Football

GAA's fixtures masterplan has less wriggle room

Fergal McGill, Director of Player, Club and Games Administration announced the GAA's revised fixtures masterplan
Fergal McGill, Director of Player, Club and Games Administration announced the GAA's revised fixtures masterplan Fergal McGill, Director of Player, Club and Games Administration announced the GAA's revised fixtures masterplan

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