Antrim Football Thread

[thegladiator]

Bonkers stuff!
A Div.1 of 10 teams max would be ideal. It would be competitive and give the league credibility. A 16 team league would be farce.. in most counties, especially Antrim.

It'll only happen if the clubs vote it, not sure why the clubs would entertain it unless it's to suit themselves, which is usually the case.

Club members should ballot it with their membership and inform their county delegates to vote against it.

If it goes ahead, then it's the clubs, your clubs, that you are members of, or not, have agreed it, via a vote.

[Hoof Hearted]

I believe the plan was to have Div 1A of 8 and 1B of 8. Dunloy playing in SFC & Div 3 football put a spanner in the plan.

Would it not be more cause certain clubs didn't finish last season high enough to earn a top 8 place ?

[inabsentia]

The 1A and 1B arguments make no sense.

1A is division 1 by another name, but the proposal that I saw had the lowest 4 teams in 1A and 1B form 1B the following year.

So if 1A are the teams ranked 1-8 in the county and 1B are teams ranked 9-16, in 2025 that means we'll have 1-4 and 9-12 in the same division and 5-8 and 12-16 in the same.

It's ludicrous.

And div 2 is 10 teams but still has a split? It's completely pointless.

And sure we'll arbitrarily move either Dunloy up to senior and Ballymena down because might as well commit to the poorly thought out idea

[Delgany 2nds]

The 1A and 1B arguments make no sense.

1A is division 1 by another name, but the proposal that I saw had the lowest 4 teams in 1A and 1B form 1B the following year.

So if 1A are the teams ranked 1-8 in the county and 1B are teams ranked 9-16, in 2025 that means we'll have 1-4 and 9-12 in the same division and 5-8 and 12-16 in the same.



It's ludicrous.

And div 2 is 10 teams but still has a split? It's completely pointless.

And sure we'll arbitrarily move either Dunloy up to senior and Ballymena down because might as well commit to the poorly thought out idea

Agree with those points entirely!
The proposal you talk of was an option , not the best one at all.
A few clubs took the hump that they'd be in 1B ....so we have a proposed 16 team Div 1. Div 2 spilt  + championship games equals a maximum of 20 game season for football only clubs

[BelSaft]

What is the Antrim team likely to look like on 1st League Outing?
Are any of the injured guys back? McCabe? CJ? Loughran?
Have any of the new lads impressed enough to get a starting jersey?
I fear it could be a tough league campaign coming up

[EOC1923]

Are these proposals going to improve the standard of Division 1? answer is no. Are these proposals going to lower the standard in Divison 1? the answer is yes.
I look forward to hearing how the All Saints Chairman (member of working group) justifies his club being parachuted into Division 1 and whether he can keep a straight face while doing it.

[inabsentia]

The 1A and 1B arguments make no sense.

1A is division 1 by another name, but the proposal that I saw had the lowest 4 teams in 1A and 1B form 1B the following year.

So if 1A are the teams ranked 1-8 in the county and 1B are teams ranked 9-16, in 2025 that means we'll have 1-4 and 9-12 in the same division and 5-8 and 12-16 in the same.



It's ludicrous.

And div 2 is 10 teams but still has a split? It's completely pointless.

And sure we'll arbitrarily move either Dunloy up to senior and Ballymena down because might as well commit to the poorly thought out idea

Agree with those points entirely!
The proposal you talk of was an option , not the best one at all.
A few clubs took the hump that they'd be in 1B ....so we have a proposed 16 team Div 1. Div 2 spilt  + championship games equals a maximum of 20 game season for football only clubs

I skimmed the newer one that was doing the rounds but looked a whole lot the same so didn't read fully. But surely throwing in H&A for div 2 is fair enough. It'd only equate to 4 more matches and actually means we get few of a bunch of dead rubbers.

I'd be embarrassed to be one of the people putting this forward to save face for their club. Take your medicine and if you're good enough you're good enough.

[inabsentia]

Are these proposals going to improve the standard of Division 1? answer is no. Are these proposals going to lower the standard in Divison 1? the answer is yes.
I look forward to hearing how the All Saints Chairman (member of working group) justifies his club being parachuted into Division 1 and whether he can keep a straight face while doing it.

Who else was in the working group that put this forward? I'd guess a Galls man or someone sympathetic to them

[Milltown Row2]

Are these proposals going to improve the standard of Division 1? answer is no. Are these proposals going to lower the standard in Divison 1? the answer is yes.
I look forward to hearing how the All Saints Chairman (member of working group) justifies his club being parachuted into Division 1 and whether he can keep a straight face while doing it.

Who else was in the working group that put this forward? I'd guess a Galls man or someone sympathetic to them

Curious as to why it would work better for us?

[inabsentia]

Are these proposals going to improve the standard of Division 1? answer is no. Are these proposals going to lower the standard in Divison 1? the answer is yes.
I look forward to hearing how the All Saints Chairman (member of working group) justifies his club being parachuted into Division 1 and whether he can keep a straight face while doing it.

Who else was in the working group that put this forward? I'd guess a Galls man or someone sympathetic to them

Curious as to why it would work better for us?

The working model I heard before this latest proposal was reducing div 1 down to ten teams which would mean in the current standings galls drop to div 2

[Milltown Row2]

Are these proposals going to improve the standard of Division 1? answer is no. Are these proposals going to lower the standard in Divison 1? the answer is yes.
I look forward to hearing how the All Saints Chairman (member of working group) justifies his club being parachuted into Division 1 and whether he can keep a straight face while doing it.

Who else was in the working group that put this forward? I'd guess a Galls man or someone sympathetic to them

Curious as to why it would work better for us?

The working model I heard before this latest proposal was reducing div 1 down to ten teams which would mean in the current standings galls drop to div 2

And?

You know we dropped to Div 2 (north at long ago)before?  did us no harm whatsoever

You play the level you're at, if we have to play intermediate that's where we'd be at.

Anyone clinging on just to stay in Div 1 is only fooling themselves

[thegladiator]

Couldn't agree more MR2. It's just a false reading on where clubs are at by restructuring leagues etc. Every team is cyclical and  if you are lucky you can ride the bumps and keep at the higher level. This is just a nonsense restructure  and we will be back having another one to sort of out the mess that is coming this season, if not for next season-definitely  for the one after.

[NorthAntrim]

I think a restructure is needed. But not a 16 team div 1. There is too big of a gap between top of 2 and bottom. The initial 1a 1b looked very competative making 4 leagues

[statto]

I think a restructure is needed. But not a 16 team div 1. There is too big of a gap between top of 2 and bottom. The initial 1a 1b looked very competative making 4 leagues

Armagh league is 1a- 8 teams, 1b 8 teams, 2a- 8 teams, 2b- 8-teams, with junior also split between a and b which makes for competitive games at all levels in the main.  Two up two down.  Previously, had the 16 team senior league 16 team intermediate league and rest in junior and quite a few mismatches in league games.   

[ck]

I think a restructure is needed. But not a 16 team div 1. There is too big of a gap between top of 2 and bottom. The initial 1a 1b looked very competative making 4 leagues

Armagh league is 1a- 8 teams, 1b 8 teams, 2a- 8 teams, 2b- 8-teams, with junior also split between a and b which makes for competitive games at all levels in the main.  Two up two down.  Previously, had the 16 team senior league 16 team intermediate league and rest in junior and quite a few mismatches in league games.   

Yes an 8 team league makes absolute sense (my club have proposed exactly this). It will be competitive, every game will mean something and it will give the league credibility. 2 up, 2 down. Its the only decent option.