New structure for All Ireland Series
Sam Maguire
32
Counties
The
Top 16 teams seeded by League & Championship over the previous 3 years are
in one side of the open draw – The 8 winners progress to the Last 16 of the All-Ireland Championship
E.G
Bottom
16 seeded teams are in other side of the draw – 8 winners progress to Round 2
where the 4 winners progress to the Last 16
of the All-Ireland Championship
E.G
The
Last 16 round consists of the 8 qualified top seeded teams from the qualifiers
+ 4 of the qualified lower seeded
teams from the qualifiers + the 4
provincial winners
If
a provincial winner has already qualified through the qualifiers they
get a bye in the Quarter Final of the ""All Ireland" as an incentive to keep the provincial titles
importance (Similar to what provincial winners get in Hurling).
I
would also suggest is a revamp of the provincials making them more important
and giving each county a realistic goal in them,
Whether
it is to make a semi-final, Final or to win the competition.
New York situation
In
many restructures of the championship we see New York seem to be tossed aside,
The GAA is as strong in that city than many counties here in Ireland.
I
would look at trying to improve their Inter County team, I would guarantee the
New York team 2 games per year in 2 different provinces
I
firmly believe with New York guaranteed 2 games every year in championship the
side would improve greatly over a short period of time.
So
my provincial championships are as follows (Open Draw)
Connacht
3
X Quarter Finals involving
Leitrim
Roscommon
Mayo
Sligo
London Galway
3
winners progress to Connacht Semi’s where New York enter the competition
All teams must win 3 games to win Province (Except NY)
Munster
3
X Quarter Finals involving
Cork
Kerry
Tipp
Clare
W'Ford
Limerick
3
winners progress to Munster Semi’s where New York enter the competition
All teams must win 3 games to win Province (Except NY)
Leinster
Leinster
Pre – Lim involving 6 teams – Open draw
3
winners progress to QF’s
Carlow Dublin Wicklow Louth
Kildare Laois W'Meath Longford
Meath Wexford Offaly
Maximum 4 games to win Province
Ulster
2
teams play Pre – Lim
Winner
progress to QF
7 teams must win 3 games to win Province
2 Pre – Lim must win 4 games to win Province
ALL IRELAND SERIES KICKS OFF WITH ROUND OF 16
4 Provincial Winners
8 from Top 16 Qualifiers
4 from bottom 16 Qualifiers
Dublin
& Donegal qualified through both the provincial and All
Ireland Series they go straight through to the Quarter final draw. –
(Extra Incentive for provincial champions)
All
other teams go into Open draw with the winners progressing to All Ireland QF stage
Why this system would work ?
Even
(ish) amount of games in provinces.
It
keeps the history and importance of the provincials, It also adds another value
to the provincial championship with a possible bye available to the QF.
It
also gives the championship a 32 county open draw which should bring the
championship to life in the early rounds in our mock draw round 1 came up with
classics such as Kerry v Down, Tyrone v Mayo & Meath v Monaghan
The
best teams will always get to the final stages but this structure opens it up
for all teams with realistic ambitions for a long championship run.
Pro’s
Keeping
Provincial Boundaries
Even
(ish) amount of games in province
Every
single team can win the All Ireland in 5 games
Extra
incentive to win the provincial with a QF berth up for grabs
It could conspire that
Kerry could draw Cork in the Munster QF and lose and face Dublin in Rd.1 of
Qualifier – It could also turn out that both Dublin & Meath could lose
their Rd.1 Qualifier and end up in a Leinster Final where the loser is
eliminated – Huge early games in Championship.
The
Qualifiers would start before the provincial semi’s making more games “Do or
Die’s”
An
open draw
More
Structured Calendar- Where dates are defined to structure club competitions
More
Championship Games but less league games
Bumper
weekends in the Championship.
Enough
free weekends in the Schedule not to impact on the Hurling Championship
A definined schedule of game's so Club football can run smoothly throughout the summer.
More
scope for media coverage with volume of games each weekend – Same amount of
televised games should not impact on attendance
Splitting
games between Sat evening and Sundays to increase exposure
A
reduced training to matches ratio for county players from on average 9:1 to 5:1
National
League to have increased importance with championship rankings at stake
Here is a sample calender for the season
Con’s
Possibly
losing a Last 16 match or two each year – Although there is precedent for this
in Hurling, Also with more do or die games especially in Provincial later
stages, Attendance increases in these should counter any loss of viewing
numbers, Attendance, Media Exposure and Revenue
Extra
time in all games
More
Inter- County Games in Summer Possible problems facing club fixtures
Possible
that more top teams could be out of championship earlier than usual.
Reducing
the National League to 5 divisions of 6 (Div4 & 5 would have 7 teams)
NFL
would also run from middle of Feb to April–The U21 All Irelands should run
concurrently with the NFL, To be hosted Mid-Week up to AI Semi-Final stage
Championship
starting 3 weeks earlier
Club championships not starting till August
Clubs not having access to County players until out of championship
Club leagues would have no standing on championship grading
I'm hoping you can possibly help spot any other anomalies that i have missed
What’s
in it for the counties?
The
top 8 e.g – Kerry,Dublin,Cork,Mayo,Donegal
An even keel ,No more cruising
through provinces or to the later stages
of the qualifiers ,Need to be at your best from the off
The
2nd 8 e.g – Armagh,Galway,Meath,Kildare,Roscommon
A realistic
chance that some of the big guns could be gone early in the champ, More
realistic to be in the final mix of the championship
The
3rd 8 e.g – Cavan,Wexford,Westmeath,Fermanagh,Sligo
Far greater
chance to reach the latter stages of the championship being in the “Bottom 16”
side of the draw - Good chance to get 3 or 4 wins in the championship
The
bottom 8 e.g – Longford,Offaly,Limerick,Antrim
Great chance to make final 16
being pitted against sides that are only one rung above them
Thanks for reading, This is a structure which is not too radical , Should keep provincial councils happy, Should bring new life into the supporters and also give all players a realistic target at the start of the league, Be it make a provincial final or win one or qualify for the last 16
If you have any suggestions or questions feel free to contact #theformat
gaatheformat@gmail.com or @gaatheformat on twitter
