all ireland football qualifiers 2017.

[cornetto]

Was just wondering have the a and b groupings been decided already?can't locate.

[mrdeeds]

Was just wondering have the a and b groupings been decided already?can't locate.

Yeah was decided by the draw. Top half automatically A and bottom half B.

[cornetto]

Going on a local paper in galway it says that the A side of the draw is much tougher,for instance the loser of galway v mayo could potentially play derry,meath or kildare or Tyrone and donegal in the course of qualifiers,while on the B side the loser of cavan v monaghanshould reach the fourth round or even quarter final.anyone got a list of a & b sides?

[Rossfan]

Every year since they brought in this A and B thingy one side has ended up much stronger than the other.
Then last year the daftness of Louth in the A side playing a Qualifier game 6 days after losing to Meath and
Wexford in the B Section playing 5 or 6 weeks after losing to Kildare.

[Maroon Manc]

Every year since they brought in this A and B thingy one side has ended up much stronger than the other.
Then last year the daftness of Louth in the A side playing a Qualifier game 6 days after losing to Meath and
Wexford in the B Section playing 5 or 6 weeks after losing to Kildare.

Agree its led to one side been stronger than the other side and then come round 4 you're left with a situation where a county can only face one team because a provincial loser and a round 3 winner already met earlier on in the championship. In 2015 Galway had to face Donegal in round 4 as Tyrone couldn't play Donegal as they'd met in Ulster already, instead Tyrone played Sligo.

[Esmarelda]

Every year since they brought in this A and B thingy one side has ended up much stronger than the other.
Then last year the daftness of Louth in the A side playing a Qualifier game 6 days after losing to Meath and
Wexford in the B Section playing 5 or 6 weeks after losing to Kildare.

Agree its led to one side been stronger than the other side and then come round 4 you're left with a situation where a county can only face one team because a provincial loser and a round 3 winner already met earlier on in the championship. In 2015 Galway had to face Donegal in round 4 as Tyrone couldn't play Donegal as they'd met in Ulster already, instead Tyrone played Sligo.

I can't be sure, and I know it's not popular to acknowledge these things if I am correct, but I think the new championship structures do away with the A & B split.

[AZOffaly]

I don't know that it does, to be honest. The Super 8s are the step after the qualifiers are over anyway, so I'm not sure they would impact. The shorter season may do something to it alright.

[Esmarelda]

I don't know that it does, to be honest. The Super 8s are the step after the qualifiers are over anyway, so I'm not sure they would impact. The shorter season may do something to it alright.

When I said the new structures, I meant the changes generally.

I seem to be the only one that looks upon the changes as a whole rather than putting the big bad Super 8 out on its own.

[AZOffaly]

Hang on now. There were actually 3 changes proposed, not just 1. So each change on its own can be discussed in isolation. It would have been perfectly possible to put in the shorter season, the no replay rule and forget the Super 8.

Of course the net effect of all 3 of them is what we will see in 2018, but they did not all have to be put in place. As for the Super 8, I certainly don't think it is big bad anything, I just think it's a revenue generator, end of story.

Looking at the 3 as 1 big change is incorrect, technically, and that is what the delegates at convention allegedly did. They were led to believe that it was all or nothing, even though it wasn't. So it's only you, and all the misled delegates at congress.*


*I don't believe for a second they were misled. That's a copout when they realised there was a backlash against the Super 8 idea from some quarters.

[Esmarelda]

Hang on now. There were actually 3 changes proposed, not just 1. So each change on its own can be discussed in isolation. It would have been perfectly possible to put in the shorter season, the no replay rule and forget the Super 8.

Of course the net effect of all 3 of them is what we will see in 2018, but they did not all have to be put in place. As for the Super 8, I certainly don't think it is big bad anything, I just think it's a revenue generator, end of story.

Looking at the 3 as 1 big change is incorrect, technically, and that is what the delegates at convention allegedly did. They were led to believe that it was all or nothing, even though it wasn't. So it's only you, and all the misled delegates at congress.*


*I don't believe for a second they were misled. That's a copout when they realised there was a backlash against the Super 8 idea from some quarters.

That was quite an unnecessary mouthful.

All I meant was that I read the initial proposal when it was released which then turned out to be three different proposals rolled into one. Since then I've thought of them as one rather than what they turned out to be. I was merely pointing out what my initial post was supposed to mean, as opposed to how you interpreted it.

[AZOffaly]

That's right. You were wrong to view them as 1 proposal initially. Apology accepted.

I see how Stallion does this now

[Esmarelda]

That's right. You were wrong to view them as 1 proposal initially. Apology accepted.

I see how Stallion does this now

Ha, I just noticed how he did it last week.

I didn't apologise. The proposal was one proposal initially. There was no other way to view it. I subsequently failed to adapt to the way it was split in three when discussing it.

[AZOffaly]

I'm only slagging. Anyway, to your point before we started rambling off, I'm not sure if the new changes, en masse, actually do affect the A&B bit, or do they just make them run off quicker.

[Esmarelda]

I'm only slagging. Anyway, to your point before we started rambling off, I'm not sure if the new changes, en masse, actually do affect the A&B bit, or do they just make them run off quicker.

They all seem to be on the one weekend anyway. I thought I read somewhere in that initial three-part proposal  that they were gone but I can't seem to find it.

Doesn't matter anyway. Now that they've been voted through, Croke Park and Sky are going to screw us all and change the whole thing to ensure the Dubs win it out.

Edit - it was in the initial proposal - "The format of 'A' and 'B' sides to the qualifier draw will be ended"

[Rossfan]

Will the Provincial Finals be squeezed tighter together in 2018?
Currently the 4 Football Finals are so read over 3 weekends.