Why only 6/7 days for Galway/Antrim after finals?

[macdanger2]

Why do Galway & Antrim have to play their 4th round qualifiers less than a week after losing their provincial finals?

I thought the GAA had done away with this due to the major disadvantage it is to provincial losers.

If the Limerick V Rossies/Meath match can be left until the following weekend, surely these other two games could be too? Very surprised Galway/Antrim county boards haven't complained about this.

[ONeill]

I also thought this had been done away with 2 years ago. Baker mentioned it yesterday.

[Zapatista]

I also thought this had been done away with 2 years ago. Baker mentioned it yesterday.

He mentioned it on NewsTalk on Monday too but didn't seem to be concerned about it.

[Denn Forever]

And  so it is the same for all teams that won their 2nd round qualifier.

Neither team were beaten out of sight and I would imagine that they are chomping at the bit to play again. 

What about the teams that lost their opening rounds and had to wait 4 or 5 weeks for their next game.

[Gnevin]

Surely this is the provincial councils issue.  Leinster has the most counties and finished first while Connaght with the least  (or second to least) finished last.

[Rossfan]

Leaving aside the "Social Service obligation" games in London/N York...it took 8 weeks to play the FOUR home based games in the Connacht Championship.

Five weeks is the max needed to play those games plus a contingency 6th weekend for a Final replay.

As for poor Galway and Antrim ...a team going from Round 1 Qualifier to the Qtr Finals would play FIVE high profile intense Championship games on successive weekends.

Is it not time to be looking at playing some Provincial Finals on Saturdays and while we're at it why can't both Football Semis be played the same weekend, one Sat/one Sun?

[thewobbler]

There's something very wrong with a team if they can't play two Championship games seven days apart. They aren't feckin fairies.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Surely this is the provincial councils issue.  Leinster has the most counties and finished first while Connaght with the least  (or second to least) finished last.

I actually said this to someone last night. Connacht is the smallest province (or close enough with NY and London) but was still the last one to finish it's provincial championship. Surely all they had to do was look at when the qualifiers were due to be played and move the Connacht final back a week or two if they were interested in helping Connacht teams progress.

[nrico2006]

Is there not a rule that specifies a period of days that a team has before playing a game after losing the provincial finals?  Is it 13 days?

[NAG1]

Well the rule could be got around by notifying both finalists (prior to the final) that if they are unsuccessful they will face a game the following weekend. Therefore getting around the notification rule.

[mrhardyannual]

Rules are the same for everyone. Dates for qualifiers were set months ago so as to allow club fixtures programme to be drawn up in counties and adhered to. The only exception is in the case of a draw after extra time holding up a round.

[Rossfan]

I doubt if it's written in the Treoir Oigigiúil. Therefore it's only a practice not a rule ?

[omagh_gael]

it's a double edged sword really, sure wasn't there a kerfuffle over a  number of years when provincial winners were being screwed over having 3/4 weeks wait for 1/4 final games and teams coming through back door had the run on them ie Tyrone v Dublin 08. I think this is why ulster/connaught councils had provincial finals slightly later in the year?

[Archie Mitchell]

Kenny Archer talks about it in today's Irish News

Double dates the only way to ease heartache of defeat

Hitting the Target
By Kenny Archer
22/07/09


DOUBLE dates can be awkward, or so I've been told. Attention may wander elsewhere; someone may feel overlooked. There's a sense of embarrassment that another party is getting on better, appearing more eye-catching. Will others progress further than you? Will they meet again?

Those worries could all pop up in a GAA context too – but at least GAA double dates can avoid the risk of everyone being crushed together, including at later dates.

'What is he blethering about?' is the question I sense being asked now.

Well, my mind moved to the phrase 'double date' as I considered the seemingly perennial problem of some losing provincial football finalists having to play again within a week of their devastating defeat.

As has been pointed out before, it's hard for teams to bounce back from such a setback and more often than not final losers become losers again in their next outing, bringing an abrupt end to a Championship campaign that had promised so much.

Ulster seems to suffer the most, with Antrim the latest victims. The Saffrons may have been outplayed by All-Ireland champions Tyrone in Clones last Sunday, but that did not lessen the pain of their loss in any way.

Yet Liam Bradley now has to lift himself and his players for the tough task of taking on Kerry. Their only consolation is that the game is on Sunday, but that extra day's benefit is reduced somewhat by the game being in distant Tullamore.

In contrast, the losing Munster finalists, Limerick, would have had three weeks to prepare for their round four Qualifier – and have actually been handed another week off due to them being drawn against Meath or Roscommon, who have yet to play their round three encounter.

Kildare, defeated in the Leinster final by Dublin, will have had almost a fortnight to recover from that game.

Indeed, under rule, 13 days is supposed to be the minimum period of time allowed to any provincial runner-up (as the GAA prefers to call final losers).

Unusually, the losing Connacht finalists, Galway, are in the same boat as the Saffrons.

The Tribesmen were undoubtedly gutted by Mayo's last-gasp winning point, even though the winners were deserving of their success, but Liam Sammon's side now have only six days to prepare themselves to take on resurgent Donegal.

Still, it's rare for a Connacht team to be placed in that position.

Yet time after time the team that loses the Ulster final has to be ready for action within a week.

Why is this? Let's avoid accusations of 'usual Ulster paranoia' and look at the facts.

There are only five scheduled matches in the Munster SFC, and just six in the Connacht SFC, so those two provinces have plenty of room in which to operate.

That allows them to have their provincial deciders fairly early – so I can offer no explanation why the Connacht final only took place last Sunday.

Ulster has to find dates for a minimum of eight matches – yet the Leinster SFC has more matches to factor in, with 10 in the eastern province compared to 'only' those eight up north.

So how come Leinster can get their provincial final played before Ulster's?

Double dates.

Leinster had two of their three first round matches as a double-header in Portlaoise on May 24, and two of their quarter-finals on June 14, with another quarter-final having taken place the preceding day, Saturday June 13.

Munster also arranges 'double dates', even though it doesn't really need to; this year the south-west province held both its football first rounds/quarter-finals on May 24 – and both its semi-finals on June 7.

Like Ulster, Connacht has only one SFC game on any weekend – but the westerners can actually afford the luxury of free weekends.

Ulster is different. We know that. But maybe it's time to consider some change. Don't panic – I don't mean double-headers.

The policy of having only one major match each Sunday is certainly a sensible one, assisting exposure, making each game the centre of attention.

But maybe some space could be created after the provincial final by playing more games on

Saturdays, with two games to a weekend. Ulster has already accommodated Saturday evening matches, including two this season, the Cavan-Fermanagh quarter-final and the Antrim-Cavan semi-final. It would be a stretch to say Saturday matches have been welcomed, but they have been tolerated.

If most matches must still be played on Sundays then that should still happen, with two games at different venues on the same day, perhaps at different throw-in times to allow for TV coverage.

Sure, some neutrals might miss out on a few matches, but the vast majority of supporters are partisan, interested almost exclusively in their own counties.

The Ulster Council might also push harder to be granted an extra weekend in its Championship schedule.

Last year's first Special Congress changed Rule 123, relating to the Provincial Championships, to read as follows:

(Applicable from January 1st 2009:- Senior Provincial Championship shall begin no earlier than the third weekend in May and be decided during that month, June and July, and provinces shall send forward teams to compete in All-Ireland Championships on the dates required by the Central Council).

Ulster President Tom Daly asked for special dispensation, but that was denied.

However, permission was again granted for the Connacht SFC to commence a week early, on Sunday May 10.

Yes, that always involves a trip to New York, but the travelling team always has at least a month's gap until their next Championship

outing, assuming that they win (which they always do).

For example, Mayo played in the 'Big Apple' on May 10, but their Connacht semi-final was not until six weeks later, on June 20.

There's no real reason why the Connacht SFC should start so early – but there is good reason for Ulster (and Leinster, if they want it) to be allowed an extra weekend.

The decision to remove replays, except for provincial semi-finals and finals, does help, of course, but as things stand the system is weighted unfairly in favour of counties from the two smaller provinces, Connacht and Munster.

Ironically, Antrim are victims of their own success.

Last year there was one less round of Qualifiers, due to the Division Four teams being despatched straight into the Tommy Murphy Cup, so there was a 13-day break after the Ulster final (although Fermanagh did not get that in the end because they took Armagh to a replay!).

This year the Division Four teams were allowed back into the Qualifiers so, if Antrim had lost earlier in Ulster they would have had a longer break before playing again.

Instead, they are being punished – just like most Ulster final losers.

[Rossfan]

Obviously the chips are still on the Northern shoulders .