(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post
|
Agree with that except I'd have it 10 12 10. Play each other once in a league format and top 4 or 6 advance to a finals series like aussie rules in each div. Have a secondary knock out cup competition before hand or during the league championship itself with 32 teams all in a hat
boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 230 - 13/04/2025 11:31:01 2601673 Link 0 |
|
With the likes of Donegal v Derry, Tyrone v Cavan, Cork v Kerry, Galway v Roscommon and Donegal v Monaghan of little relevance to All Ireland qualification already - having provincial championships as standalone isn't entirely a big leap. The current provincial championships seem to be relying more on the desire to win the championships with low relevance to the All Ireland picture. Possibly somewhere down the line there will be a 3 year trial.
legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 8716 - 13/04/2025 11:50:11 2601675 Link 0 |
|
I proposed a three-tier AIC (8-12-8, bottom 4 eliminated) at the end of my AILC structure. Season starts with a league, two-tiers of 16, incorporating 'intra-tier' Prov KO ties. Teams placed top 8, 9-20, 21-28 to AIC tiers 1,2,3. omahant (USA) - Posts: 3200 - 13/04/2025 20:20:48 2601730 Link 0 |
|
Is there anyvway you could make it more complicated? !!!!!
Seanfanbocht (Roscommon) - Posts: 2251 - 13/04/2025 23:43:34 2601760 Link 0 |
|
No need to crack a nut with a sledgehammer! Cork v Kerry and Galway v Roscommon are just missing a bit of jeopardy. Winning should be sealing All Ireland qualification. Losing meaning the potential banana skin of a playoff. A bit of jeopardy.
legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 8716 - 14/04/2025 11:39:23 2601814 Link 0 |
|
In my AILC, winning Cork/Kerry or Galw/Rosc Prov ties contributes to AIC qualification - like in UEFA, league placing determines which of three competitions you qualify for - UCL, UEL or UcfL - or none at all. Winning a Prov title is like Ireland winning rugby's 2025 Triple Crown, while falling short of the ultimate prize. Was it worth winning then - or did we fail? - it can remain in the "eye of the beholder". No need for that sledgehammer ! omahant (USA) - Posts: 3200 - 14/04/2025 15:35:54 2601876 Link 0 |
|
Ok but could it just be that the qualifiers should be altered. Like you could have round 1 being 3 from Leinster, 1 from Ulster, 2 each from Connacht and Munster. 4 teams knocked out. Round 2: 4 round 1 winners, 20 other teams that didn't win their Province. 12 ties , those teams join the All Ireland last 16. Last 16 straight knockout. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4478 - 14/04/2025 18:54:29 2601908 Link 0 |
|
Tailteann Cup???
Seanfanbocht (Roscommon) - Posts: 2251 - 14/04/2025 19:34:20 2601921 Link 0 |
|
I agree with a lot of that. Munster and Connacht have two provincial rounds to make a final. Ulster and Leinster have three provincial rounds to make a final. Counties knocked out of Provincial Rounds 1 and 2 from the 4 provinces should be treated similarly. Provincial Round 1: 9 losers QUALIFIER ROUND 1: 8 Provincial Round 1 losers. 1 bye based on league ranking to Q2. Provincial Round 2: 12 losers QUALIFIER ROUND 2: 11 PR2 losers and 5 Q1 winners. 1 bye based on league ranking to Q3. Provincial Round 3: 4 losers (after Leinster and Ulster semi finals). QUALIFIER ROUND 3: 3 PR3 losers and 9 Q1 winners. 1 bye based on league ranking to AI. The above can be altered slightly depending on how the Tailteann winner progress in the province. The All Ireland and the Tailteann can still be double elimination format or whatever else suits and is agreeable! All qualifying rounds should use league seeding. legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 8716 - 14/04/2025 21:17:26 2601944 Link 0 |
|
Simply there will be no dead rubbers or one sided games because teams won't want to be relegated back to Intermediate or Junior & teams at top off groups will be going to try get straight through to a semi final. 2nd & 3rd in each group play in Quarter Finals. Realistically only between 10 to 12 teams are competing in the All Ireland Series so why have teams in it who don't have a chance. Have them at Intermediate or Junior level & let the Gaa support them to improve over the years so they can compete when they win an Intermediate All Ireland people always saying teams need to be playing the big teams more often when 99% off them get hammered every year.
Manutd1993 (Longford) - Posts: 6 - 14/04/2025 23:33:11 2601960 Link 1 |
|
Whilst it's probably been more of a success than I expected I think the Tailteann cup wasn't actually the solution to the problems with the season. The league could be an important competition as is for the lower level teams and shouldn't be played in February and March. I also think the big issue with the old qualifiers system was that the back door rounds were too numerous. Antrim, or say a Leinster team not making their final, had 3 or 4 rounds to negotiate before rejoining the main pack. You have this down to 1 or 2 rounds to get to a last 16 knockout match. It might actually generate some excitement. Having said all that it wouldn't be my preferred system but I could see why it could also be good for the game. Mostly I think the GAA needs to pick a direction and just go with it. If we want a knockout style championship I don't think it should be tiered and something along these lines could be workable. If they wanted to go more league based there's a strong argument for decoupling from the Provincials and just going with 3 divisions of 12, 10, 10. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4478 - 15/04/2025 10:34:09 2602006 Link 0 |
|
This makes the most sense, we're currently caught between wanting more guaranteed meaninful games, and lacking the jeopardy of championship. If you were going with a league-based system, would it make sense to combine your 12-10-10 with provincials, by running provincials like the triple crown in rugby? (@omahant, I think that's your "double up" system?) It would keep the provincial pride, but wouldn't put extra games onto teams Ciaran359 (Galway) - Posts: 22 - 15/04/2025 11:21:32 2602016 Link 0 |
|
I wouldn't double up. Suppose Armagh had a Preliminary round Ulster championship game with Fermanagh with the winner emerging to play Cavan, with neither Fermanagh nor Cavan in Armagh's tier, they'd be way better just focusing on their All Ireland fixtures. I'd think Provincial derbies in a 12 team championship would be a big draw. Say you'd 5 Ulster teams in their, 10 of your fixtures would be those derbies. Give Provincial councils a share of gate receipts depending on participating teams and keep them happy. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4478 - 15/04/2025 11:55:05 2602023 Link 0 |
|
'Realistically only between 10 to 12 teams are competing in the All Ireland Series so why have teams in it who don't have a chance.' 'Realistically'? Maybe we just get AI to pick the best 2 for the season, go straight to the final, don't bother with a championship. Any county below the top 10 or 12 will have slimmer chance of improving if they can't play against a Super 12 team on a more regular basis. Armagh wouldn't have been a top 12 team for all of McGeeney's tenure. When there was a backdoor championship Tipperary, Fermanagh or Wexford wouldn't have even considered when predicting semi finalists in the years when they were. The GAA won't support Intermediate or Junior counties. They'll just pat them on the head, give them the consolation prize of a Tailteann Cup, tell them that they'll promote it better and pretty much ignore them after that while they put the 'big' games on television. GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7910 - 15/04/2025 12:30:00 2602032 Link 2 |
|
I think you are being a bit pessimistic and a tad unrealistic. If we had a championship where teams were playing at their own level and there was a good flow between grades (you couldn't have 1 up 1 down in my opinion), then I think teams would be more likely to be able to have sustained relative success. We are also in a different era now compared to when Fermanagh or Wexford had their runs, the commitment levels to be a top team are massive. It's not just a case of wintering well and coming back to the table, it takes years of steady improvement and players coming through from underage most years, to be able to make it. To progress you have to get a team playing against top teams consistently but there's no point to it if it isn't a team that's already at some sort of standard to get something out of it. The Meaths and Corks of this world need to get better, the likes of Antrim or Wexford or Sligo need to get closer to Meath and Down before they would get anything out of Kerry, Armagh, Galway or Dublin fixture. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4478 - 15/04/2025 13:45:47 2602047 Link 0 |
|
Sure I know rightly Whammo that it's unreliastic to think that could happen in 2026. I don't expect teams like Antrim, Sligo and Wexford to be playing against Kerry or Dublin, like you say maybe Meath or Down first. But the backdoor championship only finished relatively recently. The lower ranked counties who had good runs in the back door couldn't sustain their level for long. If the GAA see the benefits they think they should help them improve their standards. The current season starts with the league but the All Ireland series doesn't really get going until the groups finish. I think there's scope for improving the standards bottom to top and also throw in more jeopardy. Naively!
GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7910 - 15/04/2025 15:31:17 2602077 Link 0 |
|
While I have entertained Whammo's all in qualifier idea, I'm more in favour of something like 15 or 16 counties (depending on Tailteann winner making a provincial final or not) playing off for the 7 or 8 league qualifier spots. legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 8716 - 15/04/2025 22:20:57 2602143 Link 0 |
|
Like on 13th April there has been all ready been 15 teams knocked out off championship with most off them having to wait now for 3 or 4 weeks to play in Tailteann Cup most off the teams will lose between 8 to 10 players who will just go abroad for the summer months could you not start the Intermediate or Junior championship now with 8 teams in both competitions on a league basic that's 7 matches to improve & top teams make a final on All Ireland Day that will keep teams & players interested seems to be to many games from January to April & then no games from May to July for them that's 8 months without any football really for 15 teams knocked out till the league starts again in January how are a team meant to improve . Start the Senior All Ireland with whatever 12 to 16 teams in it straight after provincials and both finals with be on same weekend & will still be competitive games the whole way through the summer as promotion & relegation will be on the line till ever teams year is over!
Manutd1993 (Longford) - Posts: 6 - 15/04/2025 23:32:57 2602149 Link 0 |
|
Yes, that's right - award two match pts for the Prov KO ties (own tier only). It would be like the Triple Crown and nobody wants to throw away match pts available. A few advantages: Ulster Champ gets better award for all the hard work (6-8 match pts). Prov imbalance is counterbalanced by other non-Prov league schedule (fair to all). No repeat league fixture controls game count. I wait for conclusion of Prov QFs before the AILC group draw. By knowing each Prov SF4, 'no more than one' could be drawn to each group, guaranteeing a crossover pairing regardless of who makes the Prov Final. Crossover also present then for SFs and can be easily done for the already played Prov Prelim & QF ties (avoid Prov ties in same group). Groups are primarily used to reduce 15 games to 12 (or 10) and the seeding ensures all teams play 3 games against each seeding pot for a total of 12. Inter-tier adds a bit to schedule. omahant (USA) - Posts: 3200 - 16/04/2025 01:21:19 2602150 Link 0 |
|
While the "New Format 2026 All Ireland" is technically better that there is no dead rubber in Round 3, if you are explaining you are losing is what they say! legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 8716 - 16/04/2025 09:39:50 2602174 Link 1 |