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Replying To Tadhg2020: "Let's swap the league and provincial championship position in the season and be done with it. Yhats what you all really want.
Westmeath, you did great to beat kildare and Meath to get to the Leinster final but if ye lose we wont recognise that. We will make you play off again for your place in the championship. We want to consider performance in a competition that was played predominantly in the pre/early part of season in awful weather conditions as more important than the competition that's played in the middle of the intercounty season when it comes to deciding who plays in the championship.
Wee are no longer going to consider the league as a championship team building phase of the season. Instead we are going to use the provincial championships for that. The league will be the second most important competition going forward. Its too early in the season to justify that?? Oh wait we better move it so...." The Provincials aren't even pushed forward that much. The season can be played over 22 weeks with Provincials starting in March.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 19/05/2026 18:04:47
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If the provincials were before the league, the 4 provincial winners could join the defending All Ireland winners and Tailteann winners as qualified. There would be a clearer picture then of the 10 to 12 spots available through the league.
An All Ireland 16 straight after the league could have the following:
ROUND 1A
1 to 4 drawn against 5 to 8. Division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 1B
9 to 12 drawn against 13 to 16. Any division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 2
1A losers v 1B winners.
QUARTER FINALS
1A winners v R2 winners.
Reward & jeopardy: A bit like the AFL top 4 - Division 1 top 6 and 2 promoted teams have award of 2 bites at making quarter finals. Relegated Division 1 teams and 6 others have the jeopardy of being in straight knockout.
legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9738 - 19/05/2026 18:47:16
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Camoige All Ireland this year has a group of 4 and a group of 6. No teams are eliminated after the round robin in the group of 4 with the top 2 qualifying for the semi finals and the bottom 2 joining the top 2 from the group of 6 in the quarter finals. The teams in the group of 4 are the 4 All Ireland semi finalists from last year.
edu (Mayo) - Posts: 132 - 19/05/2026 21:42:29
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Replying To legendzxix: "If the provincials were before the league, the 4 provincial winners could join the defending All Ireland winners and Tailteann winners as qualified. There would be a clearer picture then of the 10 to 12 spots available through the league.
An All Ireland 16 straight after the league could have the following:
ROUND 1A
1 to 4 drawn against 5 to 8. Division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 1B
9 to 12 drawn against 13 to 16. Any division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 2
1A losers v 1B winners.
QUARTER FINALS
1A winners v R2 winners.
Reward & jeopardy: A bit like the AFL top 4 - Division 1 top 6 and 2 promoted teams have award of 2 bites at making quarter finals. Relegated Division 1 teams and 6 others have the jeopardy of being in straight knockout." Would the four provincial winners be able to unduly influence the league standings ? Weakened teams out, maybe not bothered if another team got relegated etc?? Maybe never happen.
Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 95 - 19/05/2026 22:17:28
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Replying To Whammo86: "The Provincials aren't even pushed forward that much. The season can be played over 22 weeks with Provincials starting in March." So i am correct. You do want to play the provincials before the league because they wont be played during the league. This is amateur sport. No county board or manager would that and rightly so.
You want to kill the provincials standing in the game. Just be honest about it.
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 422 - 20/05/2026 00:59:03
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Replying To Whammo86: "There's 7 rounds of matches after the Provincials to account for that.
Also if you have it that teams don't play who they've already played where possible then the Ulster teams will avoid teams they've played in the Provincials. It naturally evens things out." It doesn't naturally even things out, thats rubbish. Firstly I don't know where you're getting 7 rounds of games from, it's 5 or 6 depending on whether it takes you 2 or 3 games to get to the QF, am I missing something?
Secondly your first round All Ireland series game being at home is a massive leg up to start your All Ireland campaign. Giving the seeded Munster finalists, which 9 or 10 times out of 10 will be Kerry and Cork, this home game as if there acheivement is the same as Armaghs, Monaghans, Westmeaths, etc, is just blatantly unfair.
Its not just Kerry and Cork either, Galway getting the same advantage for beating Sligo is not fair either.
JimB1991 (Donegal) - Posts: 174 - 20/05/2026 06:12:01
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Replying To legendzxix: "If the provincials were before the league, the 4 provincial winners could join the defending All Ireland winners and Tailteann winners as qualified. There would be a clearer picture then of the 10 to 12 spots available through the league.
An All Ireland 16 straight after the league could have the following:
ROUND 1A
1 to 4 drawn against 5 to 8. Division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 1B
9 to 12 drawn against 13 to 16. Any division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 2
1A losers v 1B winners.
QUARTER FINALS
1A winners v R2 winners.
Reward & jeopardy: A bit like the AFL top 4 - Division 1 top 6 and 2 promoted teams have award of 2 bites at making quarter finals. Relegated Division 1 teams and 6 others have the jeopardy of being in straight knockout." I still think your round 1 is a bit superfluous.
You've just had all these teams playing one another in the league why do you need another round to grade them.
You're pushing provincials into February to facilitate that round too.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 20/05/2026 06:27:57
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Replying To legendzxix: "If the provincials were before the league, the 4 provincial winners could join the defending All Ireland winners and Tailteann winners as qualified. There would be a clearer picture then of the 10 to 12 spots available through the league.
An All Ireland 16 straight after the league could have the following:
ROUND 1A
1 to 4 drawn against 5 to 8. Division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 1B
9 to 12 drawn against 13 to 16. Any division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw.
ROUND 2
1A losers v 1B winners.
QUARTER FINALS
1A winners v R2 winners.
Reward & jeopardy: A bit like the AFL top 4 - Division 1 top 6 and 2 promoted teams have award of 2 bites at making quarter finals. Relegated Division 1 teams and 6 others have the jeopardy of being in straight knockout." There's too little risk to the league phase then too.
You've 16 teams qualified for the All Ireland. It'll often be the team's staying up in division 2 and then maybe division 3 is exciting if the winner of it can still qualify but it still just seems low stakes.
You have 2 groups of 8 going through to the 6 or 8 knockout playoffs it's just better.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 20/05/2026 17:52:21
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Replying To JimB1991: "It doesn't naturally even things out, thats rubbish. Firstly I don't know where you're getting 7 rounds of games from, it's 5 or 6 depending on whether it takes you 2 or 3 games to get to the QF, am I missing something?
Secondly your first round All Ireland series game being at home is a massive leg up to start your All Ireland campaign. Giving the seeded Munster finalists, which 9 or 10 times out of 10 will be Kerry and Cork, this home game as if there acheivement is the same as Armaghs, Monaghans, Westmeaths, etc, is just blatantly unfair.
Its not just Kerry and Cork either, Galway getting the same advantage for beating Sligo is not fair either." I'm talking about my proposal where the All Ireland is run in a 2 groups of 8 format.
Every team in a group plays each other once with teams emerging to a 6 or 8 team knockout stage.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 20/05/2026 17:55:32
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Re. The suggested Round 1A and 1B if league was directly before All Ireland championship. Relegation from Division 1 would mean no safety net at the start of the All Ireland championship. Was just musing anyway. If not a runner, so be it.
legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9738 - 20/05/2026 19:05:19
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Replying To Tadhg2020: "So i am correct. You do want to play the provincials before the league because they wont be played during the league. This is amateur sport. No county board or manager would that and rightly so.
You want to kill the provincials standing in the game. Just be honest about it." The Provincials standing in the game is already diminished.
I want a GAA championship and overall season that makes sense and is exciting and the best teams play one another in games that matter.
For what it's worth I don't think the status quo is great for the Provincials as is.
The finals don't count towards the All Ireland.
The scheduling isn't great, you clearly really have a lot of time for the provincials. I don't think the are held in the same esteem by everyone else and going from the national league and the sort of fixtures there to the Provincials and the mismatches, I don't think it's great.
There'd be a better flow to the season starting with them and I honestly think they'd benefit from that.
They are still linked to the All Ireland.
I've nothing against them other than the fact that they are imbalanced within them and between them, so it makes it difficult from a fairness point of view to have them be the foundation of the National championship.
To have a better National championship, you have to have more time dedicated to it than is currently possible with the scheduling of the Provincials.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 20/05/2026 19:42:25
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Replying To Whammo86: "The Provincials standing in the game is already diminished.
I want a GAA championship and overall season that makes sense and is exciting and the best teams play one another in games that matter.
For what it's worth I don't think the status quo is great for the Provincials as is.
The finals don't count towards the All Ireland.
The scheduling isn't great, you clearly really have a lot of time for the provincials. I don't think the are held in the same esteem by everyone else and going from the national league and the sort of fixtures there to the Provincials and the mismatches, I don't think it's great.
There'd be a better flow to the season starting with them and I honestly think they'd benefit from that.
They are still linked to the All Ireland.
I've nothing against them other than the fact that they are imbalanced within them and between them, so it makes it difficult from a fairness point of view to have them be the foundation of the National championship.
To have a better National championship, you have to have more time dedicated to it than is currently possible with the scheduling of the Provincials." No its not. You clearly haven't been watching the celebrations in Roscommon and Mullingar or louth last year. Nobody has ever celebrated a league win like that.
Its not that I have great regard. Those saying they dont are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I include you in that. Are you really telling everyone that if Antrim were ever to win an Ulster title that you dont want it to count for something significant like it does now. Yes they made a mistake in the new format. I dont like it anyway but not seeding the winners will be fixed if the system lasts. However you cannot tell me that winning the ulster championship in this and particularly last years format wouldnt be better that winning the diminished ulster championship that you are proposing. I dont buy that for a second.
As for the best teams playing each other in meaningful games at the right time of the year. They do in this format, they did in last years format and they always have done.
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 422 - 20/05/2026 23:29:07
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Replying To Whammo86: "The Provincials standing in the game is already diminished.
I want a GAA championship and overall season that makes sense and is exciting and the best teams play one another in games that matter.
For what it's worth I don't think the status quo is great for the Provincials as is.
The finals don't count towards the All Ireland.
The scheduling isn't great, you clearly really have a lot of time for the provincials. I don't think the are held in the same esteem by everyone else and going from the national league and the sort of fixtures there to the Provincials and the mismatches, I don't think it's great.
There'd be a better flow to the season starting with them and I honestly think they'd benefit from that.
They are still linked to the All Ireland.
I've nothing against them other than the fact that they are imbalanced within them and between them, so it makes it difficult from a fairness point of view to have them be the foundation of the National championship.
To have a better National championship, you have to have more time dedicated to it than is currently possible with the scheduling of the Provincials." With the current format I still think the best schedule would have the League and Provincial championships played in tandem.
With the current calendar the league stared on Jan 24th and the provincial finals were played up to May 15th - so something like this:
Jan 24/25 Preliminary Provincial round in Ulster / Leinster
Jan 31/Feb1 League round 1
Feb7/8 (OFF) Off
Feb 14/15 Provincial Quarter Finals
Feb 21/22 League round 2
Feb 28/Mar1 League round 3
Mar7/8 Off
Mar14/15 League round 4
Mar21/22 Provincial Semi Finals
Mar28/29 League round 5
April 4/5 Off
April 11/12 League round 6
April 18/19 Off
April 25/26 League round 7
May 2/3 League Finals
May 9/10 Provincial Finals
May 16/17 Provincial Finals
The top 16 placings would be known after the provincial semi finals meaning all teams would know what they were playing for in the last 3 rounds of the league.
I'd still much prefer championship based promotion & relegation with winning a province a way of being promoted as I outlined in a previous posts here.
brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 500 - 21/05/2026 10:35:16
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Replying To Tadhg2020: "No its not. You clearly haven't been watching the celebrations in Roscommon and Mullingar or louth last year. Nobody has ever celebrated a league win like that.
Its not that I have great regard. Those saying they dont are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I include you in that. Are you really telling everyone that if Antrim were ever to win an Ulster title that you dont want it to count for something significant like it does now. Yes they made a mistake in the new format. I dont like it anyway but not seeding the winners will be fixed if the system lasts. However you cannot tell me that winning the ulster championship in this and particularly last years format wouldnt be better that winning the diminished ulster championship that you are proposing. I dont buy that for a second.
As for the best teams playing each other in meaningful games at the right time of the year. They do in this format, they did in last years format and they always have done." You never address the core issue of provincial imbalance? You just accuse everyone of wanting to diminish them, and continually highlight celebrations of winning counties.
Simple question to you.... Should the reward be equal in the race for Sam, to the winners and the runners up, of all provinces?
Yes or No answer please?
Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 95 - 21/05/2026 11:03:35
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Replying To Tadhg2020: "No its not. You clearly haven't been watching the celebrations in Roscommon and Mullingar or louth last year. Nobody has ever celebrated a league win like that.
Its not that I have great regard. Those saying they dont are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I include you in that. Are you really telling everyone that if Antrim were ever to win an Ulster title that you dont want it to count for something significant like it does now. Yes they made a mistake in the new format. I dont like it anyway but not seeding the winners will be fixed if the system lasts. However you cannot tell me that winning the ulster championship in this and particularly last years format wouldnt be better that winning the diminished ulster championship that you are proposing. I dont buy that for a second.
As for the best teams playing each other in meaningful games at the right time of the year. They do in this format, they did in last years format and they always have done." Your argument collapses when you use Westmeath, Antrim etc as examples
Those counties win provincial so infrequently, they couldn't give a monkeys about what that then means for their All Ireland ambitions.
The fact that they won, they actually gained no advantage over the teams they beat.
The draw we have now allows Galway (3rd on all time list), Cork (4th on all time list), and Dublin (2nd on all time list) a leg up for doing nothing of note except lose a provincial final, where only Dublin beat a div 2 team to get there.
tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1828 - 21/05/2026 13:15:34
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Even I can't compete with this :)
No more mismatches? Uefa revamps qualifying for men's major tournaments | Uefa | The Guardian https://share.google/3tSGJyCS1E2UBE8cw
omahant (USA) - Posts: 3425 - 21/05/2026 14:21:23
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Replying To tirawleybaron: "Your argument collapses when you use Westmeath, Antrim etc as examples
Those counties win provincial so infrequently, they couldn't give a monkeys about what that then means for their All Ireland ambitions.
The fact that they won, they actually gained no advantage over the teams they beat.
The draw we have now allows Galway (3rd on all time list), Cork (4th on all time list), and Dublin (2nd on all time list) a leg up for doing nothing of note except lose a provincial final, where only Dublin beat a div 2 team to get there." No it doesnt collapse. It counts now because everyone is at full strength or close to full strength because the provincial championship is currently the second most important trophy you can win. If you break the link and the big teams are qualified anyway they is every liklihood that those teams will rest players as the league will happen after the provincial championship. Yes it will before you say it wont. There is no way teams will sit around for 6 weeks when the league is qualifying them for the championship proper. The provincials move to February and March and become a preseason/ early season competition. Media lose interest and so do fans. Then when a westmeath beat a Dublin B team in the leinster final it means much less. You know this but we are back to this strawman argument again. Its like groundhog day.
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 422 - 21/05/2026 17:01:08
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Replying To Tadhg2020: "No its not. You clearly haven't been watching the celebrations in Roscommon and Mullingar or louth last year. Nobody has ever celebrated a league win like that.
Its not that I have great regard. Those saying they dont are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I include you in that. Are you really telling everyone that if Antrim were ever to win an Ulster title that you dont want it to count for something significant like it does now. Yes they made a mistake in the new format. I dont like it anyway but not seeding the winners will be fixed if the system lasts. However you cannot tell me that winning the ulster championship in this and particularly last years format wouldnt be better that winning the diminished ulster championship that you are proposing. I dont buy that for a second.
As for the best teams playing each other in meaningful games at the right time of the year. They do in this format, they did in last years format and they always have done." I'd be delighted if Antrim won this Ulster championship. I don't think it would mean as much now as it did during the qualifiers era and certainly not as much as the straight knockout era.
I don't think my suggestion diminishes it at all really. It's still connected to the All Ireland.
If it was feasible to play them in the current window and play the All Ireland into August I wouldn't be against that either. Provincial and All Ireland club would need to be in February and March. It would force club championship into a worse window though.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 21/05/2026 17:18:34
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Replying To Tadhg2020: "No it doesnt collapse. It counts now because everyone is at full strength or close to full strength because the provincial championship is currently the second most important trophy you can win. If you break the link and the big teams are qualified anyway they is every liklihood that those teams will rest players as the league will happen after the provincial championship. Yes it will before you say it wont. There is no way teams will sit around for 6 weeks when the league is qualifying them for the championship proper. The provincials move to February and March and become a preseason/ early season competition. Media lose interest and so do fans. Then when a westmeath beat a Dublin B team in the leinster final it means much less. You know this but we are back to this strawman argument again. Its like groundhog day." I'm not breaking the link.
The big teams are qualified already in the current system.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4676 - 21/05/2026 17:19:53
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