All Ireland Championship 2025.

[SouthOfThe Bann]

Mayo folk are delighted with the venue (as they should be). A short drive from their main population centres and a venue that they are intimately familiar with as underage and senior players.

There's an understaendable frustration for Donegal supporters. We were dragged to Castlebar to play Galway in a qualifier in 2003 and it feels like the county is always at the rough end of these decisions. Hopefully we'll get a similar result to 2003. Up Donegal.

Will Jim send the gophers down 4 or 5 hours ahead of the convoy to set the hotel room temperatures? This decision and a thousand just like it will more than likely determine the outcome

Donegal team staying in the Hodson Bay hotel in Athlone I hear. Spa's booked out the Saturday before.

[AustinPowers]

Mayo v Donegal - Cavan
Cavan v Tyrone - Enniskillen
Kerry v Meath - Tullamore
Roscommon v Cork- Portlaoise
Monaghan v Down - Armagh
Louth v Clare - Longford
Galway v Armagh - Navan
Dublin v Derry - Newry

5 from 8

What I win?

[balladmaker]

No game for Clones ... I'd have put Donegal/Mayo there before The Hyde.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

The time to drive from each counties main ground to the selected venue

Kerry - Killarney to O'Connor Park 2hr 51 minutes   
Meath  -  Navan to O'Connor Park  1hr 5 minutes

Roscommon - Hyde Park to O'Moore Park  1 hr 21 minutes   
Cork  - Pairc Ui Chaoimh to O'Moore park 1 hr 42 minutes

Armagh - Athletic grounds to Breffni park 1hr 7 minutes
Galway,  Pearse Stadium to Breffni park  2hrs

Derry  Celtic Park  to Páirc Esler 1hr 55 minutes
Dublin Croke Park to Pairc Esler  1hr 5 minutes

Donegal ballybofey to Hyde park 2hr 17 minutes
Mayo, HacHale Park to Hyde Park  1hr  14 minutes

Tyrone Healy Park to Brewster Park  40 minutes
Cavan, Breffni park to Brewster park  44 minutes

Louth Drogheda to O'Moore park  1hr 26 minutes
Clare, Cusack Park to O'Moore Park, 1hr 34 minutes

Monaghan Clones to Athletic Grounds 41 minutes
Down, Newry to Athletic Grounds  26 minutes

Thanks for putting that up.

Don't understand why the Kerry v Meath game couldn't have been in Limerick or Thurles. Have played Meath in both those venues in the past. No direct public transport to Tullamore from Killarney or Tralee either.

And no chance of either county having the balls to stream the game either I'm guessing.

[greatpoint]

Mayo folk are delighted with the venue (as they should be). A short drive from their main population centres and a venue that they are intimately familiar with as underage and senior players.

There's an understaendable frustration for Donegal supporters. We were dragged to Castlebar to play Galway in a qualifier in 2003 and it feels like the county is always at the rough end of these decisions. Hopefully we'll get a similar result to 2003. Up Donegal.

Will Jim send the gophers down 4 or 5 hours ahead of the convoy to set the hotel room temperatures? This decision and a thousand just like it will more than likely determine the outcome

What's the story with Tyrone supporters being obsessed with McGuinness?

[tiempo]

Silver fox, whats not to love

Honestly he's a great manager and Donegal are a class team and I'd have a soft spot for them, think they could've derailed the great Dublin team a second time only for McBreartys injury in 2018

If not Tyrone I'd be more than happy to see Donegal win, just wish Jim would tone down the rhetoric at times

[armaghniac]

Many of the venues above are fine, Monaghan v Down or Cavan v Tyrone could hardly be more conveniently situated, but Kerry are very hard done by with Tullamore.
There is a bit of a gap between Connacht and Ulster in that the smaller counties have smaller grounds and Mullingar, Longford and Carrick-on-Shannon have rather less capacity than might attend. 

[J70]

Our moaning aside, the unavailability of Markievicz Park is what has caused this. Donegal v Mayo would surely have been there if it was playable this summer.

[Armaghtothebone]

The time to drive from each counties main ground to the selected venue

Kerry - Killarney to O'Connor Park 2hr 51 minutes   
Meath  -  Navan to O'Connor Park  1hr 5 minutes

Roscommon - Hyde Park to O'Moore Park  1 hr 21 minutes   
Cork  - Pairc Ui Chaoimh to O'Moore park 1 hr 42 minutes

Armagh - Athletic grounds to Breffni park 1hr 7 minutes
Galway,  Pearse Stadium to Breffni park  2hrs

Derry  Celtic Park  to Páirc Esler 1hr 55 minutes
Dublin Croke Park to Pairc Esler  1hr 5 minutes

Donegal ballybofey to Hyde park 2hr 17 minutes
Mayo, HacHale Park to Hyde Park  1hr  14 minutes

Tyrone Healy Park to Brewster Park  40 minutes
Cavan, Breffni park to Brewster park  44 minutes

Louth Drogheda to O'Moore park  1hr 26 minutes
Clare, Cusack Park to O'Moore Park, 1hr 34 minutes

Monaghan Clones to Athletic Grounds 41 minutes
Down, Newry to Athletic Grounds  26 minutes

Thanks for putting that up.

Don't understand why the Kerry v Meath game couldn't have been in Limerick or Thurles. Have played Meath in both those venues in the past. No direct public transport to Tullamore from Killarney or Tralee either.

And no chance of either county having the balls to stream the game either I'm guessing.

Half of the Kerry supporters travelling to the game are up in arms about it, but the other 3 seem to be OK with it!!

[GraceO’Malley]

The time to drive from each counties main ground to the selected venue

Kerry - Killarney to O'Connor Park 2hr 51 minutes   
Meath  -  Navan to O'Connor Park  1hr 5 minutes

Roscommon - Hyde Park to O'Moore Park  1 hr 21 minutes   
Cork  - Pairc Ui Chaoimh to O'Moore park 1 hr 42 minutes

Armagh - Athletic grounds to Breffni park 1hr 7 minutes
Galway,  Pearse Stadium to Breffni park  2hrs

Derry  Celtic Park  to Páirc Esler 1hr 55 minutes
Dublin Croke Park to Pairc Esler  1hr 5 minutes

Donegal ballybofey to Hyde park 2hr 17 minutes
Mayo, HacHale Park to Hyde Park  1hr  14 minutes

Tyrone Healy Park to Brewster Park  40 minutes
Cavan, Breffni park to Brewster park  44 minutes

Louth Drogheda to O'Moore park  1hr 26 minutes
Clare, Cusack Park to O'Moore Park, 1hr 34 minutes

Monaghan Clones to Athletic Grounds 41 minutes
Down, Newry to Athletic Grounds  26 minutes

Thanks for putting that up.

Don't understand why the Kerry v Meath game couldn't have been in Limerick or Thurles. Have played Meath in both those venues in the past. No direct public transport to Tullamore from Killarney or Tralee either.

And no chance of either county having the balls to stream the game either I'm guessing.

Half of the Kerry supporters travelling to the game are up in arms about it, but the other 3 seem to be OK with it!!

Ha, you're on it this morning! Very good.

[Rossfan]

Mayo folk are delighted with the venue (as they should be).

Donegal team staying in the Hodson Bay hotel in Athlone I hear. Spa's booked out the Saturday before.

Good to see them staying in our County, a few kms OUTSIDE Athlone.

[SouthOfThe Bann]

The Rossies seem to get the short end of the straw with all these towns.

Rough part of Athlone, Carrick On Shannon, Shannonbridge and the great people of Ballaghderreen want to be Mayo

[weareros]

The Rossies seem to get the short end of the straw with all these towns.

Rough part of Athlone, Carrick On Shannon, Shannonbridge and the great people of Ballaghderreen want to be Mayo

Born and bred in Ballaghaderreen. Always a Roscommon man. You are correct on one point: the people are great (even some of the Mayo ones).

[p3427977]

Lads has anyone seen when tickets go on sale?

[omagh_gael]

Long post but copied from a thread by Cahir O'Kane of Irish news on Twitter. Very informative...


I get asked about this a lot and there's very little info out there. So here's a pretty long thread explaining as briefly yet comprehensively as I could how the GAA sets fixtures, the say broadcasters have and the other factors at play 🧵
ImageThreads Clothing
In terms of the 2025 season, RTÉ have rights to show 31 games from the men's football and hurling championships. Their package includes additional Tailteann Cup, Joe McDonagh and camogie games.

GAA+ have rights to show 40 games. Within that, there are 7 Tailteann Cup games.
RTÉ have exclusivity in Ireland for the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals in football and hurling.

BBC NI show games in conjunction with RTÉ. You'll often find games in Ulster plus All-Ireland semis and finals on both stations.

However, GAA+ do not allow BBC to show games at the same as they're broadcasting. As a pay-per-view operation, it wouldn't make much sense to allow BBC to show it for free.
BBC have no active part in the negotiations around when games are played. They can show Saturday, Sunday or both if required, so it's borderline irrelevant to them.
In advance of the provincial championships beginning and during the process of fixtures being set, both broadcasters will discuss with the GAA and settle on a schedule of games.

That first part of the schedule takes you up to the provincial finals.
RTÉ are obliged to show all four football and two hurling provincial finals live as they are on the government's list of protected free-to-air sporting events.
The divvying up of how many games the two broadcasters will show each weekend is also done before a ball is kicked or pucked. For instance, before the round robin phase was an impure thought, it was decided that GAA+ would show two games and RTÉ would also show two.
The general rule of thumb from the start of football's round robin stage and the All-Ireland semi-finals is that Saturday games go to GAA+ and Sunday games go to RTE. That isn't always strictly adhered to but in the main, that's how it works.
So take round three of the round robin. CCCC met on Tuesday at lunchtime to finalise the fixtures.

In the days and weeks leading up to that meeting, there will have been discussions between the GAA, counties and the broadcasters.
Everyone wants what suits them best. Both broadcasters would have wanted the two games in Group 4 (Armagh-Galway and Dublin-Derry) and Group 1 (Donegal-Mayo and Tyrone-Cavan).

Being fair to both broadcasters is a big consideration, but not the only one.

Armagh-Galway is in Breffni Park. That means a lot of Cavan people on duty at the game. But Cavan are also playing. So Cavan-Tyrone and Armagh-Galway would have to be on different days if possible.
The same applies to Armagh-Galway and Monaghan-Down, which was being hosted in Armagh. Then you had Donegal-Mayo going to Hyde Park, meaning Roscommon-Cork had to be the opposite day.
Tyrone-Cavan had to be at the same time as Donegal-Mayo because the final fixtures in each group have to throw in at the same time, in the interests of fairness around results and score difference.
So by proxy, once the venues became clear, the fixtures fell into place. It just became a decision as to which of Armagh/Galway/Derry/Dublin or Donegal/Mayo/Tyrone/Cavan would be played Saturday and which would be played Sunday.
Travel for supporters becomes as big a factor in that decision as what broadcasters want. You will notice that when Kerry are in Croke Park, it's almost exclusively on a Sunday where possible. Same with Donegal.
That's why a lot of Dublin's big games in recent years have been on Saturday evenings. Where their opponents have a reasonable travel time, it's often the fairest solution and tends to guarantee better crowds both days at Croke Park.
The knock-on effect of that is that a lot of Dublin's games have subsequently ended up behind a paywall, because GAA+ tend to show the Saturday games.

The process for provincial games can be slightly different.
For instance, in this year's Ulster SFC, Armagh faced Tyrone and Donegal faced Down in the semi-finals. RTÉ wanted Armagh-Tyrone as a Sunday fixture so they could show it live.
But the Ulster SFC fixtures tend to run in the order of the draw, so as to ensure fairness. Down-Donegal was the second semi-final because Donegal were in the last quarter-final. To put them Saturday would have meant only 6 days rest compared to then 8 for Tyrone and Armagh.
So despite the broadcasters' wishes, the games went in the order that had been set at the start. And that meant Tyrone-Armagh going to GAA+ simply because it was a Saturday game.
There's also the fact that because the draws and fixtures are made in advance, broadcasters will choose all of their provincial championship ties at the very beginning. Fixtures will be finalised around TV schedules.
That particularly applies to the Munster SHC, where there is generally a lot of flexibility around teams playing Saturday or Sunday. You've had that Cork-Limerick round robin classic in 2024 on what was GAAGO because they picked it, so the fixture was set for Saturday as a result
It's not always a big conspiracy and sometimes the decisions are made for the right reasons, even if those reasons aren't always obvious. It's a combination of venues, TV, other fixtures, travel times.
Hopefully this thread helps inform you a bit about how the sausage is made 🌭 Threads Clothing
Apologies, I said BBC have no active part in negotiations around fixtures, that is the case for the All-Ireland series but they'd be in conversation with Ulster Council, the GAA and other broadcasters around times and dates for the Ulster SFC. They show all of it bar GAA+ games