National Forum

Second Tier Football Suggestion Has Some Merits

(Oldest Posts First)

https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/secondtier-proposal-suggests-july-finish-to-competition-38250359.html

Granting the second-tier winners automatic entry to the qualifiers in the following year is the carrot they need to offer for the competition to have some competitive meaning.

Should the second tier be 8 or 16 teams? I could imagine Congress starting off with the intention of 16 but an agreement being struck that only 8 will be involved in the second tier.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7821 - 29/06/2019 15:03:58    2202370

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Replying To legendzxix:  "https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/secondtier-proposal-suggests-july-finish-to-competition-38250359.html

Granting the second-tier winners automatic entry to the qualifiers in the following year is the carrot they need to offer for the competition to have some competitive meaning.

Should the second tier be 8 or 16 teams? I could imagine Congress starting off with the intention of 16 but an agreement being struck that only 8 will be involved in the second tier."
Also the independent marketing/media/tv coverage is very important

It deserves to be highly respected

I think it could become a quality product which will be respected.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 29/06/2019 16:16:00    2202394

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I think it's very close to being an excellent solution.

I think to make sure guys stick around for the secondary competition that the league and Provincial championships should be played in parallel with no breaks before the 2nd tier competition.

I also think the top tier should be tweaked to not be a Super 8s.

I think the division 3 champions should get a spot in tier 1.

Provincial champions only guaranteed their spot in Tier 1.


Tier 1 and tier 2 both 16 team double elimination competitions.

Round 1 8 ties
Round 2a 8 winners of round 1
Round 2b 8 losers of round 1
Round 3 losers of 2a v winners of 2b
Quarterfinals winners of 2a v winners of 3

Season calendar

1st March NFL1
8th March NFL2
15th March Break
22nd March NFL3
29th March NFL4
5th April Ulster/Leinster Preliminaries
12th April Club Weekend 1
19th April Break
26th April NFL5
3rd May Provincial quarterfinals
10th May Club Weekend 2
17th May Break
24th May NFL6
31st May Provincial semifinals
7th June Club weekend 3
14th June Break
21st June NFL7
28th June Provincial finals
5th July Club weekend 4
12th July Break
19th July All Ireland round 1
26th July All Ireland round 2
2nd August All Ireland round 3
9th August Break
16th August All Ireland quarterfinals
23rd August All Ireland semifinals
30th August Break
6th September All Ireland finals

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4207 - 29/06/2019 16:49:55    2202404

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If this proposal passes for next year serious pressure on some so called bigger counties. Unless Derry, Down and Cork in particular qualify for their provincial final they'll be playing in the second tier competition. Also depending on the draw for round 4 this year we could see a team that played in the lower leagues this year (Laois, Westmeath, Offaly) playing super 8's. This may have an impact on those counties voting this through in the Autumn. I like the ideas but the only realistic way to getting this through is vote for a year's grace and start this new competition in 2021 so teams know what's at stake in 2020. There is no chance of Down, Cork, Derry or Tipperary voting this through for 2020.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 999 - 29/06/2019 17:55:42    2202430

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Looks a bit general to me, Northern and Southern sections? That's very general and based on geography again an historic flaw and lottery in the intercounty system. Why not east and west for example? What about mid point counties, do Dublin and Galway go into the Southern section or the Northern.

Seems fairly poorly presented and explained at this point.

I'd prefer any type of geographical Championship done away it's only a matter of time before we return to the same situation Dublin are in and Kerry have had for decades. I'd have Div 1 & Div 2 playing off with each other for progression, Div 3 & 4 doing likewise, then a second tier completion for those without progression.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 29/06/2019 18:22:41    2202442

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Replying To sam1884:  "If this proposal passes for next year serious pressure on some so called bigger counties. Unless Derry, Down and Cork in particular qualify for their provincial final they'll be playing in the second tier competition. Also depending on the draw for round 4 this year we could see a team that played in the lower leagues this year (Laois, Westmeath, Offaly) playing super 8's. This may have an impact on those counties voting this through in the Autumn. I like the ideas but the only realistic way to getting this through is vote for a year's grace and start this new competition in 2021 so teams know what's at stake in 2020. There is no chance of Down, Cork, Derry or Tipperary voting this through for 2020."
Agreed. I'd also suggest the winners get a decent amount of money to fund a team holiday. You have to give players a reason to care.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 29/06/2019 18:41:45    2202450

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Replying To sam1884:  "If this proposal passes for next year serious pressure on some so called bigger counties. Unless Derry, Down and Cork in particular qualify for their provincial final they'll be playing in the second tier competition. Also depending on the draw for round 4 this year we could see a team that played in the lower leagues this year (Laois, Westmeath, Offaly) playing super 8's. This may have an impact on those counties voting this through in the Autumn. I like the ideas but the only realistic way to getting this through is vote for a year's grace and start this new competition in 2021 so teams know what's at stake in 2020. There is no chance of Down, Cork, Derry or Tipperary voting this through for 2020."
Agreed with that. Going from 28 to just 12 counties entering the qualifiers is a big change. Though to be fair, opening the qualifiers up to all in the first stage was a big move to at the time.

The GAA have tried to cut out division 4 teams from the qualifiers a few times. I think the most we'll see will be an eight team Second Championship. To get voted through, the winner will have to be guaranteed a qualifier spot in the following year.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7821 - 29/06/2019 21:33:10    2202552

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It's a poor idea on the path to elitism. Very disappointing leadership in the GAA at the moment, the DG is the invisible Man and the president is acting as Dublin PRO recently.
We see the Joe McDonagh cup on at the same time as the Munster final tomorrow, that's the level of respect a tier 2 final would get in football.

Thelonesomegoose (Leitrim) - Posts: 204 - 29/06/2019 22:22:49    2202595

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Replying To Thelonesomegoose:  "It's a poor idea on the path to elitism. Very disappointing leadership in the GAA at the moment, the DG is the invisible Man and the president is acting as Dublin PRO recently.
We see the Joe McDonagh cup on at the same time as the Munster final tomorrow, that's the level of respect a tier 2 final would get in football."
There are some definite issues with it.

There are some huge positives though.

If they get the scheduling of the league correct I feel that county panels across all the levels can have a stronger, meaningful program of games.

It's not just about the championship, there's that link between League, Provincials and Tier 2 all providing pathways to the later stages of the All Ireland.

Elevating the importance of the league is a clear win here, they do need to back it up though with better scheduling.

Jamming the competition into February and March is not good enough.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4207 - 30/06/2019 12:10:44    2202798

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Replying To Thelonesomegoose:  "It's a poor idea on the path to elitism. Very disappointing leadership in the GAA at the moment, the DG is the invisible Man and the president is acting as Dublin PRO recently.
We see the Joe McDonagh cup on at the same time as the Munster final tomorrow, that's the level of respect a tier 2 final would get in football."
Spot on post, Tier 2 will get a bit of razzmatazz & plenty of bs talk for its first year, then they will be forgotten about. Tier 2 counties will fail to draw potential sponsors, slip off the public radar & fade further into oblivion. They want the Super 8's to become just that, tier 2 competition means that club players in those counties will have even worse fixture schedules also. Like the Super 8's were ill thought out & brought in by a DG retiring & wanting to leave his mark, this is the President wanting to do the same before his term is up. The Dublin PRO bit is spot on & a huge embarrassment for the GAA that someone would so staunchly defend the funding inequity while holding the top position.

moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 30/06/2019 12:42:21    2202816

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