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[Senior Football]

Update after Jan 29 games...only 1 game next weekend, the first hurling semi-final featuring St. Thomas (Galway) v Ballyea (Clare) in Thurles.

Senior Football

Feb 11:  Corofin (Galway) v Dr. Crokes (Kerry) in Limerick;  St. Vincents (Dublin) v Slaughtneil (Derry) in Newry
March 17: Final in Croke Park

Intermediate Football

Jan 29: Westport (Mayo) 1-10 Kenmare (Kerry) 0-11 AET; St. Colmcilles (Meath) 3-11 Pomeroy (Tyrone) 2-13
Feb 19: Final - Westport (Mayo) v St. Colmcilles (Meath) in Croke Park

Junior Football

Jan 29: Glenbeigh/Glencar (Kerry)  4-14 Louisburgh (Mayo) 0-13; Rock St. Patricks (Tyrone) 1-18 Dunedin Connolly's (Edinburgh) 2-6
Feb 19: Final - Rock St. Patricks (Tyrone)  v Glenbeigh/Glencar (Kerry) in Croke Park

Senior Hurling

Feb 4: St. Thomas (Galway) v Ballyea (Clare) in Thurles
Feb 25: Cuala (Dublin) v Slaughtneil (Derry) in Armagh
March 17: Final in Croke Park

Intermediate Hurling

Jan 29: Ath Eascrach/Fothaine Ahascragh/Fohenagh (near Ballinasloe in Galway) 1-17 v Lismore (Waterford) 0-13; Carrickshock (Kilkenny) 0-18 v Robert Emmetts (London) 1-9
Feb 18: Final - Ath Eascrach/Fothaine Ahascragh/Fohenagh (Galway) v Carrickshock (Kilkenny) in Croke Park

Junior Hurling

Jan 29: Mayfield (Cork) 1-14 Calry/St. Josephs (Sligo) 1-7; Mooncoin (Kilkenny) 5-11  v Lamh Dearg (Antrim) 0-8
Feb 18: Final - Mayfield (Cork) v Mooncoin (Kilkenny) in Croke Park

Would it not have made sense to fix the intermediate football & junior football games between Mayo & Kerry opposition as a double header?

Ennis or Limerick would be close enough to half way between the teams (Ennis probably closer to the halfway point).

Especially with Westport and Louisburgh being neighbouring clubs, I would have thought a lot of people would want to go and see both games.

It is a double header in Ennis. Both games are being streamed live by localstreaming.club as well.

Change noted...makes sense for once.

[Senior Football]

Update with times for this weekend's games...plus a recent change of venue sees double header in Ennis featuring the Kerry and Mayo football teams.

Senior Football
Feb 11:  Corofin (Galway) v Dr. Crokes (Kerry) in Limerick;  St. Vincents (Dublin) v Slaughtneil (Derry) in Newry
March 17 Final in Croke Park

Intermediate Football
Jan 29: Westport (Mayo) v Kenmare (Kerry) in Ennis 2:15pm; St. Colmcilles (Meath) v Pomeroy (Tyrone) in Armagh 2:15pm
Feb 19: Final in Croke Park

Junior Football:
Jan 29: Louisburgh (Mayo) v Glenbeigh/Glencar (Kerry) in Ennis 12:30pm; Dunedin Connolly's (Edinburgh) v Rock St. Patricks (Tyrone) in Armagh 12:30pm
Feb 19: Final in Croke Park

Senior Hurling
Feb 4: St. Thomas (Galway) v Ballyea (Clare) in Thurles
Feb 25: Cuala (Dublin) v Slaughtneil (Derry) in Armagh
March 17: Final in Croke Park

Intermediate Hurling
Jan 29 Semi Finals: Ath Eascrach/Fothaine Ahascragh/Fohenagh (near Ballinasloe, Co. Galway) v Lismore (Waterford) in Tullamore 2:15pm; Carrickshock (Kilkenny) v Robert Emmetts (London) in Portlaoise 1pm

Junior Hurling
Jan 29: Calry/St. Josephs (Sligo) v Mayfield (Cork) in Tullamore 12:30pm; Mooncoin (Kilkenny) v Lamh Dearg (Antrim) in Trim 2pm
Feb 18: Final in Croke Park

All 3rd round replays done giving the full Fourth Round Draw below.   Southampton/Arsenal the pick of them

Games 27-30 January:

Tottenham v Wycombe
Derby v Leicester on Friday night

Oxford v Newcastle
Sutton v Leeds on Sunday

Liverpool v Wolves
Southampton v Arsenal

Lincoln v Brighton
Chelsea v Brentford

Manchester United v Wigan on Sunday
Millwall v Watford on Sunday

Rochdale v Huddersfield
Burnley v Bristol City

Blackburn v Blackpool
Fulham v Hull on Sunday

Middlesbrough v Accrington Stanley
Crystal Palace v Manchester City

[Patriots]

Three potentially close games this weekend and one probable blow out.

I'm going with:
Texans vs Patriots
Steelers vs Chiefs
Seahawks vs falcons
Packers vs Cowboys

The great Steve Young is calling for a surprise Super Bowl pairing of Pittsburgh and Atlanta. 

Each county should organise a Summer Fun League (the SFL???) for the non-county players.  Play it Thursday night or Friday night.  A game every week with a two week shutdown for holiday, say the first two week of August.  Start June 1, end Sept 1 is three full months.  10 games.

Made for player who just want to play a game with their lifelong friends and clubmates without the need for dieticians or S&C coaches.  Of course, a few players on every team will take it very seriously in prep for September/October full club fare, but that is fine too.  You would have the soccer and rugby lads returning for the summer and, who knows, maybe even staying for the county championship.

Win/Win?

Fourth Round Draw Games 27-30 January:

Tottenham v Wycombe
Derby v Leicester

Oxford v Newcastle or Birmingham
Sutton or AFC Wimbledon v Leeds

Plymouth or Liverpool v Wolves
Southampton or Norwich v Arsenal

Lincoln or Ipswich v Brighton
Chelsea v Brentford

Manchester United v Wigan
Millwall v Watford

Rochdale v Huddersfield
Burnley or Sunderland v Fleetwood or Bristol City

Blackburn v Barnsley or Blackpool
Fulham v Hull

Middlesbrough v Accrington Stanley
Crystal Palace or Bolton v Manchester City


Look pretty boring to be honest.

Why? Kerry senior club teams have been very competitive in the All Ireland series so their system isn't producing poor teams just ones that haven't won an All Ireland. I don't think winning club All Irelands is a reflection on the quality of your competition formats it's simply a reflection of the quality of your champions compared to other counties. Are you arguing that Kerry senior champions are falling short in the All Ireland series because they have too few clubs in their own senior championship?

Just checked there now its ten years since a Kerry club reached the All Ireland senior final so its not just winning it their having trouble with but reaching finals as well.

I'm arguing the current Kerry club system has increased their chances of winning intermediate and junior All Irelands and the opposite at senior level.

So Kerry have the best average footballers, but no great ones?  Is that what you are saying?

Clever work with Kerry accent here:

Shtar Wars...The Kingdom Shtrikes Back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9kLOPAusWM

[Not only is it not a requirement, it's illegal under GAA rules. Some counties used to, until quite recently, determine championship promotion/relegation through league positions. I know Galway was one. They were forced to change.]

Is it a requirement that county league status determine the grade a club plays in? 

Certainly not so in Kerry, where the status is determined by senior, intermediate and junior club championships.  Win your level and you move up (with the exception of the occasional regrading year).  Kerry's county league exists to give non-county players regular games and nothing else it seems as there is no requirement that county men must be available for any league games. 

So why don't other counties adopt the same structure if it so good?

Not only is it not a requirement, it's illegal under GAA rules. Some counties used to, until quite recently, determine championship promotion/relegation through league positions. I know Galway was one.  They were forced to change.

Eh, surely this is nonsense? In Derry if you're relegated from the Senior league you play Intermediate Championship the next year, if promoted the other way you play Senior Chapionship and the same between Intermediate and Junior.  I don't think this is illegal as i'm pretty sure it's done in plenty of other counties?

Note: The only exception is to apply to play senior championship which is very rarely done.

Did a little digging. This is what I based my comment on:

http://connachttribune.ie/major-overhaul-of-county-football-on-the-cards/

It seems Galway were made to change as the Connacht Council found them to be in contravention of the rules. Maybe the Connacht Council were wrong, it's hard to tell from the article.

Strange as from what I can take, how Galway used to be run (and deemed to be against the rules) is currently how things are run in the Tyrone leagues/championships unless i'm missing something?

Pomeroy, the Ulster intermediate champions are the 17th ranked team in Tyrone having competed in the Tyrone intermediate league and championship this year. How can it be that they are expected to compete with a senior team from Kerry, ranked 8/9th for all Ireland honours? Its all wrong if you ask me!

Except Kenmare are not a senior club...league position does not determine club status.  This part seems hard to grasp for some reason.

The only way to become senior is to win the intermediate championship.  Occasionally a regrading year will prevent the winners moving up, but it is rare.

The Kenmare District team that played in the senior championship final included Kenmare Shamrocks, Templenoe and Tuosist clubs.

Ultra competitive? Dr Crokes have won five of the last seven senior county titles and they streamrolled their way through the majority of those titles. The one noticeable feature of this Kerry club system is it was increased their chances of winning intermediate and junior All Irelands while a senior All Ireland hasn't been won by a Kerry club since Laune Rangers in 1996.

That's irrelevant. If you've the top 8 teams competing and one of them proves to be far stronger than the rest then you still have as competitive a competition as you can have. Adding 4 teams or more from below will hardly change the eventual winner if they are steamrolling the top 7 teams already. The point is, by limiting the number of senior clubs they are keeping that as competitive as possible while also making the divisions below it more competitive too.

The fact Kerry are dominating at intermediate and junior but not at senior just goes to prove that they have the right system.

By the way, Dr. Crokes had only one game out of 5 in the 2016 county championship with a winning margin greater than 7...hardly steamrolling.

Is it a requirement that county league status determine the grade a club plays in? 

Certainly not so in Kerry, where the status is determined by senior, intermediate and junior club championships.  Win your level and you move up (with the exception of the occasional regrading year).  Kerry's county league exists to give non-county players regular games and nothing else it seems as there is no requirement that county men must be available for any league games. 

So why don't other counties adopt the same structure if it so good? 

[A Munster team v A Connacht team i would describe a Leinster venue as neutral.]

A Munster team v A Connacht team i would describe a Leinster venue as neutral.


Teams involved are all more than 100km from home.

The teams are identified by their village/town and then by county...once outside both counties the venue is neutral. 

You might have a point for inter-county games though.

[Senior Football]

Senior Football
Feb 11:  Corofin (Galway) v Dr. Crokes (Kerry) in Limerick;

Kerry teams club or county are great for getting theses All Ireland series games fixed in Munster.

Let's get actual distances of travel, per google maps:

2 games in Limerick...Glenbeigh 134km v Louisburgh 186km and Corofin 108km v Killarney 116km

1 game in Ennis...Westport 136km v Kenmare 192km

So the Connacht clubs are closer to home in two of the three games. 

But the venues are best described as neutral for all teams, or are you arguing differently?

[Senior Football]

Senior Football
Feb 11:  Corofin (Galway) v Dr. Crokes (Kerry) in Limerick;  St. Vincents (Dublin) v Slaughtneil (Derry) in Newry
March 17 Final in Croke Park

Intermediate Football
Jan 29: Westport (Mayo) v Kenmare (Kerry) in Ennis; St. Colmcilles (Meath) v Pomeroy (Tyrone) in Armagh
Feb 19: Final in Croke Park

Junior Football:
Jan 29: Louisburgh (Mayo) v Glenbeigh/Glencar (Kerry) in Limerick; Dunedin Connolly's (Edinburgh) v Rock St. Patricks (Tyrone) in Armagh
Feb 19: Final in Croke Park

Senior Hurling
Feb 4: St. Thomas (Galway) v Ballyea (Clare) in Thurles
Feb 25: Cuala (Dublin) v Slaughtneil (Derry) in Armagh
March 17: Final in Croke Park

Intermediate Hurling
Jan 14 Quarter Final: Robert Emmetts (London) v St. Brigids (Antrim) in London
Jan 29 Semi Finals: Ath Eascrach/Fothaine Ahascragh/Fohenagh (near Ballinasloe in Galway) v Lismore (Waterford) in Tullamore; Carrickshock (Kilkenny) v QF Winner, venue to be confirmed

Junior Hurling
Jan 29: Calry/St. Josephs (Sligo) v Mayfield (Cork) in Tullamore; Mooncoin (Kilkenny) v Lamh Dearg (Antrim) in Trim
Feb 18: Final in Croke Park