Antrim Football Thread

[AntrimRealist]

Aghagallon were all about damage limitation yesterday.  They had 3 men lining the St John's full forward who still managed to win plenty of ball.  Given the conditions 0-16 was a good score from St John's and they were never in any danger of losing the game.

[delgany]

Div 1 and 2    12 team leagues ne t season      div 3  will  have 10.     No relegation from div 1/2    FL   

[Hectic]

I like this league format though I am not so sure that it should have been brought in immediately but rather a year after being announced so as everyone knows at the beginning of the season what they are shooting for.  Are the championships going to be aligned with the leagues?

[country bumpkin]

So a new format for football leagues next season and we can expect better...............somebody a lot more qualified to do so please explain

[themac_23]

if it was to be changed it should have been 10-12-12, we dont have 12 division 1 standard teams unfortunately.

[stiffler]

A bit unfair to the likes of Antrim , who didn't know that a top 4 place (as opposed to 2) would have meant promotion.

I would have been in favour of these changes taking effect from 2017 onwards.

[themac_23]

A bit unfair to the likes of Antrim , who didn't know that a top 4 place (as opposed to 2) would have meant promotion.

I would have been in favour of these changes taking effect from 2017 onwards.

Exactly, makes no sense, teams who just coasted because they didn't realise they could go up have been shafted. i assume the leagues will look like this:

Lamh Dhearg
St Galls
Cargin
Creggan
St Theresas
Ahoghill
Ballymena
Portglenone
Aldergrove
Rossa
St Johns
St Bridgets

div 2

St Pauls
Moneyglass
S Endas
Dunloy
Aghagallon
Glenavy
Gort
Sarsfields
Rasharkin
Tir Na Nog
Glenravel
Davitts

Div 3
Antrim
Aggies
Mals
Ardoyne
Pearses
Mitchells
Ballycastle
Lisburn
Eire Og
O'Donnells

really hope this aligns the championships also.

[country bumpkin]

Jeez twelve in division one.......a lotta thought went into that one........

[Hectic]

A bit unfair to the likes of Antrim , who didn't know that a top 4 place (as opposed to 2) would have meant promotion.

I would have been in favour of these changes taking effect from 2017 onwards.

Exactly, makes no sense, teams who just coasted because they didn't realise they could go up have been shafted. i assume the leagues will look like this:

Lamh Dhearg
St Galls
Cargin
Creggan
St Theresas
Ahoghill
Ballymena
Portglenone
Aldergrove
Rossa
St Johns
St Bridgets

div 2

St Pauls
Moneyglass
S Endas
Dunloy
Aghagallon
Glenavy
Gort
Sarsfields
Rasharkin
Tir Na Nog
Glenravel
Davitts

Div 3
Antrim
Aggies
Mals
Ardoyne
Pearses
Mitchells
Ballycastle
Lisburn
Eire Og
O'Donnells

really hope this aligns the championships also.

Looking at that Division 3 actually looks more competitive and less predictable than it has ever been.  I am not so sure Antrim would have finished in the top 4 last year regardless but what this means is that they have a really good chance of finishing in the top 2 next season and thus getting promotion.  Alternatively had the changes came in 2017 they would have missed out to two of Rasharkin, Sarsfields and Glenravel.  So while I do think it would have been better to give teams notice I can actually see this format being an advantage to the like of Antrim, Ardoyne, O Ds etc in terms of getting a crack at Div 2.

[themac_23]

A bit unfair to the likes of Antrim , who didn't know that a top 4 place (as opposed to 2) would have meant promotion.

I would have been in favour of these changes taking effect from 2017 onwards.

Exactly, makes no sense, teams who just coasted because they didn't realise they could go up have been shafted. i assume the leagues will look like this:

Lamh Dhearg
St Galls
Cargin
Creggan
St Theresas
Ahoghill
Ballymena
Portglenone
Aldergrove
Rossa
St Johns
St Bridgets

div 2

St Pauls
Moneyglass
S Endas
Dunloy
Aghagallon
Glenavy
Gort
Sarsfields
Rasharkin
Tir Na Nog
Glenravel
Davitts

Div 3
Antrim
Aggies
Mals
Ardoyne
Pearses
Mitchells
Ballycastle
Lisburn
Eire Og
O'Donnells

really hope this aligns the championships also.

Looking at that Division 3 actually looks more competitive and less predictable than it has ever been.  I am not so sure Antrim would have finished in the top 4 last year regardless but what this means is that they have a really good chance of finishing in the top 2 next season and thus getting promotion.  Alternatively had the changes came in 2017 they would have missed out to two of Rasharkin, Sarsfields and Glenravel.  So while I do think it would have been better to give teams notice I can actually see this format being an advantage to the like of Antrim, Ardoyne, O Ds etc in terms of getting a crack at Div 2.

You're right Div 3 does look pretty competitive and i would say 5 or 6 teams would be looking at gaining promotion, my only real concern is a 12 team div 1 doesn't look too strong but hey done now so lets see what happens.

[Hectic]

I can appreciate both sides of the argument for and against a 12 team Division 1.  In reality two or three teams are ahead of the pack every year.  Rossa and St Johns and possibly Portglenone seem to be heading in the right direction.  Other teams like St Teresas I would not hold out much hope for.  However most teams that get promoted in both codes each year view success the following year as maintaining their status with the hope of kicking on in the second year.  With additional teams in here there is a better opportunity for decent teams to get a foothold in the division and then use the experience of playing higher calibre teams to improve and step up accordingly.  This would be on a club by club basis though. For example a young team coming up would probably have more room to improve than an older team.  The flipside of course, as well as additional fixtures, is that for the top teams there could be more easy games and the danger of dragging the overall standard down.  Hard to know but I will be interested to see if any teams that make the step up can then kick on. I would like to think that long term we would have more Div 1 standard teams/players but time will tell.

[bannside]

I think it's great. Looking at all those leagues and all will be very competitive. Maybe if you're St Galls Cargin or Lamh Dhearg in div one there may look to be plenty of easy matches, but from the perspective of every club in the rest of those leagues there's plenty of really competitive matches to look forward to. Better than a ratio of one match to three training sessions IMO.

[imtommygunn]

4 more games a year will put a bit more of a strain on dual clubs and fixtures committees mind you...

They definitely needed some form of rebalance as how division 3 was run off last year at the beginning provided a lot of very lop sided games. This looks like it could do that I suspect which is good.

Division 1 may have some one sided games but unfortunately the top couple could probably play two teams who would beat other teams even in a 10 team league anyway so no-one's fault.

[Gizzy15]

4 more games a year will put a bit more of a strain on dual clubs and fixtures committees mind you...

They definitely needed some form of rebalance as how division 3 was run off last year at the beginning provided a lot of very lop sided games. This looks like it could do that I suspect which is good.

Division 1 may have some one sided games but unfortunately the top couple could probably play two teams who would beat other teams even in a 10 team league anyway so no-one's fault.

Is it set in stone that there will be four more matches, i thought there may be the option of two less games with 11 first round games followed by a Top/Bottom half split and another 5 games. even if not the 'bigger clubs' who don't seem to want these extra fixtures or Easier games have a chance to blood their younger players and give their extended squad a run out if the gulf is so big. pick the two teams you dont deem worthy and play your second 15 against them, simple

[culchie11]

4 more games a year will put a bit more of a strain on dual clubs and fixtures committees mind you...

They definitely needed some form of rebalance as how division 3 was run off last year at the beginning provided a lot of very lop sided games. This looks like it could do that I suspect which is good.

Division 1 may have some one sided games but unfortunately the top couple could probably play two teams who would beat other teams even in a 10 team league anyway so no-one's fault.

Is it set in stone that there will be four more matches, i thought there may be the option of two less games with 11 first round games followed by a Top/Bottom half split and another 5 games. even if not the 'bigger clubs' who don't seem to want these extra fixtures or Easier games have a chance to blood their younger players and give their extended squad a run out if the gulf is so big. pick the two teams you dont deem worthy and play your second 15 against them, simple

U may see something like u r talking about come to fruition gizzy, one full round of 11 games, then split in two & another 5 games, so in effect 2 less games than last year, 16 game league with more competitive games for the top teams nearer championship & no gimmes at the end of the year for teams at the bottom either which has happened year in year out.

makes sense in my opinion.

be interesting to see who chairs ccc next year, i hear there is a meeting next week to get old and new together and move forward from there.