New format for 2014 football championship

[Syferus]

Leinster & Ulster preliminary round losers to Connacht and Munster - a very innovative idea from the FRC.

On a given year you might have Louth/Meath, Kildare/Wexford, Laois/Offaly going to Connacht (1 of the 3) or Munster (2 of the 3)
and prelim-Ulster losers,  e.g. Cavan/Fermanagh, going to Connacht too.

It would add some spice to Connacht and Munster championships. Kerry/Cork Vs Meath in Munster - bring it on !

Four provincial championships each having 8 teams - good proposal from Eugene McGee and colleagues.

Yeah, I think there is a lot of merit in the proposal, still not sure whether its a good idea or not but its certainly worth debating. I think I agree with them that it is better than forcing particulalr counties to play in another province forever. No surprise that some of the weaker counties in Connacht will instantly object to anything that threatens their cosy cartel, but it won't come down to their votes.

I'd imagine Mayo, Kerry and Cork would be in favour, as it would mean extra competitive games before they get to the final 8 or 12. The big question is whether it is of any interest to all the Leinster and Ulster teams.

Also I think there'd have to be uniformity in how Leinster and Ulster decide who plays in their preliminary rounds. Leinster have it seeded (the 4 prior year semi-finalists cannot play in the prelim round), whereas Ulster is an open draw. Not sure whether open or seeded draw is best, probably seeded which would allow the weaker counties to gain the most benefit from the idea.

Yeah, the only reason against flooding a traditional province with another's refuse is upsetting a cosy cartel. Lol, just lol.

Forget about it. It isn't happening.

[Catch and Kick]

Typical GAA fudge. This tinkering with competitions never works out long term.
The basis of all competitions should be fairness.
Each team should have to progress along the same path to progress apart from where there is an unequal number of teams.

The linking of the Provincial Championships to the All Ireland series is the crux of the problem.

IMO the way forward consists of radical moves:

Break the link between the Provincial Championships and the All Ireland series.
Retain the provincials as stand alone competitions.
The All Ireland should be a Champions League style competition, with teams seeded.
Scrap the National leagues.

The benefits are:

Certainty about dates counties are playing on.
Progression path is the same for all.
Clubs will have more available dates and a proper fixtures programme can be implemented that will accomodate the 95% of players who are currently treated like *****.

The GAA cant have it every way. The over emphasis on inter county has to be curtailed to make the Association stronger at grass roots level and to assist the 25 counties who will always suffer under present structures.

One final suggestion.

Eliminate all the frigging junkets that are being engaged on by a squadron of officials, referees and coaches that are being brought on junkets around the world in the hope of spreading the games worldwide.
Get real and sort out the major difficulties at home first.

[drici]

Section A
Fermanagh
Antrim
Derry
Donegal
Galway
Londain
Sligo
Cork
Tipperary
Limerick
Dublin
Wicklow
Laois
Wexford
Longford
Offaly

Section B
Armagh
Cavan
Monaghan
Tyrone
Down
Roscommon
Leitrim
Mayo
New York
Kerry
Clare
Waterford
Kildare
Westmeath
Louth
Meath
Carlow

[Bingo]

Dessie was in the papers yesterday about this. He made a very valid point about the number of interested parties with their own agenda's that would be required to make any change and how difficult it would be, basically saying they would need to look beyond their own interests for the greater good.

But he reformed to type and then defended Intercounty managers looking to postpone club fixtures as recent studies have shown that risk of injury from playing games is greater than training for them. Also said that we shouldn't mess with the championships too much as this is the golden cow and is what grabs the media spotlight and attracts everyone to the game.

[Hound]

Loving the way the proposal is scaring the skitters out of all the Roscommon posters. Fantastic!

Batten down the hatches quick lads!

[Rossfan]

Loving the way the proposal is scaring the skitters out of all the Roscommon posters. Fantastic!

Nobody in Ros scared of Antrim or Carlow at all, probably the second and third worst county teams I've seen in recent years (after the now defunct Kilkenny)-- just pointing out the stupidity of the proposals.
Prenty is obviously sold on the thoughts of two extra games so he can give more money to his favourite County Board to reduce their debts. and all those extra €s, as if Antrim or Carlow are going to attract a crowd.

[drici]

Section A
Fermanagh
Antrim
Derry
Donegal
Galway
Londain
Sligo
Cork
Tipperary
Limerick
Dublin
Wicklow
Laois
Wexford
Offaly

Saturday 21st June 2014
All Ireland Senior Football Championship Round 1A

Losers of: Derry v Donegal Fermanagh v Antrim Londain v Galway Limerick v Tipperary Wicklow v Laois(v Dublin) Longford v Offaly(v Wexford) to be drawn into four matches to take place on that day.

Therefore if Donegal were to lose to Derry they will play one of:
Fermanagh/Antrim Londain/Galway Limerick/Tipperary Wicklow/Laois/Dublin Longford/Offaly/Wexford on that Saturday.

(let us know if you reckon this theory of the draw is up the left)

[Zulu]

Although a fan of American football, I'm not sure how they design their season but it appears to me that theirs could be a good solution to our mess. Get rid of the league and play four 8 team 'conferences', north, south, east and west. Each team plays against their conference opponents once (7 games) and against teams from the other provinces, this is where I don't understand how the NFL sort this, thus providing another 3 or 4 games. You can now win your conference thus retaining the provincial system and giving a more realistic goal to all teams. The top two teams in each conference go to quarter finals and the rest is played out on a knockout basis as it is now. Maybe one of our NFL experts could clarify how the Americans fix their program of games?

[joemamas]

Although a fan of American football, I'm not sure how they design their season but it appears to me that theirs could be a good solution to our mess. Get rid of the league and play four 8 team 'conferences', north, south, east and west. Each team plays against their conference opponents once (7 games) and against teams from the other provinces, this is where I don't understand how the NFL sort this, thus providing another 3 or 4 games. You can now win your conference thus retaining the provincial system and giving a more realistic goal to all teams. The top two teams in each conference go to quarter finals and the rest is played out on a knockout basis as it is now. Maybe one of our NFL experts could clarify how the Americans fix their program of games?

Zulu,

Quite simple actually. They play games to a conclusion. Schedule is set in stone. I would love if If Croke Park did this on a trial basisfor one year. The All-ireland Finals could be over by late August, Clubs then have September, October and November to play their knock out phases, May sound overly simplistic but it really is not.

[Zulu]

How do they decide which teams you play outside your conference Joe?

[magpie seanie]

These proposals have some merit in my view from the quick reading of them I have had. They're not perfect but represent a move in the right direction, especially in terms of trying to sort out the fixtures calendar. Unfortunately, I think they will fail due to that very attempt. There will be a fear of losing revenue if too many big games are on the same weekends and that will see the proposals knocked on the head.

[Syferus]

Loving the way the proposal is scaring the skitters out of all the Roscommon posters. Fantastic!

Nobody in Ros scared of Antrim or Carlow at all, probably the second and third worst county teams I've seen in recent years (after the now defunct Kilkenny)-- just pointing out the stupidity of the proposals.
Prenty is obviously sold on the thoughts of two extra games so he can give more money to his favourite County Board to reduce their debts. and all those extra €s, as if Antrim or Carlow are going to attract a crowd.

I assume they'd force the recycling bin teams to play all their games in Connacht? So many of these proposals ignore the reality that the only money spinners for the GAA outside of the AI run-in are provincial rivalries. They need that money to run the GAA, it's not something that can be gotten from shoving disparate counties around or champions' league formats.

And the other 'option' - any county secretary could tell you provincial championships with no direct tie-in the the championship is akin to swallowing two cyanide pills. An exhibition-level provincial championship that's shoved off to the side that less and less people will care about and championship where you can end up with huge numbers of games between counties whose supporters have little interest in attending the ties. That's probably the worst idea doing the rounds, in all honesty.

You can disregard about 99 out of every 100 proposals out of the bat on the basis of interest alone.

[Zulu]

So many of these proposals ignore the reality that the only money spinners for the GAA outside of the AI run-in are provincial rivalries.

No they're not, many qualifier games generate crowds the equal or better than provincial games. Are you seriously trying to say that Dublin v Donegal in a new format would attract less than Dublin v Longford/Wexford/Carlow etc. in the provincial championship?

And the other 'option' - any county secretary could tell you provincial championships with no direct tie-in the the championship is akin to swallowing two cyanide pills.

So these great local rivalries and the pride players have for winning their provincial championship is a lie that will be exposed if asked to stand on its own?

[drici]

Section B

Armagh
Cavan
Monaghan
Tyrone
Down
Roscommon
Leitrim
Mayo
New York
Kerry
Clare
Waterford
Kildare
Westmeath
Louth
Meath
Carlow

Saturday 28th June 2014
All Ireland Senior Football Championship Round 1B
Losers of: Armagh v Cavan Tyrone v Down(v Monaghan) New York v Mayo Roscommon v Leitrim Clare v Waterford Westmeath v Louth(v Kildare) Carlow v Meath to be drawn into four matches to take place on that day.

Therefore losers of Armagh and Cavan will play one of: Tyrone/Down/Monaghan New York/Mayo Roscommon/Leitrim Clare/Waterford Westmeath/Louth/Kildare/Carlow/Meath that Saturday.

(this is to do with joemamas' original thread title - it seems to have toruned(!) into two threads in one)

[Rossfan]

You're on the new tweaked format for 2014 Drici, but the FRC stuff has gobbled up your thread somewhat.
New York don't take part in the Qualifiers and are unlikely (despite my most fervent wishes ) to bate Mwr.