Antrim Football Thread

[EOC1923]

The record of 1 win on penalties and 6 defeats by a minimum of 4 points each time would tell me the Cargin posters on here should try to win with a bit more grace than they normally do. It is pure scutter every year and dare I say arrogance. I'm sure it is no representation of players or wider club / communtity. Just a few on the wind up but unnecessary.

Maybe it is well deserved the county record is unbelievable, but if you were 10 mile down the road there might be more humility when it comes to football

Beating Glenties some achievement no matter what you say - Clonoe man with gripe about Cargin

[Spike]

his point (which you have missed in your haste to have a pop) us that Being King of the Dump is great but don't get annoyed if the neighbours point out it's an empire built on dirt.

So all Antrim clubs are rubbish then?  Derry, Down, Monaghan are one horse races, by a distance.   Tyrone and Donegal two horses. Who would St Brigids and Portglenone feel they would struggle with?  They would live comfortably in those other leagues.     

[Spike]

Heard the following -

St .Tereseas have taken option to stay in Div2 /IFC.
Dunloy retain SFC status as a consequence

Aggies have withdrawn from Div 3 playoff with Lochra. Are Lochra promoted?

Gort na Mona members claiming they are staying  in Div 2 as a consequence.

Hard to know what will happen ...of if anyone knows the answers either

I heard something similar, along with D1 being reduced to 12 teams, which could mean the Johnny's get relegated  to d2, which makes me think this part at least won't happen! That would give Div1-12 teams, Div2-12 teams and Div3-8 teams. As usual, a cluster fxxk 1 year carries through to damage several years.
[/quote]

It has been such a mess this year

[Saffron_sam20]

Heard the following -

St .Tereseas have taken option to stay in Div2 /IFC.
Dunloy retain SFC status as a consequence

Aggies have withdrawn from Div 3 playoff with Lochra. Are Lochra promoted?

Gort na Mona members claiming they are staying  in Div 2 as a consequence.

Hard to know what will happen ...of if anyone knows the answers either

I heard something similar, along with D1 being reduced to 12 teams, which could mean the Johnny's get relegated  to d2, which makes me think this part at least won't happen! That would give Div1-12 teams, Div2-12 teams and Div3-8 teams. As usual, a cluster fxxk 1 year carries through to damage several years.

It has been such a mess this year
[/quote]

With greatest respect to Laochra, i think Gort staying up is the only decision to make there, LLL are nowhere near ready for Div 2.

If Teresa's don't go up, who would that save, Enda's?

[Hectic]

Again - no vehicle for St Teresa's to have been promoted in this year's regulations so if they did turn down promotion that is similar to me turning down a date with Beyoncé.

I believe we need a smaller Senior Championship. I also believe we need a stronger Intermediate Championship if our Intermediate winners are going to make a dent in Ulster.

If leagues must be aligned to Championship then that also means a smaller Division 1.

But what is ideal? 3x8 and 1x10 with the 1x10 being a Junior B Championship.

Would certainly make leagues competitive but do we prefer a system, like this year, where less pressure on leagues and teams can use them for developing and keep Championship separate?

Commitment expected from county players probably also feeds into having a bigger Division 1.  A smaller Division 1 with relegation from Senior Championship attached will potentially further impact county player availability.

[Gael-in-exile]

After all the confusion going into the year and confusion coming out of the year is it not best to consider some simpler ideas regarding leagues and championships.

The first question is do league and championships need aligned?

There's 32 club teams.
3 Divisions of 12/10/10 or 10/11/11, to be decided which divisions hold more teams. In a 10 team league you'd get at least 11 games if you split half way, or 18 if you played a double round. If you wanted to include promotion & relegation semis and finals you can make sure all but 2 teams in league get 10 games but I'd push for using the numbers to create more.
Ultimately the reason for GAA is to play games no matter the level.

In championship keep it seperate and create relegation games to find a team dropping down a level for the winners of the level below.

Teams like Dunloy may have a year like 2023 but sure what was the real issue with that? They can play championship at any level and if they have the strength in league then surely it would only be a year or two before they move up.

[Gael-in-exile]

After all the confusion going into the year and confusion coming out of the year is it not best to consider some simpler ideas regarding leagues and championships.

The first question is do league and championships need aligned?

There's 34 club teams.
3 Divisions of 12/11/11 or 10/12/12, to be decided which divisions hold more teams. In a 10 team league you'd get at least 11 games if you split half way, or 18 if you played a double round. If you wanted to include promotion & relegation semis and finals you can make sure all but 2 teams in league get 10 games but I'd push for using the numbers to create more.
Ultimately the reason for GAA is to play games no matter the level.

In championship keep it seperate and create relegation games to find a team dropping down a level for the winners of the level below.

Teams like Dunloy may have a year like 2023 but sure what was the real issue with that? They can play championship at any level and if they have the strength in league then surely it would only be a year or two before they move up.

[Hectic]

At this point I would prefer keep leagues and Championships separate.

For leagues straight promotion and relegation without playoffs.

Keep relegation playoffs for Championship. Aside from determining who goes down also keeps the group games honest (if maintaining groups).

Was this year not supposed to be a trial anyway?  And with that were we not heading into a 12 team Division 1 before the trial commenced?  Meaning we revert back to the start of this year (before trial format) to start 2025?

Might disappoint like of St Paul's but then would they have won Division 2 had Ballymena, Aldergrove, St Endas and whoever the other team was supposed to be - Moneyglass I think - were competing?

[Gael-in-exile]

If you go with one 10 and two 11 team leagues you have 18 & 20 games.
That's a lot across the year but not impossible. It would just mean starting earlier.

If you play 9/10 games and split then you are down to 14 & 15 games which is reasonable. One or two up and down (with or without playoff for 2nd teams) but keep it consistent across all divisions.

Then split championships into similar numbers and review structure separately whereby you'd aim to give all teams at least 3 games ideally.

[general_lee]

I'd be a big advocate of the Armagh set up.

Leagues and championships aligned.
16 senior
16 intermediate
17 junior clubs (including IIs)

Each grade is split in two in the league eg Senior A & Senior B.
(Junior is split 3 ways in the league, Junior B splits in two after full round of fixtures as some teams at the bottom are very weak)

Smaller leagues with home & away meaning no real mismatches as teams are all of similar level and no meaningless matches because league places determine promotion up a grade, as well as seeding for championship groups and of course relegation.

Championship groups of 4 with top two seeded clubs playing one home fixture and two away, opposite for the bottom two seeds. Group winners straight to QFs, 2nd & 3rd into playoffs with again no real meaningless matches.

This year all of the favourites for the three championships failed to make their respective finals.

It may need tweaked accordingly for Antrim's needs but in Armagh we have had a number of clubs enter IIs teams which has helped raise standards and has saw them bore some unexpected success.

[Gael-in-exile]

If you ran 3 championships with 12 team senior and 10 for intermediate and junior it could work as follows.

Senior: 4 groups of 3. Top two go to qf with possible seeding to avoid others who top groups

Intermediate/Junior: 2 groups of 5. Play 4 games. Top go through to semis and teams 2&3 go to 2 qf fixtures.

In senior it requires 6 dates. In intermediate it requires 8 dates.

You could maybe change th so that intermediate is 12 team and senior is 10 etc but it is simple and straight forward and bottom teams can also playoff to avoid drop to lower grading in a swap with the champions from below.

[BigGreenField]

No

his point (which you have missed in your haste to have a pop) us that Being King of the Dump is great but don't get annoyed if the neighbours point out it's an empire built on dirt.

So all Antrim clubs are rubbish then?  Derry, Down, Monaghan are one horse races, by a distance.   Tyrone and Donegal two horses. Who would St Brigids and Portglenone feel they would struggle with?  They would live comfortably in those other leagues.     

No not rubbish, however the tale of the tape is 10 years since a county win in Ulster championship and 15 years since an Antrim club side reached an Ulster final and while a couple of close run games in between times not much to shout about. (Edit: at snr club level)

Absolutely can compare clubs/leagues etc and get a more nuanced view, however on the one that matters Antrim as a whole are bottom of the heap (but improving). Cargin have the chance again to change the record this year and best of luck to them in doing so. 

[EOC1923]

Serious question, what are we expecting from Antrim footballers in 2025? Some would agree it's been two mediocre seasons so far for Andy McEntee

[Sportacus]

Serious question, what are we expecting from Antrim footballers in 2025? Some would agree it's been two mediocre seasons so far for Andy McEntee

So far the whole thing has peaked both seasons with the Tailteann Cup semifinals.  Year one, the game against Meath was very heartening.  Year two against Laois was very disappointing, we just fell away in the second half.
The club championship this year was very average so I can't really see where he finds big improvements.

[Milltown Row2]

Get rid and bring in who?

That's a serious question, and when that person doesn't add anything extra or overlook lads from a certain club do we ask for him to be removed also?

Looking at the players who committed to Antrim these last few seasons that's our level.

We ain't that good, div 3 is and has been our better level for 50 years in truth, bar that one year of the Ulster final.

So who'll take us to div 2 maintain that and make us competitive in Ulster.

Answers on the back of a postage stamp