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Westmeath Football thread

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "Delighted to hear on the podcasts this week that they all seem to be against the football format. Even Alan was saying the gap between the two grades is massive, and it's nobody's fault but their own for not being in the A group. He even mentioned that if you're going to finish 4th, you might nearly be better off finishing 5th or 6th in the A group, as you'd have a better chance of making a quarter-final the following year."
It'll be voted out next year I suspect. Some of the same clubs that voted for it, will vote against it next year, as it'll no longer be in their individual interests.
County board will probably use it as a way to go to a completely different format , with fewer games , as this is what they want anyway.
It's a complete fiasco.

jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 520 - 08/07/2026 10:19:24    2684792

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "Delighted to hear on the podcasts this week that they all seem to be against the football format. Even Alan was saying the gap between the two grades is massive, and it's nobody's fault but their own for not being in the A group. He even mentioned that if you're going to finish 4th, you might nearly be better off finishing 5th or 6th in the A group, as you'd have a better chance of making a quarter-final the following year."
yeah it makes no sense, I hadnt realised the 2 teams in section B will play each other again in the QF as well. They're right though about it being the beginning of the end for current format, will be reduced group sizes soon you'd imagine

martyW (Westmeath) - Posts: 355 - 08/07/2026 10:25:19    2684795

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Replying To martyW:  "yeah it makes no sense, I hadnt realised the 2 teams in section B will play each other again in the QF as well. They're right though about it being the beginning of the end for current format, will be reduced group sizes soon you'd imagine"
Oh absolutely. The quarter-finals are a joke of a setup. Pat O'Brien hit the nail on the head-don't fix what isn't broken. As much as I don't agree with plenty of the County Board's decisions, if they can keep McHugh around for another few years I'll support them.

Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 196 - 08/07/2026 13:43:24    2684832

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Seen Matty Whitaker on off the ball this week , spoke well.

Highlighted the issue with pitches at the start of the year and may have been associated with the poor league campaign?

Its quite important that after this years success that CB build on it and get some sort training centre going , it's all whsipers on when its going to commence and if land was sold etc. I heard the hurlers had multiple weekly sessions in Delvin during the league as well , surely that's not going to help the development of a player games / skills

Crucial to build on this years success , sitting ducks otherwise.

Also hope to see some good crowds in cusak for the football next weekend which I think will be a quite open championship. Not many teams bar 1 maybe with a full starting 15.

HutchDes01 (Westmeath) - Posts: 6 - 09/07/2026 10:12:47    2684906

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Hearing one of the best players in the Country, Matthew Whittaker, openly speak about the impact of having no permanent training base / Centre of Excellence should be a wake up call. Spending the entire League travelling to neighbouring counties and relying on the goodwill of Clubs for pitches is not the environment Inter County players should have to prepare in. I was laughed at on this forum a few months back when I suggested that the inconsistent performances in the League were directly impacted by having no training base. These players have given Westmeath some of the greatest days in the County's Football history. They have represented the jersey with pride and commitment, yet they continue to prepare without a permanent county training base, going to Leitrim to train ffs. They deserve better than this. Supporting our Inter County players with the facilities they need should be a priority, not an afterthought. It makes what they achieved this season all the more impressive. I will ask the question again, how much longer can the County Board stand back and do nothing? Like the lad on the scratcher all his life, sponging off the goodwill of Clubs and other Counties all his life.

iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 352 - 09/07/2026 13:11:23    2684926

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "Oh absolutely. The quarter-finals are a joke of a setup. Pat O'Brien hit the nail on the head-don't fix what isn't broken. As much as I don't agree with plenty of the County Board's decisions, if they can keep McHugh around for another few years I'll support them."
Killucan got their way, it will be embarrassing for them if they can't get out of the Section B this year. They might have to change the format to allow 4 teams go through from Section B next year if they don't. It pays to have the pull and they have too much for 1 Club. The Championship format is a complete farce, glad the lads on the Podcast called it out for what it is. It was forced through against the wishes of the players, they were ignored. Once again, the players were failed by the County Board. McHugh met with them last week and has no intentions of leaving so at least that.

iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 352 - 09/07/2026 13:22:33    2684931

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Replying To iarmhiabu:  "Hearing one of the best players in the Country, Matthew Whittaker, openly speak about the impact of having no permanent training base / Centre of Excellence should be a wake up call. Spending the entire League travelling to neighbouring counties and relying on the goodwill of Clubs for pitches is not the environment Inter County players should have to prepare in. I was laughed at on this forum a few months back when I suggested that the inconsistent performances in the League were directly impacted by having no training base. These players have given Westmeath some of the greatest days in the County's Football history. They have represented the jersey with pride and commitment, yet they continue to prepare without a permanent county training base, going to Leitrim to train ffs. They deserve better than this. Supporting our Inter County players with the facilities they need should be a priority, not an afterthought. It makes what they achieved this season all the more impressive. I will ask the question again, how much longer can the County Board stand back and do nothing? Like the lad on the scratcher all his life, sponging off the goodwill of Clubs and other Counties all his life."
To a large extent I agree with all you have said. The crux in my opinion though is funds. Plain and simple. There is a large bank of land acquired in Mullingar for COE but even with the best will in the world its 3 to 5 years before you have any sort of a pitch on it. Unfortunately, we don't have a sugar daddy like Limerick has in JP to front load facilities. Oh sorry, we do have one up near Delvin, runs an airline. I wonder would he loosen his purse strings................!

Greengrass1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 79 - 09/07/2026 15:58:39    2684972

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Replying To Greengrass1:  "To a large extent I agree with all you have said. The crux in my opinion though is funds. Plain and simple. There is a large bank of land acquired in Mullingar for COE but even with the best will in the world its 3 to 5 years before you have any sort of a pitch on it. Unfortunately, we don't have a sugar daddy like Limerick has in JP to front load facilities. Oh sorry, we do have one up near Delvin, runs an airline. I wonder would he loosen his purse strings................!"
Is the land actually paid for at this point?
If yes, then how much does it cost to build a pitch or two? (Might be a lot , I genuinely don't know). Obviously changing rooms, gym, etc are not cheap. But you'd imagine it will be done incrementally. Shamrocks have already started building their pitches across the road, and they only announced their purchase shortly before the county board did.

jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 520 - 09/07/2026 16:38:57    2684982

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Replying To iarmhiabu:  "Killucan got their way, it will be embarrassing for them if they can't get out of the Section B this year. They might have to change the format to allow 4 teams go through from Section B next year if they don't. It pays to have the pull and they have too much for 1 Club. The Championship format is a complete farce, glad the lads on the Podcast called it out for what it is. It was forced through against the wishes of the players, they were ignored. Once again, the players were failed by the County Board. McHugh met with them last week and has no intentions of leaving so at least that."
McHugh has been a huge addition by all accounts. From what the players have been saying, he was one of the main advocates for getting championship fixtures spread out a bit more to give lads a chance to recover, which makes a lot of sense. He's some operator. As for Killucan, they even train with a neighbouring club midweek at times because of low numbers; I think they'll go well in B. Tang and Athlone don't look great at the minute, so they've no real excuse not to push on and get promoted to A.

Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 196 - 10/07/2026 09:27:20    2685046

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "McHugh has been a huge addition by all accounts. From what the players have been saying, he was one of the main advocates for getting championship fixtures spread out a bit more to give lads a chance to recover, which makes a lot of sense. He's some operator. As for Killucan, they even train with a neighbouring club midweek at times because of low numbers; I think they'll go well in B. Tang and Athlone don't look great at the minute, so they've no real excuse not to push on and get promoted to A."
He just got it delayed by 2 weeks not more spread out, rounds 2+3 are back to back and rounds 4+5+QF are now back to back. The initial format with it starting this week would have meant it was more spread out with rest week before the QF. However our intercounty players were due a break so it made sense but clubs will be complaining at the QF stage that things are too compressed and players cant recover with short turnarounds

martyW (Westmeath) - Posts: 355 - 10/07/2026 11:22:28    2685073

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Replying To jamsie:  "Is the land actually paid for at this point?
If yes, then how much does it cost to build a pitch or two? (Might be a lot , I genuinely don't know). Obviously changing rooms, gym, etc are not cheap. But you'd imagine it will be done incrementally. Shamrocks have already started building their pitches across the road, and they only announced their purchase shortly before the county board did."
Yes as far as its known. It costs minimum of 150k to build a basic pitch and thats on the basis of the ground conditions being half right. The land purchased in Mullingar is fine for long term development but its certainly not anyway level for even a makeshift pitch or two. A lot of work required just to level and drain the ground. Rugby club in Moate spent 70k grading and leveling their pitches last year with no proper drainage put in. A complete disaster as they had to spend similar this year to put in slit drains etc. Shamrocks ground that they bought is very level compared to across the road but swampy. It will take a lot to do anything with it imo. Hopefully, we'll see some progress soon.

Greengrass1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 79 - 10/07/2026 11:53:14    2685080

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Finally the county board have started a draw people can get behind. A weekly draw at five quid an entry with a minimum jackpot guaranteed and weekly prizes outside of the jackpot. Well done on finally coming up with something that doesn't demand a huge upfront entry fee.

Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 936 - 10/07/2026 17:01:46    2685125

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