National Forum

Football Championship 2026

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The 4 provincial finals are yet to be played. It appears there is no advantage winning this in relation to this AI series.
If so it looks like GAA HQ are slowly trying to kill the provincial championship.
I find this absolutely ludicrous and I am not advocating the provincial championship.

Captainfantastic (Westmeath) - Posts: 58 - 04/05/2026 19:17:13    2670972

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Replying To Captainfantastic:  "The 4 provincial finals are yet to be played. It appears there is no advantage winning this in relation to this AI series.
If so it looks like GAA HQ are slowly trying to kill the provincial championship.
I find this absolutely ludicrous and I am not advocating the provincial championship."
I disagree.


There's deffo less pressure on winning your province but that's actually freed up some teams, giving us better games and more variety.

The finals will be there to be won and now there's no issue with paths etc. people know weeks in advance for instance Donegal will be coming to Killarney on 24th so can plan for tickets and travel much much earlier.

Are Kerry going to be less inclined to try v Cork with Donegal in mind? If so, great chance for Cork to get a Munster title for first time in donkeys.

shaggykev (Donegal) - Posts: 431 - 04/05/2026 19:39:11    2670974

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Replying To Captainfantastic:  "The 4 provincial finals are yet to be played. It appears there is no advantage winning this in relation to this AI series.
If so it looks like GAA HQ are slowly trying to kill the provincial championship.
I find this absolutely ludicrous and I am not advocating the provincial championship."
I cannot believe a Westmeath supporter is thinking that winning a Leinster Championship is no big deal?
Surely going into the AI series as Leinster Champions would be incredible and a huge boost to your players and supporters?

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 924 - 04/05/2026 20:20:01    2670980

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So the provincial finals are now dead rubbers, are we really accepting this nonsense?
Counties should agree to field developmental teams for them. It's the end of the local rivalry.

suckvalleypaddy (Galway) - Posts: 1795 - 04/05/2026 20:24:03    2670982

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Replying To suckvalleypaddy:  "So the provincial finals are now dead rubbers, are we really accepting this nonsense?
Counties should agree to field developmental teams for them. It's the end of the local rivalry."
Seconded. Farcical when you see what it means in reality.

Never happy to leave well enough alone. Dublin playing Louth again illustrates the utter absurdity of this.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4264 - 04/05/2026 21:05:14    2670990

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "I cannot believe a Westmeath supporter is thinking that winning a Leinster Championship is no big deal?
Surely going into the AI series as Leinster Champions would be incredible and a huge boost to your players and supporters?"
I think yoi are completely misunderstanding his post..
He is saying the exact opposite

Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 330 - 04/05/2026 21:07:11    2670991

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Replying To shaggykev:  "I disagree.


There's deffo less pressure on winning your province but that's actually freed up some teams, giving us better games and more variety.

The finals will be there to be won and now there's no issue with paths etc. people know weeks in advance for instance Donegal will be coming to Killarney on 24th so can plan for tickets and travel much much earlier.

Are Kerry going to be less inclined to try v Cork with Donegal in mind? If so, great chance for Cork to get a Munster title for first time in donkeys."
Kerry/Donegal was likely to be one of decisive games of year.

Ulster be damned! Donegal are in great place if you think about it ...

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 4264 - 04/05/2026 21:07:38    2670992

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Replying To suckvalleypaddy:  "So the provincial finals are now dead rubbers, are we really accepting this nonsense?
Counties should agree to field developmental teams for them. It's the end of the local rivalry."
You're dead right, long gone are the days of worrying about heading to Clones for Ulster final day, if it happens so be it but no big deal.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2662 - 04/05/2026 21:20:05    2670995

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Seconded. Farcical when you see what it means in reality.

Never happy to leave well enough alone. Dublin playing Louth again illustrates the utter absurdity of this."
Provincial route dies not suit everyone, interesting to see how Tyrone,meath,Donegal etc fair out, this year.

Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 55 - 04/05/2026 21:53:22    2671000

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It's a funny one that provincial finals are supposedly being undermined but are getting replays. The round 1 draw has taken some attention but that will settle down as we get near Sunday. 3 of the finals delivered last year. Kerry v Cork would have been the best final of the lot but it was served as a semi final instead.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9702 - 04/05/2026 21:59:02    2671002

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Replying To Captainfantastic:  "The 4 provincial finals are yet to be played. It appears there is no advantage winning this in relation to this AI series.
If so it looks like GAA HQ are slowly trying to kill the provincial championship.
I find this absolutely ludicrous and I am not advocating the provincial championship."
Provincials are not equal, so should not be tied to all Ireland. One province has only 2 teams practically, so they can alternate the title, save the bother of playing fish in a barrel games.

Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 55 - 04/05/2026 21:59:57    2671003

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At the very least they should have waited until the provincial finals were over before doing the draw. Now most team's eye is off them, to varying extents. Most except maybe Roscommon and Westmeath have one eye now on the first round of AI.

Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1840 - 04/05/2026 22:10:08    2671004

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Replying To Tadhg2020:  "Dont you have at least one extra round that way and eventually have to play a winner from round 1 to get to quarter final?"
Not If teams rest key players, field a 2nd string team in R1 and basically throw the game. You then still play two must win games and would be more likely to get a softer run into the QFs. Granted Its all dependent on the draw a team gets, but R1 winners play the other R1 winners in R2A, hardly a reward is it?

If Derry beat Armagh, we could potentially end up playing Kerry, Donegal or Galway in R2A.
Whereas if Derry lose R1, we could get Cavan, Kildare, Westmeath potentially. Then in R3 you playing the losing teams from R2A, so one of the weaker sides from the R1 winners.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3052 - 04/05/2026 22:19:36    2671007

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Replying To suckvalleypaddy:  "So the provincial finals are now dead rubbers, are we really accepting this nonsense?
Counties should agree to field developmental teams for them. It's the end of the local rivalry."
Its a shame, because Football Provincials are really healthy in comparison to Hurling, where you just have Munster Championship and then a weird Leinster with Galway and Antrim thrown into it. But the men at the top seem to want to get rid of the Provincials, which would kill the whole thing.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3052 - 04/05/2026 22:30:41    2671009

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