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Replying To tirawleybaron: "Now the reality sets in
Down have to beat Donegal and Armagh to make an Ulster final
Cork had to beat Limerick and TIpp -
how is this system fail again?" Only Provincial winners should be seeded.
Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 519 - 27/04/2026 12:00:49
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Replying To Whammo86: "To be honest I don't even have an issue with the Provincials being linked to the All Ireland but I just don't think the current system does it very well or works as a whole.
To link the Provincials to the All Ireland either involves a very unfair system or more often than not an overly complicated one.
If we were to zoom out a few years and look at some of the issues with the championship how many of those were actually properly resolved." We might be seeing a natural separation developing between provincial and all ireland.
There is just no way anyone can compare Downs route, and say Corks? This separation is the way forward, previous league positions put you in 16 team all-ireland, with a promotion and relegation in play. Pick a format of play after that. Too simple maybe??
Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 31 - 27/04/2026 16:32:00
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Replying To Expertinall: "We might be seeing a natural separation developing between provincial and all ireland.
There is just no way anyone can compare Downs route, and say Corks? This separation is the way forward, previous league positions put you in 16 team all-ireland, with a promotion and relegation in play. Pick a format of play after that. Too simple maybe??" Why not?
Cork are in Sam regardless of Provincial performance due to their league position. Afaik Down need to qualify for an ulster final to be certain of a place in Sam. This is, again, as a result of league position. Isn't that how it should be?
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 261 - 28/04/2026 15:05:10
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Replying To Tadhg2020: "Why not?
Cork are in Sam regardless of Provincial performance due to their league position. Afaik Down need to qualify for an ulster final to be certain of a place in Sam. This is, again, as a result of league position. Isn't that how it should be?" You missed the point.
Cork beat 2 div 4 teams and now have a home draw in the All Ireland. Kerry beat 1 div 3 team.
No one else has such an advantage.
The only solution is a merger of Munster/Ulster and Connacht/Leinster - rotating every year to be Connacht/Ulster and Munster/Leinster (and move London to Ulster).
Open draws, finalists in each championship seeded in All Ireland.
tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1779 - 28/04/2026 16:43:39
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Replying To tirawleybaron: "You missed the point.
Cork beat 2 div 4 teams and now have a home draw in the All Ireland. Kerry beat 1 div 3 team.
No one else has such an advantage.
The only solution is a merger of Munster/Ulster and Connacht/Leinster - rotating every year to be Connacht/Ulster and Munster/Leinster (and move London to Ulster).
Open draws, finalists in each championship seeded in All Ireland." Merging Munster and Ulster is mental given the distance to travel. A better option would be to get rid of Provincial championships entirely.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4642 - 28/04/2026 17:24:11
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Replying To tirawleybaron: "You missed the point.
Cork beat 2 div 4 teams and now have a home draw in the All Ireland. Kerry beat 1 div 3 team.
No one else has such an advantage.
The only solution is a merger of Munster/Ulster and Connacht/Leinster - rotating every year to be Connacht/Ulster and Munster/Leinster (and move London to Ulster).
Open draws, finalists in each championship seeded in All Ireland." Or you could just remove the seeding for the provincial runners up and just seed the winners. That would work just as well. You could even remove the Sam guarentee for the provincial runners up and that would solve it further.
The provincial championship isn't the root of all evil.
Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 261 - 28/04/2026 18:24:50
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Replying To tirawleybaron: "You missed the point.
Cork beat 2 div 4 teams and now have a home draw in the All Ireland. Kerry beat 1 div 3 team.
No one else has such an advantage.
The only solution is a merger of Munster/Ulster and Connacht/Leinster - rotating every year to be Connacht/Ulster and Munster/Leinster (and move London to Ulster).
Open draws, finalists in each championship seeded in All Ireland." Something definitely needs to happen as otherwise we'll get another year like 2023 again where Sligo/Leitrim and Clare/Tipp play semi to get into All Ireland. Nothing stopping that happening in either province.
Maybe a team not already qualified through league can only qualify via provincial final if they beat a already qualified team either along way or in final.
systematic (Galway) - Posts: 269 - 28/04/2026 19:42:37
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Replying To tirawleybaron: "You missed the point.
Cork beat 2 div 4 teams and now have a home draw in the All Ireland. Kerry beat 1 div 3 team.
No one else has such an advantage.
The only solution is a merger of Munster/Ulster and Connacht/Leinster - rotating every year to be Connacht/Ulster and Munster/Leinster (and move London to Ulster).
Open draws, finalists in each championship seeded in All Ireland." How about prior year 'AIC Final 4' (or 8) play Sam the next year (again neutralised Prov imbalance)? The remaining 12 (or 8) via prior TC Champ, current year League, with guarantee (or not) for current Prov Champs.
omahant (USA) - Posts: 3402 - 28/04/2026 21:17:41
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Ok here's my idea for what its worth. The goals are as follows:
1 remove long gaps between early provincial defeat until the next game
2 same amount matches for all teams at provincial level with a baseline of 3 for everyone and maximum of 4 for all finalists.
3 guarantee at least one home and away game for everyone.
4 base All Ireland series qualification primarily on provincial performance with NFL just used as a tie breaker (we'll get to that)
5 give certainty to all teams at the start of year of which competition they'll actually be in with clear promotion/relegation pathways
6 make the Tailteann an achievable objective for genuine minnows and not middle tier fallen giants
This will have some controversies and the sheer nature of varying qualities in different provinces remain an issue but here goes.
24 team All Ireland with 4 in Munster/Connacht and 8 in Leinster/Ulster. 9 team Tailteann Cup.
Provincial championships like in Hurling get played as round robins. Munster/Connacht straight 4 teams groups while Leinster/Ulster 2 groups of 4 each.
So for example:
Connacht: Galway Roscommon Mayo Sligo
Leinster: Group 1 Dublin Louth Offaly Wexford
Group 2 Kildare Laois Meath Westmeath
Munster: Cork Clare Kerry Limerick
Ulster: Group 1 Derry Monaghan Tyrone Fermanagh
Group 2 Armagh Down Donegal Cavan
In Munster/Connacht the top two qualify for the provincial final and All Ireland series
In Leinster/Ulster the two group winners qualify for provincial final and All Ireland series while the 4 group runners up across the two provinces qualify for All Ireland series
The 4 third place teams across the 6 provincial groups with the highest NFL placings also qualify for the All Ireland series giving us 16 teams.
The 2 third place teams across the 6 provincial groups with the lowest NFL placings and all 4th place teams are eliminated from the championship.
You now have 16 teams and can use any number of formats here to whittle down to 2 for an All Ireland final.
A simple idea (but not revenue contusive) would be
Round 1 the 8 qualifiers who are not provincial finalists drawn against each other
Round 2 the 4 provincial final losers v 4 Round 1 winners.
QF the provincial champions v 4 Round 2 winners.
Or you can use the '2026' format or even a second All Ireland series 4x4 group stage like 2023-2025.
16 teams is a useful number to work off anyway.
Tailteann Cup of 9 teams. One group of 4 teams and another of 5.
For logistical reasons keep London and New York in separate groups and always have New York in the 4 team group.
NY would have two home games to compensate for loss of Connacht championship game and one in Ireland.
Top two from each group reach the semis with the two winners contesting the final.
The Tailteann Cup champion is promoted back to their home province for the following season replacing the worst performing team in their home province.
So for example if Tipperary win it and Limerick are bottom in Munster then Tipp return to Munster and Limerick are relegated to the TC.
If Longford with it and Offaly and Westmeath are both bottom of their respective Leinster groups Longford replaces the team with the lowest amount of points. If the same then score difference. If the same lowest NFL ranking.
OK what do you think?
Freezing some teams out of the All Ireland may not go down well but overall I feel this is workable.
Extra provincial games compensates the councils for loss of January tournaments. (Ticket prices might go down in Connacht god forbid)
trimmer (Meath) - Posts: 582 - 29/04/2026 10:09:28
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Replying To trimmer: "Ok here's my idea for what its worth. The goals are as follows:
1 remove long gaps between early provincial defeat until the next game
2 same amount matches for all teams at provincial level with a baseline of 3 for everyone and maximum of 4 for all finalists.
3 guarantee at least one home and away game for everyone.
4 base All Ireland series qualification primarily on provincial performance with NFL just used as a tie breaker (we'll get to that)
5 give certainty to all teams at the start of year of which competition they'll actually be in with clear promotion/relegation pathways
6 make the Tailteann an achievable objective for genuine minnows and not middle tier fallen giants
This will have some controversies and the sheer nature of varying qualities in different provinces remain an issue but here goes.
24 team All Ireland with 4 in Munster/Connacht and 8 in Leinster/Ulster. 9 team Tailteann Cup.
Provincial championships like in Hurling get played as round robins. Munster/Connacht straight 4 teams groups while Leinster/Ulster 2 groups of 4 each.
So for example:
Connacht: Galway Roscommon Mayo Sligo
Leinster: Group 1 Dublin Louth Offaly Wexford
Group 2 Kildare Laois Meath Westmeath
Munster: Cork Clare Kerry Limerick
Ulster: Group 1 Derry Monaghan Tyrone Fermanagh
Group 2 Armagh Down Donegal Cavan
In Munster/Connacht the top two qualify for the provincial final and All Ireland series
In Leinster/Ulster the two group winners qualify for provincial final and All Ireland series while the 4 group runners up across the two provinces qualify for All Ireland series
The 4 third place teams across the 6 provincial groups with the highest NFL placings also qualify for the All Ireland series giving us 16 teams.
The 2 third place teams across the 6 provincial groups with the lowest NFL placings and all 4th place teams are eliminated from the championship.
You now have 16 teams and can use any number of formats here to whittle down to 2 for an All Ireland final.
A simple idea (but not revenue contusive) would be
Round 1 the 8 qualifiers who are not provincial finalists drawn against each other
Round 2 the 4 provincial final losers v 4 Round 1 winners.
QF the provincial champions v 4 Round 2 winners.
Or you can use the '2026' format or even a second All Ireland series 4x4 group stage like 2023-2025.
16 teams is a useful number to work off anyway.
Tailteann Cup of 9 teams. One group of 4 teams and another of 5.
For logistical reasons keep London and New York in separate groups and always have New York in the 4 team group.
NY would have two home games to compensate for loss of Connacht championship game and one in Ireland.
Top two from each group reach the semis with the two winners contesting the final.
The Tailteann Cup champion is promoted back to their home province for the following season replacing the worst performing team in their home province.
So for example if Tipperary win it and Limerick are bottom in Munster then Tipp return to Munster and Limerick are relegated to the TC.
If Longford with it and Offaly and Westmeath are both bottom of their respective Leinster groups Longford replaces the team with the lowest amount of points. If the same then score difference. If the same lowest NFL ranking.
OK what do you think?
Freezing some teams out of the All Ireland may not go down well but overall I feel this is workable.
Extra provincial games compensates the councils for loss of January tournaments. (Ticket prices might go down in Connacht god forbid)" I think your 4th goal shouldn't be part of the spec. The Provincials should have a minimal part in the All Ireland rather than integral.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4642 - 29/04/2026 17:34:31
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Replying To trimmer: "Ok here's my idea for what its worth. The goals are as follows:
1 remove long gaps between early provincial defeat until the next game
2 same amount matches for all teams at provincial level with a baseline of 3 for everyone and maximum of 4 for all finalists.
3 guarantee at least one home and away game for everyone.
4 base All Ireland series qualification primarily on provincial performance with NFL just used as a tie breaker (we'll get to that)
5 give certainty to all teams at the start of year of which competition they'll actually be in with clear promotion/relegation pathways
6 make the Tailteann an achievable objective for genuine minnows and not middle tier fallen giants
This will have some controversies and the sheer nature of varying qualities in different provinces remain an issue but here goes.
24 team All Ireland with 4 in Munster/Connacht and 8 in Leinster/Ulster. 9 team Tailteann Cup.
Provincial championships like in Hurling get played as round robins. Munster/Connacht straight 4 teams groups while Leinster/Ulster 2 groups of 4 each.
So for example:
Connacht: Galway Roscommon Mayo Sligo
Leinster: Group 1 Dublin Louth Offaly Wexford
Group 2 Kildare Laois Meath Westmeath
Munster: Cork Clare Kerry Limerick
Ulster: Group 1 Derry Monaghan Tyrone Fermanagh
Group 2 Armagh Down Donegal Cavan
In Munster/Connacht the top two qualify for the provincial final and All Ireland series
In Leinster/Ulster the two group winners qualify for provincial final and All Ireland series while the 4 group runners up across the two provinces qualify for All Ireland series
The 4 third place teams across the 6 provincial groups with the highest NFL placings also qualify for the All Ireland series giving us 16 teams.
The 2 third place teams across the 6 provincial groups with the lowest NFL placings and all 4th place teams are eliminated from the championship.
You now have 16 teams and can use any number of formats here to whittle down to 2 for an All Ireland final.
A simple idea (but not revenue contusive) would be
Round 1 the 8 qualifiers who are not provincial finalists drawn against each other
Round 2 the 4 provincial final losers v 4 Round 1 winners.
QF the provincial champions v 4 Round 2 winners.
Or you can use the '2026' format or even a second All Ireland series 4x4 group stage like 2023-2025.
16 teams is a useful number to work off anyway.
Tailteann Cup of 9 teams. One group of 4 teams and another of 5.
For logistical reasons keep London and New York in separate groups and always have New York in the 4 team group.
NY would have two home games to compensate for loss of Connacht championship game and one in Ireland.
Top two from each group reach the semis with the two winners contesting the final.
The Tailteann Cup champion is promoted back to their home province for the following season replacing the worst performing team in their home province.
So for example if Tipperary win it and Limerick are bottom in Munster then Tipp return to Munster and Limerick are relegated to the TC.
If Longford with it and Offaly and Westmeath are both bottom of their respective Leinster groups Longford replaces the team with the lowest amount of points. If the same then score difference. If the same lowest NFL ranking.
OK what do you think?
Freezing some teams out of the All Ireland may not go down well but overall I feel this is workable.
Extra provincial games compensates the councils for loss of January tournaments. (Ticket prices might go down in Connacht god forbid)" I'll give you a quick example of why it definitely doesn't work.
What if say you have Connacht and it's Galway, Roscommon, Mayo and Sligo to begin with.
Sligo's ongoing place in Connacht isn't determined by their own performance.
They could go through 20 seasons of losing all 3 of their games, they could go through a bad patch and be finishing towards the bottom of division 4 most years they would not be relegated unless Leitrim or London win the Tailteann cup.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4642 - 29/04/2026 17:45:20
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HQ have over egged the omelette with league qualification for the All Ireland series. I think a few people are wising to that but maybe not enough for change just yet.
legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9675 - 29/04/2026 21:58:35
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Replying To legendzxix: "HQ have over egged the omelette with league qualification for the All Ireland series. I think a few people are wising to that but maybe not enough for change just yet." It causes some issues.
Qualifiers made a lot of sense.
Teams lose in their province but then there's the more fairer route of an All Ireland based qualifier system that evens things out.
The league being before the championship and determining All Ireland entry lowers the jeopardy of the Provincials.
It's somewhat awkward too how only division 2 really determines the Championship entry. Division 3 champions can make but even then sometimes it's obvious that they won't because of how a Provincial draw lines up.
I do think it's hard to have All Ireland qualifiers and a sensible 2nd tier championship though.
Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4642 - 30/04/2026 09:47:09
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Why Exclude anyone
Connacht 1: Galway, Roscommon, Mayo
top of 1 into final
Connacht 2: Sligo, Lietrim, London
bottom of 1 plays top of 2, winner plays 2nd in group 1 for place in final
Leinster 1: Dublin, Louth, Meath, Westmeath
Top 3 progress - 1st plays 4th
Leinster 2 Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Wexford
Top 1 progress - to play 3rd from group 1
Leinster 3 : Wicklow, Longford, Carlow
Top 1 Progress to play 2nd from group1
Munster 1: Cork, Clare, Kerry
1st into final,
Munster 2: Limerick, Tipp, Waterford
1st into semi v 2nd group 1
Ulster 1: Armagh, Derry , Donegal
1st into semi, 2nd in semi, 3rd into qfinal
Ulster 2: Down Monaghan Tyrone
1st and 2nd into qfinal
ULster 3: Cavan, Fermanagh, Antrim
1st into q final
Start in Jan (instead of prelim competitions) and produce provincial winners for home draw in All ireland series
Shorten the league into groups of 6 - best 11 non provincial winners plus tailteann winner into All ireland.
4 provincial winners, All Ireland champions, league champions, tailteann winners and next best league finishers seeded in All Ireland series.
tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1779 - 30/04/2026 09:54:38
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