THE GAA has been forced to cut their inter-county fixtures plan from 27 to 20 weeks with still quite a few ifs, buts and maybes tied into their masterplan due to the ongoing threat of COVID19.
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling final will be staged on August 21/22 and the football equivalent the following week, on August 28/29, with the club season getting underway from the start of August onwards, “restrictions permitting”.
Once again, the football Championship will be straight knock-out, with the all draws being made on April 19/20 and the resumption of training for senior inter-county teams on April 19.
County minor U20 and minor don’t have exemption to train yet, as the GAA continues to take guidance from the Irish Government.
However, new President Larry McCarthy yesterday trumpeted April 26 as the return date for juveniles in the 26 counties as a hugely important one.
The six counties can resume April 12.
Due to COVID quarantining rules, the GAA took the reluctant decision to omit New York and the English counties from their League and Championship plans for 2021.
In addressing members of the media yesterday, Croke Park’s Director of Games Fergal McGill said: “It’s very easy for people to look at this and see how does it suit me? Unfortunately, that’s not a luxury the CCCC has.”
The Association says it has tried to strike a balance between generating a sufficient amount of inter-county games, while leaving a big enough window for club and provincial Championships.
They have decided to stick with a regional National Football League format that will run between May 15/16 with League finals pencilled in for June 19/20.
However, it could transpire that some League finals mightn't take place if competing counties are scheduled to play in the Championship the following week, if only to afford them a 13-day turnaround between League and Championship.
Football will have a four-week pre-season while, after consultation, hurling teams went for a three-week run-in so that they would have five NHL matches instead of four, and therefore start a week earlier on May 8/9.
Prior to yesterday’s announcement a four-week pre-season seemed to be a non-negotiable principle on behalf of the GAA.
“It was something suggested to us by some of the hurling counties,” McGill revealed. “That they felt they’d be satisfied with three weeks so we said, ‘well, let’s test the water here and see if that’s the view of the other Division One and Two counties’, and it turned out it was.
“I’m not going to talk to you about sports science if there are people in the backroom teams of all those counties who understand sports science a heck of a lot better than me and they were reasonably satisfied with the trade-off to get the extra game versus the lead-in time.”
Hurling will also have a back-door format but there weren’t enough weeks for a Qualifier system to be put in place in football while the Tailteann Cup has also been shelved until 2022 due to the lack of time available.
"You needed another three weeks - it's as simple as that,” McGill said. “Otherwise, you would have games on top of each other. There were two things that influenced it: you were going to have to take that time off the club season which you didn't want to do or you were going to have to shorten the League season further.
“To the vast amount of counties in football the League is the more important competition.”
APRIL
Week 16
Senior Inter Co Pre-Season – Return to collective training: Monday April 19
MAY
Week 19
May 8 and 9
Allianz Hurling League (AHL) Round 1 (Div 1 and Div 2)
Week 20
May 15 and 16
Allianz Football League (AFL) Round 1
AHL Round 2 (Div 1 and Div 2)
AHL Round 1 (Div 3A and Div 3B)
Week 21
May 22 and 23
Allianz Football League (AFL) Round 2
AHL Round 3 (Div 1 and 2)
AHL Round 2 (Div 3A and 3B)
Week 22
May 29 and 30
AFL Round 3
AHL Round 3 (Div 3A)
JUNE
Week 23
June 5 and 6
AHL Round 4 (Div 1 and Div 2)
AHL Round 3 (Div 3B)
Week 24
June 12 and 13
AFL semi-finals and Relegation Play-Off
AHL Round 5 (Div 1 and Div 2)
AHL Round 4 (Div 3A)
Week 25
June 19 and 20
AFL Finals
(if participants are not playing in Championship on June 26 and 27)
AHL Round 5 (Div 3A)
Week 26
June 26 and 27
Provincial Hurling and Football Championships Start
Joe McDonagh Cup
Christy Ring, Nicky RackaRound and Lory Meagher Cups Groups
JULY
Week 27
July 3 and 4
Joe McDonagh Cup
Christy Ring, Nicky RackaRound and Lory Meagher Cups Groups2
Week 28
July 10 and 11
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) Preliminary Round
Joe McDonagh Cup
Christy Ring, Nicky RackaRound and Lory Meagher Cups Groups3
Week 29
July 17 and 18
Sat: Leinster SHC Final
Joe McDonagh Cup Final
All-Ireland SHC Round 1
Sun: Munster SHC Final
Week 30
July 24 and 25
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Round 2
Sun: Munster Senior Football Championship Final
Connacht Senior Football Championship Final
Joe McDonagh Relegation
AUGUST
Week 31
July 31 and August 1
Sat: All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifiers
Ulster Senior Football Championship Final
Leinster Senior Football Championship Final
Christy Ring, Nicky RackaRound and Lory Meagher Cup Finals and Relegation
Week 32
August 7 and 8
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-finals
AHL Div 1 Relegation Play off
Week 33
August 14 and 15
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals
(Connacht v Leinster, Ulster v Munster)
Week 34
August 21 and 22
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
Week 35
August 28 and 29
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
SEPTEMBER
Week 36
September 4 and 5
County Club Championships
Week 37
September 11 and 12
County Club Championships
Week 38
September 18 and 19
County Club Championships
Week 39
September 25 and 26
County Club Championships
OCTOBER
Week 40
October 2 and 3
County Club Championships
Week 41
October 9 and 10
County Club Championships
Week 42
October 16 and 17
County Club Championships
Week 43
October 23 and 24
County Club Championships
Week 44
October 30 and 31
County Club Championships
NOVEMBER
Week 45
November 6 and 7
County Club Championships
Week 46
November 13 and 14
County Club Championships
Week 47
November 20 and 21
County Club Championships
(All-Ireland Finalists)
Start of Provincial Club Championships
Week 48
November 27 and 28
County Club Championships
(All-Ireland Finalists)
Provincial Club Championships
DECEMBER
Week 49
December 4 and 5
Provincial Club Championships
Week 50
December 11 and 12
Provincial Club Championships
Week 51
December 18 and 19
Provincial Club Championships
JANUARY 2022
Week 1
Week 2
January 8 and 9
Provincial Club Championships
Week 3
January 15 and 16
Provincial Club Championships
Week 4
January 22 and 23
All-Ireland Club Hurling semi-finals
Week 5
January 29 and 30
All-Ireland Club Football semi-finals
FEBRUARY 2022
Week 6
February 5 and 6
All-Ireland Intermediate and Junior Club Finals
Week 7
February 12 and 13
AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Finals