Ulster Championship 2026

[AustinPowers]

Armagh shouldn't  be complacent here. Drawing with the AI champions  means flip all. They need to  Forget  about Tyrone 's mediocre League campaign. 

This is absolutely  a 50/50 game.  

[JoG2]

Anyone expecting a double digit figure of a lead would be better writing a thesis on the stuffing or pumping of an O'neills ball.

Impossible game to call. My only bit of input for the match is that Tyrone will be well up for it and Armagh wont get it their own way. They have home advantage and its not much of an advantage at that. Its not much of a fortress for Armagh GAA in general and our lads are well used to playing there by now.

 

It's not impossible to call, not in these slightest. Tyrone are seriously flat atm, regulars are staying away. How many will travel to watch what many think will be a heavy enough defeat in Armagh?..Tyrone supporters will be seriously outnumbered, the opp of what a team low on confidence needs

[Captain Obvious]

I dont think Tyrone have much of a chance in this especially if Armagh get all their players fit and on the field.  Home advantage is huge.  Armagh have a real chance of beating the 18 point win Tyrone handed out in 2027

Anything else happening in 2027, will the Iran war end and fuel prices come down?

As for 2026 this is perfectly set up for Tyrone ambush.

[Orior]

Last year Armagh could only scrape past Antrim.

[Armagh18]

Last year Armagh could only scrape past Antrim.

and the year before Down near beat us.

Take nothing for granted in Ulster.

[trueblue1234]

On current form, this will be a procession for Armagh. There's a serious anticlimactic feeling to this season. After getting MOR in I had high hopes. last year, while not spectacular, was steady without hitting any heights. Was hoping, with a year behind him, we would see a bit more of a plan that we are working towards. But not visible to me yet anyway. I don't for one second think it's all MOR's fault as players aren't going all in either which makes it hard to feel excited for this year. While I know derby games like these can throw up the odd shock, I also don't believe that come championship Tyrone will be able to flick a switch and start turning it on. Would love to see it, as there is still talent in that squad. But just feels flogged at this stage.

Fills the time til Errigal's All Ireland anyway I suppose.

[Rossfan]

Anyone other than Armagh playing in this?

[Wildweasel74]

Tyrone lol

[Fuzzman]

Interesting that there has been a Div 2 team in All-Ire final in 4 of the last five years.
2025 Kerry (1st) v Donegal(joint 2nd)
2024 Armagh (Div2 winners) v Galway (6th)
2023 Dublin (Div2 winners) v Kerry (5th)
2022 Kerry (1st) v Galway (2nd Div 2)
2021 Tyrone (2nd) v Mayo (Div 2)

Donegal look to be favourites again for Ulster and you'd imagine they will meet Derry in the final.
For Tyrone there would appear to be an element of going backwards with relegation last year and a poor league in Div two this year. There definitely appears to be a feeling that since MoR came in, there doesnt seem to be any clear tactics or obvious system of play which has probably disappointed most fans.
If his plan was to give loads of game time to the fringe and new players and lower expectation then you would have to say he has achieved that. Ethan Jordan and Joey Clarke looking to be the only ones that could break into the team. Maybe Ronan Cassidy and McElolm although both seem very light and could struggle to win ball like Ruari Canavan.

Inconsistency has been the main word used to describe Tyrone the last few years but if you look at last years championship, we beat Cavan well, almost drew with Armagh and had our chance to beat them going into the last 10 mins. Beat Donegal with a late flurry of points, lost badly to Mayo, beat the Dubs who were on the decline and then got hammered by Kerry like everyone else from Ulster.

I cant see Hampsey starting in Armagh but I'd agree with Goals will come that with all those lads fit and decent subs to come on we have a strong enough squad. It's just about how well Malachy can get them playing and showing a bit of fight and hunger. So far it appears we dont really have much interest in putting in the effort but we've seen Tyrone like this before.

As I've been saying on a few threads now. It seems to me with the new rule that it is much harder to defend and keep your opponents score below 20 points. I think that's why it's important to have players like Jordan, McCurry, Canavan and Mattie putting up decent scores and having players to come on in the final 20 mins to finish teams off. Those final 15-20 mins are crucial in games and is where we have been failing in lots of league games.
I can see us losing by quite a lot v Armagh but getting our act together for May and June.

[Ronnie]

MOR would be targeting an AI over the next few years, not an UC

[tbrick18]

Hard to see anything but a comfortable Armagh victory against Tyrone. Tyrone, imo, were lucky that Offaly were so poor and Kildare imploded, otherwise it could have been Div3 football next year. Armagh, whilst not setting the world on fire, were consistently close in all their Div 1 games. Could have been relegated, but did about enough to stay up. Even if they don't improve on that level, it feels like they will still comfortably beat Tyrone.

On the other side of the draw, Derry should come through to the Ulster final - but we've seen in the league it depends on which Derry side turn up. If Derry from the Louth/Meath game shows up, we could get beat by anyone. If Derry from the Cork game shows up, we should get to an Ulster final. Cavan ran us close enough at the weekend, and there could still be a sting from Monaghan, so it's by no means a cert.

It has to be between Armagh and Donegal on the stronger side of the draw. I think there's still a question mark over Donegal if I'm being honest, at least in their AI credentials. But as it stands they are favorites for Ulster I think.
No-one mentioning Down and it's hard to see a Div3 side winning ulster, but they're steadily improving and wont be a walk over for anyone either.

If I was to bet at this stage - Derry v Donegal final.
Derry winning after extra time and penalties.
Murphy sent off for head butting McKinless and biting his own constantly out tongue off in the process.

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Not a bad analysis then he let the crazy out right at the end

[naka]

Armagh shouldn't  be complacent here. Drawing with the AI champions  means flip all. They need to  Forget  about Tyrone 's mediocre League campaign.

This is absolutely  a 50/50 game. 

Definitely a 50/50 game

[tbrick18]

Not a bad analysis then he let the crazy out right at the end

Which bit?

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Not a bad analysis then he let the crazy out right at the end

Which bit?

Yeah the headbutt and the tongue stuff 😆