The Qualifiers Round 1

The Real Laoislad · May 21, 2007, 08:58:19 AM

This is going to be very interesting this year some big teams in it
Already we have

Kildare
Mayo
Fermanagh
Cavan
Limerick
Westmeath

Am i right in saying it's a open draw? Really out of that lot they are all capable of beating each other

High Catch · May 21, 2007, 09:04:50 AM

Next weekend you will also have Armagh or Donegal in that group. There will be no easy back doors this year. It is possible for Armagh to be beat next week and draw Mayo in the qualifiers and all of a sudden its goodbye Armagh/Mayo.

Shamrock Shore · May 21, 2007, 09:23:05 AM

First round is always open and I think there is no barrier to teams that met in Provinicial competition meeting again at any stage.

Round 2 will be round 1 winners v losing Provincial semi finalsts (I think - bar the Cooper Conscripts, if any)

wobbller · May 21, 2007, 09:35:50 AM

Bank of Ireland Football Championship Qualifier Structure
Round 1 - This Round shall include all the counties that do not qualify for the Provincial Semi-Finals. An Open Draw shall be made to give eight pairings.

Round 2 - Each of the eight defeated teams in the Provincial Semi-Finals shall play against the eight winners from Round 1. A draw shall be made to determine the eight pairings.

Round 3 - The eight winners from Round 2 shall participate in this Round. An Open draw shall be made to determine the four pairings.

Round 4 - Each of the four teams defeated in the Provincial Finals shall play against the four winners from Round 3. A draw shall be made to determine the four pairings.

All Ireland Quarter-Finals: Each of the four Provincial Champions shall play one of the four winners from Round 4. A draw shall be made to determine the four pairings.

All Ireland Semi-Finals: The All Ireland Semi-Finals shall be on a Provincial rots basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team is defeated in its Quarter-Final, the team that defeats it shall take its place in the Semi-Final.

Smokin Joe · May 21, 2007, 10:03:03 AM

Quote from: wobbller on May 21, 2007, 09:35:50 AM
Round 2 will be the eight winners of Round 1 playing off to produce 4 winners to play the losing Provincial finalists in Round 3-these four winners then going into play the Provincial winners in the Q-finals

So where exactly do the losing provincial semi finalists come in?

Msgr. Horan · May 21, 2007, 10:23:42 AM

Round 1 - This Round shall include all the counties that do not qualify for the Provincial Semi-Finals. An Open Draw shall be made to give eight pairings.

Round 2 - Each of the eight defeated teams in the Provincial Semi-Finals shall play against the eight winners from Round 1. A draw shall be made to determine the eight pairings.

Round 3 - The eight winners from Round 2 shall participate in this Round. An Open draw shall be made to determine the four pairings.

Round 4 - Each of the four teams defeated in the Provincial Finals shall play against the four winners from Round 3. A draw shall be made to determine the four pairings.

All Ireland Quarter-Finals: Each of the four Provincial Champions shall play one of the four winners from Round 4. A draw shall be made to determine the four pairings.

All Ireland Semi-Finals: The All Ireland Semi-Finals shall be on a Provincial rots basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team is defeated in its Quarter-Final, the team that defeats it shall take its place in the Semi-Final

Msgr. Horan · May 21, 2007, 10:31:21 AM

So who else is to join? Division 4 teams go into the Tommy Murphy cup, London-Leitrim? Antrim-Derry? If Div 4 teams are the loser then they're not in the qualifiers, how do they know they will have an even number of teams for Round 1?

The fixtures seem ludicrious, Mayo wont have a game now until July 7th. IF, and thats a big if after yesterday they go on a bit of a run they will have a game EVERY week potentiall including meeting a well rested provincial champion in the quarter final.

7th:
Bank of Ireland Football Championship Qualifier, Round 1

14th:
Bank of Ireland Football Championship Qualifier, Round 2

21st:
Bank of Ireland Football Championship Qualifier Round 3
Connacht R/U v Rd 2 Winner
Munster R/U v Rd 2 Winner

28th:
Bank of Ireland Football Championship Qualifier Round 3
Leinster R/U v Rd 2 Winner
Ulster R/U v Rd 2 winner

4th:
Bank of Ireland Football Championship Quarter Finals (2)
Connacht Champions v Qualifier
Ulster Champions v Qualifier

11th:
Bank of Ireland Football Championship Quarter Finals (2)
Munster Champions v Qualifier
Leinster Champions v Qualifier

Rick O Shea · May 21, 2007, 10:45:56 AM

Quote from: Msgr. Horan on May 21, 2007, 10:31:21 AM
The fixtures seem ludicrious, Mayo wont have a game now until July 7th. IF, and thats a big if after yesterday they go on a bit of a run they will have a game EVERY week potentiall including meeting a well rested provincial champion in the quarter final.

Well, thats the advantage of winning your provincial championship games!! Beggars can't be choosers

Not remember back in the day when you lost in the provincial championship that was you til next year??

Msgr. Horan · May 21, 2007, 11:10:12 AM

Quote from: Rick O Shea on May 21, 2007, 10:45:56 AM
Quote from: Msgr. Horan on May 21, 2007, 10:31:21 AM
The fixtures seem ludicrious, Mayo wont have a game now until July 7th. IF, and thats a big if after yesterday they go on a bit of a run they will have a game EVERY week potentiall including meeting a well rested provincial champion in the quarter final.

Well, thats the advantage of winning your provincial championship games!! Beggars can't be choosers

Not remember back in the day when you lost in the provincial championship that was you til next year??

Oh yeah, thanks for that good man.
I think the point I was making is that it seems a bit strange to have no matches for 7 weeks once you are out of your provincial championship and then push the rest of the season into a four week window. A team that reaches the quarters is at a disctinct disadvantage if they are playing one week after the other. If your going to give a team a second chance you might as well make it reasonably fair. Having said that the other side of the coin is that if you do get to the quarters and have a two week break between the last qualifier round and the quarters you may have an advantage over the provincial champions in being match fitter and sharper.

Will Hunting · May 21, 2007, 11:26:32 AM

As far as I was aware, there is only 3 Qualifier Rounds this year. I am yet to hear the whole structure of it explained properly. If there was usually 16 teams in the first round draw, and now the 8 div 4 teams go into the Tommy Murphy (if they get beat), then surely that means there will be less than 16 teams in the first round draw??

mannix · May 21, 2007, 11:31:13 AM

A short season for mayo by the looks of it unless someone lights a big fire under them.

Hardy · May 21, 2007, 11:43:02 AM

I never saw it written down (and of course they still haven't bothered to write it down on gaa.ie – what a shower of wasters), but I assumed the new setup eliminated round 1.

Round 1 was the sixteen teams who failed to reach the provincial semi-finals. Now it's less than sixteen, because up to eight go into the Tommy Murphy cup. If all eight of the Div. 4 teams fail to make the provincial semi-finals, the other eight losers go straight into what used to be round 2, against the losers of the provincial semi-finals and it proceeds from there as before.

If some of the Div. 4 teams make the provincial semi-finals, then there are more than eight teams in the qualifiers and there will have to be a draw and play-off(s) to reduce this number to eight.

Now it gets complicated if/when a Div. 4 team lose their semi-final. They go into the Tommy Murphy and there's a team among the eight qualifiers with nobody to play. Either whoever draws the Div. 4 team gets a bye, or else Div. 4 teams that get as far as the provincial semi-final are eligible for the qualifiers after that. I don't know which it is.

LaurelEye · May 21, 2007, 12:16:02 PM

AFAIK, the intention is that the first round are all the counties except the Provincial finalists and the Cooper Cup entrants - leaving a minimum of 16. The next two rounds would reduce the number to 8 and then 4, at which point the losing provincial finalists come into play.

What happens if a Cooperite such as Offaly or Wicklow reach a provincial final has still to be explained, I think.

Msgr. Horan · May 21, 2007, 12:25:35 PM

Quote from: LaurelEye on May 21, 2007, 12:16:02 PM
AFAIK, the intention is that the first round are all the counties except the Provincial finalists and the Cooper Cup entrants - leaving a minimum of 16. The next two rounds would reduce the number to 8 and then 4, at which point the losing provincial finalists come into play.

What happens if a Cooperite such as Offaly or Wicklow reach a provincial final has still to be explained, I think.

That would make sense but I dont think it is the case, my understanding is that Div 4 teams are not "allowed" into the qualifiers and instead go straight into the Cooper cup.

Blue06 · May 21, 2007, 01:52:41 PM

What happens if a Cooperite such as Offaly or Wicklow reach a provincial final has still to be explained, I think

They would join the back door(should they lose the provincial final) at Round 3.