior c'ship final, are they still relegated to intermediate c'ship the next year... that's fairly harsh.

nmsmithy96 (Meath) - Posts: 108 - 14/10/2014 14:40:07    1663555

pooper_trooper
County: Monaghan
Posts: 99

unlike in other counties like Louth where u have the ridiculous situation of a club playing senior league and junior championship.

I dont know,I think Kildare runs the same set up. I like the idea that a junior club can be playing senior league, surely that gives the junior club an advantage, as they will be playing to a better standard against stronger teams no?? At least it gives lower graded teams something to aim for... I'd ratehr my club to be palying senior/Inter teams rather than junior ones...
Compared to wexford where you can be a junior team and win your league but not get promoted, unless you win the championship, who would take that league seriously?? not too many down here do..

freddy2 (Wexford) - Posts: 215 - 14/10/2014 15:51:05    1663586

TheFullBack
County: Galway
Posts: 35

Not quite The FullBack. Last 16 made up of...

-The four divisional winner
-The four group winners from the B section (promoted to A section for 2015)
-The 4 winners and 4 runners up of the A section.

Basically two ways to qualify for last 16, the divisional championship not entirely separate. And the divisional championships are lobsided. 8 of the 16 from the North Division and 4 (very strong) from the Mid. 2 each from west and south.

roundball (Tipperary) - Posts: 2514 - 14/10/2014 16:43:45    1663628

I should add that should a team qualify for the last 16 by winning their Divisional championship and qualify through their group the extra place goes to the next best team in that group, not the divisional runner up... as far as I can tell. Who knows, maybe the Tipp County board just make it up as they go along.

roundball (Tipperary) - Posts: 2514 - 14/10/2014 16:48:04    1663629

Couple of historical notes on the Leitrim championships (partly just for the hell of it and partly cos I like this thread and want to put it back up to the top): before the current 3-groups-of-4 format for the football championship, it was 4 groups of three, with the top 2 in each group of 3 qualifying for the quarter-finals and the bottom teams entering the relegation semi-finals. Therefore then, as now, when the group stage is done with, you're either into the quarterfinals or facing relegation; there is no middle ground where your championship involvement is completely finished after the group stage. The league and championship are completely different, so you could be an intermediate club in Division 1, a senior club in Division 2, etc. It wasn't always like that though; they changed it in the 2000s and before that it was similar to pooper_trooper's description of Monaghan's league and championship.

Here's a look at the 2004 championship, which had 4 groups of 5 and is the ony one that Wikipedia has detailed link on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Leitrim_Senior_Football_Championship -

link
link
link


Before the group stage came in, the championship was inevitably straight knockout; I don't know for sure. However at some point in the 70's there was a "losers' group" and beaten teams could get back into the championship.

The senior hurling championship was dominated by the Carrick club from 1999 to 2010. At one point, the other handful of clubs played the intermediate championship, and the winners of that then played Carrick in the senior final (I think). I might be off by a mile though. In 2005, the championship consisted of one match; Carrick played an all-county combination called "Gaeil an Chontae". They still won.

Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1045 - 15/10/2014 13:56:36    1663928

Couple of historical notes on the Leitrim championships (partly just for the hell of it and partly cos I like this thread and want to put it back up to the top): before the current 3-groups-of-4 format for the football championship, it was 4 groups of three, with the top 2 in each group of 3 qualifying for the quarter-finals and the bottom teams entering the relegation semi-finals. Therefore then, as now, when the group stage is done with, you're either into the quarterfinals or facing relegation; there is no middle ground where your championship involvement is completely finished after the group stage. The league and championship are completely different, so you could be an intermediate club in Division 1, a senior club in Division 2, etc. It wasn't always like that though; they changed it in the 2000s and before that it was similar to pooper_trooper's description of Monaghan's league and championship.

Here's a look at the 2004 championship, which had 4 groups of 5 and is the ony one that Wikipedia has detailed link on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Leitrim_Senior_Football_Championship

Before the group stage came in, the championship was inevitably straight knockout; I don't know for sure. However at some point in the 70's there was a "losers' group" and beaten teams could get back into the championship.

The senior hurling championship was dominated by the Carrick club from 1999 to 2010. At one point, the other handful of clubs played the intermediate championship, and the winners of that then played Carrick in the senior final (I think). I might be off by a mile though. In 2005, the championship consisted of one match; Carrick played an all-county combination called "Gaeil an Chontae". They still won.

Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1045 - 15/10/2014 13:57:35    1663929

In Antrim the Championship runs as follows:

Hurling:
Senior - 9 teams, Preliminary Rd, 1/4 Finals, Semi-Finals, Final
Intermediate - 11 teams, Preliminary Rd, 1/4 Finals, Semi-Finals, Final
Junior - 5 teams, 1 1/4 final, Semi-Finals, Final
Junior B - 6 teams, 1/4 final, Semi-Final, Final - with the winner entering the Junior Championship
Reserve Cup - 8 teams (made up of the Senior Reserve teams from top division), 1/4 Final, Semi-Final, Final

Football:
Senior - 11 teams - Preliminary Rd, 1/4 Final, Semi-Final, Final
Intermediate - 14 teams, Preliminary Rd, 1/4 Final, Semi-Final, Final
Junior - 9 teams, Preliminary Rd, 1/4 Final, Semi-Final, Final
Also a Reserve Cup and Shield - Championship for the Div 1 and Div 2 Reserve teams.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 15/10/2014 15:21:10    1663974

Question for the Donegal and Antrim posters: Can a club have a team in more than one championship (i.e. both senior and intermediate, or both senior and junior, etc etc) but with restrictions on eligibility (e.g. a senior player can't play for his club's intermediate/junior team)? Just trying to figure out the reserve system. In Leitrim for example, a club might be at one grade, but they could have a second team at a lower grade (and both teams can't occupy the same grade). Would the equivalent in Donegal etc be that Club A's second team will play in the reserve championship of whatever championship Club A play in?

Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1045 - 15/10/2014 16:54:27    1664019

Tacaí Liatroma- each club would only have one team in either the Senior, Intermediate and Junior and they are split between the 4 leagues, with Div 1 and the better Div 2 teams in the Senior, rest of Div 2 and best of 3 in Intermediate and the rest Junior. The reserve cup and shield are for the Div 1 reserve and Div 2 reserve teams (other divisions don't have Reserve leagues). The theory is that the Div 1 and 2 teams have their graded players (15) who can't play reserve in league or Championship or if you aren't graded but have played in the Senior/Intermediate (first team) Championship you are not eligible. The flaw in this is that they play the reserve cup and shield before the Senior etc start so you find the clubs playing guys who come senior championship time are playing for the first 15. Would make a better competition for the reserves in my opinion if they didn't play the first round til after the first senior etc championship as it would then be actual reserves you would play against in the reserve league as opposed to half a senior team.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 15/10/2014 21:35:10    1664154

Tacaí Liatroma
There are 6 championships in Donegal.
Senior Championship is made up from the Div 1 teams and qualified teams from Div 2
Senior Reserve Championship would be the above's second team
Intermediate Championship is made up from the remaining Div 2 teams and those teams from Div 3 that want to enter
Intermediate Reserve Championship would be the above's second teams
Junior A Championship would be the remainder from Div 3 and all of Div 4
Junior B Championship would be Senior & Intermediate 3rd teams, Junior Reserve teams and some very small clubs only team.

The draw for each championship runs for 2 years. We will have a new draw at the end of this years championships. Currently The Senior and Senior Reserve quarter finals are on this weekend with some group games still being played at Intermediate level. Junior Championships are completed.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1671 - 15/10/2014 21:50:57    1664166

Ah good man, thanks for that, that really clears things up! Down in Leitrim, the 2nd and 3rd teams of clubs don't take part in reserve championships; they mix with the 1st teams, except, of course, a club's 2nd team can't be in the same grade as the 1st team, and a 3rd team can't be in the same grade as either. So, the 12 Senior teams are all 1st teams (naturally), but the Intermediate championship (also 12 teams) can contain the 2nd teams of Senior clubs, as well as 1st teams of other clubs. For example, the clubs Mohill and Glencar-Manorhamilton are senior in 2014 while their 2nd teams played in the Intermediate championship (with Mohill getting relegated to Junior A). In fact, the Junior A championship contains only one 1st team, Aughavas (the others being 2nd teams (and maybe some 3rd teams, I haven't checked)) and they are therefore the only team eligible to represent Leitrim in the 2014 Connacht Junior Club Championship. (They have declined to go forward, it seems.) If a team gets relegated and a lower team already exists at that level, the lower team also gets relegated (and if the next division contains another team of that club, they get relegated too! I think it's happened in the past five years).

I don't think any club has any 4th teams in any of the lower championships.

Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1045 - 20/10/2014 14:16:27    1665476

Tyrone football.

Straight knockout. 16 teams in round 1. then quarter finals etc etc. Easy to work out but not easy if beaten. Each adult team also has a reserve team which play in their division championship, just the same as their senior team.

16 teams in Division 1 (Senior)

16 teams in Division 2 (Intermediate)

16 or so teams in Division 3 (Junior).

All play their league games throughout the year. Some games are starred etc. Bottom 2 teams are relegated with 3rd bottom in relegation play off with 3rd team from division below. Championship winners plus league champs are promoted plus 3rd team in promotion game with team in division above.

26plus6equals1 (Tyrone) - Posts: 430 - 20/10/2014 15:57:44    1665545