National Forum

Not enough games for provincial grounds.

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Replying To Whammo86:  "To be honest I think the quarterfinals should be in provincial grounds also.

Provincial champions playing in their province. They did it right at the start of the qualifiers.

Croker isn't getting filled for double headers at the quarter final stages.

Players like playing in Croker but still you do have to make teams earn the right to get there. Would make reaching the semis a big deal."
Not true

The only provincial winners to never get chance to play in Croke Park are still Roscommon, in 2001. And even then they didn't get to play a home quarter final

manfromdelmonte (UK) - Posts: 541 - 02/07/2016 13:15:33    1874989

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5th Feb Division 3 rd 1, division 2 round 1
12th Feb Division 3 rd 2, division 2 round 2
19th February break week for Sigerson cup
26th February Division 3 rd 3, division 2 round 3, division 1 round 1
5th Mar Division 3 rd 4, division 2 round 4, division 1 round 2
12th Mar Division 3 rd 5, division 2 round 5, division 1 round 3
19th Mar Break week around AI club finals
26th Mar Division 3 rd 6, division 2 round 6, division 1 round 4
2nd Apr Division 3 rd 7, division 2 round 7, division 1 round 5
9th Apr Division 3 rd 8, division 1 and 2 free - counties are able to play club championship
16th Apr Junior c'ship rd 1, division 1 and 2 free
23rd Apr Junior c'ship QF, division 2 round 8, division 1 round 6
30th Apr Provincial championship week
7th May Provincial championship week
14th May Junior c'ship SF, division 2 round 9, division 1 round 7
21st May Provincial championship week
28th May Provincial championship week
4th Jun Junior c'ship Final, Intermediate championship round 1, division 1 free - counties are able to play club championship
11th June Intermediate championship QF, division 1 free
18th June Provincial championship week
25th June Provincial championship week
2nd July Intermediate championship SF, division 1 round 8
9th July Provincial championship week
16th July Provincial championship week
23rd July Intermediate championship Final, division 1 round 9
30th July AI senior championship round 1
6th August Bank holiday weekend AI championship QF

8 weeks are set aside for provincial championship games with provincial councils deciding how to run their competitions.

Their are 2 weeks set aside for division 1 teams to play club championship games, 1 week for division 2 teams. Division 3 teams don't get a club championship week set a side but their season finishes earlier.

Division 3 sides seasons can be over in May. That might not be such a bad thing as they might get more players committing without having to worry about travelling.

The calendar is much more structured

Every county will know their provincial championship, league and AI championship schedule at the start of the season and club football can be easily planned around that.

I feel the league competitions are much improved with championship seeding on the line and promotion/relegation to championship grades being at stake.

The height of the season retains it's knockout feel, but there should be more evenly matched battles.

Provincial champions remain part of the All Ireland series, they're given designated weekends which are restricted to only 8 so that they aren't too drawn out as they currently are.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4241 - 02/07/2016 13:31:34    1874993

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Replying To legendzxix:  "The option of moving the All-Ireland finals forward to August was rejected at congress.

The hurling league was once played during the hurling championship but it didn't work out too well. Once the league started, there was zero interest in the league.

Some county leagues run well in parallel with their county championships. That's mainly where there is an acceptance of county players not being involved in league games played during summer months."
I posted another season structure probably addresses these problems a little.

Division 1 gets played parallel to the Provincial championships but will be over before provincial championship Finals.

Season structure uses the current GAA season but also includes designated weeks for club championship to be played.

There's lower tier championships that allow teams to progress to the AI series without really skipping rounds ahead.

The main problem could be that the Junior season ends early. A junior team could be knocked out as early as 7th May. Even the Junior final is played around the June bank holiday.

It may not be such a bad thing though. Gives plenty of time for club championship and also the players from the weaker counties may be more prepared to commit to a short season where they're getting regular matches. They still get the opportunity to play provincial championship and if they do particularly well they can go on a run and reach an AI QF.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4241 - 02/07/2016 14:08:08    1875005

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I don't see the point in talking about structures that don't take account of recent motions or proposed motions to congress.

Group stages are off the table. The B Championship option that I was in agreement with is off the table.

If agreement can't be reached for a round that sees provincial finalists entering at the same stage while offering a carrot to win the provincial championship, it's hard to see many more options getting through.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7881 - 02/07/2016 17:21:59    1875069

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Replying To legendzxix:  "I don't see the point in talking about structures that don't take account of recent motions or proposed motions to congress.

Group stages are off the table. The B Championship option that I was in agreement with is off the table.

If agreement can't be reached for a round that sees provincial finalists entering at the same stage while offering a carrot to win the provincial championship, it's hard to see many more options getting through."
That B championship didn't have a route back into the AI.

I agree though, your suggestion is a simple change that could go through and would improve things.

Re: motions though, most don't go through first time.

I may be mistaken but the motions to bring the AI finals forward and to remove replays other than finals were both tabled directly from Croke Park. I've been told they're likely to come up again and that they should eventually get through.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4241 - 02/07/2016 17:52:00    1875084

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Replying To Whammo86:  "That B championship didn't have a route back into the AI.

I agree though, your suggestion is a simple change that could go through and would improve things.

Re: motions though, most don't go through first time.

I may be mistaken but the motions to bring the AI finals forward and to remove replays other than finals were both tabled directly from Croke Park. I've been told they're likely to come up again and that they should eventually get through."
I thought they were right with the idea to reward the B winner with a qualifier place of the following year.

B winners should only enter the 1st round of the top tier. It's only possible in the following year. It is possible in hurling as the Ring Cup is played off so early.

The route was still their for Division 4 counties to make provincial finals.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7881 - 02/07/2016 22:10:41    1875179

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Replying To legendzxix:  "I thought they were right with the idea to reward the B winner with a qualifier place of the following year.

B winners should only enter the 1st round of the top tier. It's only possible in the following year. It is possible in hurling as the Ring Cup is played off so early.

The route was still their for Division 4 counties to make provincial finals."
My proposal doesn't really see lower tier winners skip ahead rounds. The Junior champions skip one round of the Intermediate championship but they've had to win at least 3 rounds to do so. The Intermediate champion goes straight to the quarter-finals, but they've come out top in a championship that includes all but the top 10 in the country. They've earned their spot.

The Junior Championship as above is over early. I think it's superior to the current system where you have the league finishing on 3rd April and then the likes of Wicklow waiting 6 weeks before their next game and then another 5 weeks more until the qualifiers. Similar stories for Carlow and London. I can't blame it when players aren't fussed on signing up for that. Meanwhile the club game is getting pushed back, which surely doesn't do anything to help the matter.

The big problems with the current season is a lack of time for club championship, lack of competitive fixtures, poor training to games ratio.

The above system addresses those problems.

Keeps all teams in with 2 chances to qualify for the All Ireland.

No group stages, I'm as sceptical as you are as to whether they'd suit our games.

Gives weaker teams more chance of winning championship silverware.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4241 - 02/07/2016 23:13:18    1875201

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I have never understood the logic behind a b championship, surely the main problem in football is the handfull of teams at the top who are a good bit ahead of the rest and the handfull of teams at the bottom with everyone else been fairly similar.

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 02/07/2016 23:19:35    1875204

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Replying To ROS1:  "I have never understood the logic behind a b championship, surely the main problem in football is the handfull of teams at the top who are a good bit ahead of the rest and the handfull of teams at the bottom with everyone else been fairly similar."
Yeh fair enough I'd agree with that, maybe lower tier championships aren't needed.

I'm kind of just throwing out suggestions that might make things more interesting for the players/fans.

B championships outside the wider All Ireland are a complete no go.

The qualifiers aren't especially popular either. Legendzxix suggestion is a decent improvement on the current qualifier system though and could spark a bit of life into it.

It could be just that there isn't much interest in games outside of those between the top teams and there isn't much that can be done about it.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4241 - 02/07/2016 23:33:25    1875211

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