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Bring back the early 2000s League structure - The top 16 teams were drawn into Divisions 1A and 1B. The other 16 teams were drawn into Divisions 2A and 2B.
It's not full fat division 1 maybe division 1.5 .
The structure does not cut off the weaker counties condemned to division 3 or 4 - where playing amongst lower quality does not raise your overall level. Back in the early 2000s teams could at least compete and show the standard that they needed to get to in a real live competitive game. We aren't then baffled when they aren't up to standard come Championship. Accrington Stanley might beat Liverpool in a once cup tie but rarely continue the run. Counties like Fermanagh, Wexford and Sligo could legitimately put seasons together and make a run to a proper All-Ireland quarter finals or more.
What is the point of Roscommon, Monaghan, Down and Westmeath yo-yoing between divisions.
If a players a bit vein, playing 2A sounds better than playing division 4
The argument against this is it lessens the league for the big teams - what does Dublin/Kerry care about playing Antrim/Sligo/Longford. We talk about player burnout and tight calendars - lessen the league importance, blood new players and focus on the championship.
cjsouthgaels (Sligo) - Posts: 1 - 28/03/2025 10:02:25
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Replying To cjsouthgaels: "Bring back the early 2000s League structure - The top 16 teams were drawn into Divisions 1A and 1B. The other 16 teams were drawn into Divisions 2A and 2B.
It's not full fat division 1 maybe division 1.5 .
The structure does not cut off the weaker counties condemned to division 3 or 4 - where playing amongst lower quality does not raise your overall level. Back in the early 2000s teams could at least compete and show the standard that they needed to get to in a real live competitive game. We aren't then baffled when they aren't up to standard come Championship. Accrington Stanley might beat Liverpool in a once cup tie but rarely continue the run. Counties like Fermanagh, Wexford and Sligo could legitimately put seasons together and make a run to a proper All-Ireland quarter finals or more.
What is the point of Roscommon, Monaghan, Down and Westmeath yo-yoing between divisions.
If a players a bit vein, playing 2A sounds better than playing division 4
The argument against this is it lessens the league for the big teams - what does Dublin/Kerry care about playing Antrim/Sligo/Longford. We talk about player burnout and tight calendars - lessen the league importance, blood new players and focus on the championship." The linking of the league to the championship has made it a peculiar beast.
Division 1 was a slow bicycle race - teams looking to avoid the final and do just enough to stay in it.
Division 2 embodied everything you would want a good league to be; teams fighting for every point to both avoid relegation; finish as high as possible to get a good enough ranking to stay in the all Ireland and ultimately a big prize to get promoted up to Division 1.
Division 3 had Leitrim unable to fulfil a fixture and outside of aiming for promotion there was not much more about it - the top 3 teams had a scoring difference of 112 points over the other 5 teams.
Division 4 was similarly lopsided with the top 2 teams having a scoring difference of 110 points over the other 6 teams.
I think we there is no need to link the league to the championship; reward good / bad championship performance with championship promotion and relegation.
As for the league structure if the old 1A and 1B formats were in play now - division 2A and 2B would have had a load of mismatches but does allow teams to get more experience. It would shake it up a bit which would be a good thing - but fairly quickly we'd want to move back to the current format as the mismatches increase.
brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 28/03/2025 11:34:18
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Maybe 1A,1B,2,3 or
1,2A,2B,3 ?
2A/2B very competitive.
omahant (USA) - Posts: 3163 - 28/03/2025 13:07:39
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Think the League Football is actually better structured than the Championship. Unless you are from one of only a handful of counties Championship Football is pretty meaningless.
At least in the League most counties start out the year dreaming of winning their division, or at least not getting relegated. There's something to play for.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 15230 - 28/03/2025 15:26:37
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The linking of the league and the provincial finalists to championship is only increasing the gap in standards between the top 16 counties and the bottom. It's designed to give the so-called 'big' counties even more chances to get to the TV money rounds of the All Ireland and generate more for the GAA in attendance, TV and media revenue. Provincials could be run between rounds of the league with no bearing whatsoever on All Ireland qualification. Ulster football is the strongest provincial championship yet participation in it does those counties no favours. Why should Ulster teams, passionate to win the Anglo-Celt, have to be squeezed into the League/All Ireland structure, starting one close to League finishing and with less gap to the All Ireland Series?
Counties from the bottom two divisions play a poor standard of football against each other. They might play a higher standard of football in a provincial game, maybe an upper third division team in good form could take a lower division two team scalp. Then lose the next round and drop into the annual 'sure yer great lads' tournament known as the Tailteann Cup.
Before the 2001 backdoor All Ireland Championship the GAA announced that it 'wasn't fair' that intercounty teams would be knocked out of the Championship if they lost one game. So they came up with the back door second chance saloon effort. I wasn't a fan but it had a few great qualifier games and when it really got going some more great games in the knockout phases. But the second chance was there to benefit stronger counties and more games means more revenue. The real plus point of it though was that Fermanagh, Wexford and Tipperary got to the semi finals during the backdoor era but couldn't sustain that level. 2 of them will be in Division 3 next year and one 8n Division 4. Kinda difficult to imagine them making great strides to improve their standards of football playing there and in the Tailteann Cup. But if you're a Division One team you could put your feet up until the All Ireland series, even if you're relegated. Getting to a Provincial Final won't benefit you greatly unless you're an Ulster county who still treasure their provincial championship.
It's only an All Ireland Championship if all the counties participate. It's an All Ireland Senior Championship. The Tailteann Cup is the All Ireland Junior Championship, not Intermediate, because of the widening gap in standards between the two. It'll keep the rich richer and the poor poorer and needs a rethink. Not many counties care about the league and very few outside Ulster care about the provincial championships any more. It's a phoney war until the later stages of All Ireland and Tailteann so what's fair about that and what counties benefit the most from these new systems that they change every few years?
GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7855 - 28/03/2025 21:06:06
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@GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7849 - 28/03/2025
Would you like an "Intermediate" AIC between Sam and Tailteann. Given AIC status, I'd hope the status would be better than a Div 2 League Final, akin to the Europa Cup.
omahant (USA) - Posts: 3163 - 30/03/2025 15:35:49
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Replying To omahant: "@GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7849 - 28/03/2025
Would you like an "Intermediate" AIC between Sam and Tailteann. Given AIC status, I'd hope the status would be better than a Div 2 League Final, akin to the Europa Cup." I want a league like cjsouthgaels suggests. Help improve standards of weaker counties. Play provincials in breaks during the league , could also improve standards of weaker counties. Then an open draw All Ireland Championship. No seedings based on a league or provincials to benefit any county. Stronger counties already have enough advantages, bigger player pool because of population, money, better facilities, some miss less players during league because they're in college close to training, a real plus when Championship starts. All Ireland Championship should be win or go home. No more of these 'I wonder are they really trying because their big game is in 3 weeks' Gogames, during league, provincial, All Ireland. And some all county GAA committee of players, coaches, clubs, supporters deciding on fixtures, not the TV company telling some lads in suits and the GPA when they want games to be played. Or get ready for an exodus of great potential in so-called weaker counties to other sports and kids in these counties never buying a county jersey but buying jerseys of 'elite' players like Clifford, O'Callaghan, Canavan.
GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7855 - 30/03/2025 18:36:45
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