All-Ireland Football Championship draw as it happened: Counties’ groups are decided

All-Ireland Championship draw:

Group 1:

Winner of Galway/Mayo

Losers of Donegal/Armagh

Derry

Westmeath

Group 2:

Winner of Dublin/Louth

Losers of Galway/Mayo

Roscommon

Cavan

Group 3:

Winner of Donegal/Armagh

Losers of Kerry/Clare

Tyrone

Cork

Group 4:

Winner of Kerry/Clare

Losers of Dublin/Louth

Monaghan

Meath

There we go then. Donegal could face Tyrone or Derry again in the next round. Group 1 looks the most difficult with Derry and a Galway/Mayo, Donegal/Armagh in it. Kerry will be happy with their draw, with most likely Louth, Monaghan and Meath.

That’s all from me, goodbye!

All-Ireland draw to come...

TAILTEANN CUP GROUPS:

Group 1:

Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Waterford

Group 2:

Sligo, Antrim, Wexford, Tipperary

Group 3:

Fermanagh, Laois, Wicklow, Carlow

Group 4:

Down, Offaly, Limerick, London

That’s the draw then. Kildare will fancy their chances in that first group. Group 3 should be interesting, with Fermanagh taking on three Leinster teams including Oisin McConville’s Wicklow.

Here we go... Jarlath Burns and Feargal McGill ready to draw the balls, alongside presenter Gráinne McElwain. It will start with the Tailteann Cup. 16 teams, groups of four.

No sign of the draw stream going live just yet, but should be here in moments.

Some very tasty groups potentially in the draw, as we look ahead. How about Dublin, Donegal and Derry in the same group? It’s possible.

Three teams out of four will progress out of the groups for the Sam Maguire Cup. The four second-place teams will be drawn to play at home against the four third-place teams in preliminary quarter-finals, subject in the first instance to the avoidance of repeat provincial final pairings and repeat pairings from the group stage. Those matches will be on June 22nd-23rd. The four group winners will get a bye through that round, and go straight to the quarter-finals with an extra week off. The quarter-finals will be on June 29th-30th. Draw is at 3pm.

Some GAA reads from today on the Irish Times website:

Tactical breakdown: McGuinness’s Donegal masterplan is still a work in progress

Paul O’Brien writes Donegal’s compact defensive structure and fast-breaking attack are still being tweaked, having been worked on throughout the national league. He writes: “The Ulster final is likely to require a mixture of approaches from Donegal, as Armagh are able to switch things up in their game approach.”

[ Tactical breakdown: McGuinness’s Donegal masterplan is still a work in progress ]

Michael Murphy: Extra time brings chaos. But there was one thing I could rely on

In his column, the former Donegal footballer says: “Extra time brings chaos. I didn’t have a magic formula for dealing with it: no routine or superstition to follow in the dressingroom. Looking back, though, I can tell what decided those contests.”

[ Michael Murphy: Extra time brings chaos. But there was one thing I could rely on ]

Here we go, then. With the sides in the provincial final match-ups now sorted out, the 32 teams in the football championship have been split into runners and riders for the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup. The next phase in the season will be the group stages in both competitions, beginning on Saturday, May 11th in the Tailteann Cup and the following weekend in the Sam Maguire. Today is the day when we begin to find out who goes where in both competitions.

The draw takes place at 3pm this afternoon and will be carried out by GAA president Jarlath Burns and the association’s director of player, club and games administration Feargal McGill. It will be compered by GAAGo presenter Gráinne McElwain and will be broadcast live on GAA.ie.

The seeding for the Sam Maguire groups is still a little incomplete, given that the provincial finals have yet to be played. But here’s how it all breaks down.

Pot One and Pot Two

• Connacht champions (Galway/Mayo)
• Ulster champions (Donegal/Armagh)
• Leinster champions (Dublin/Louth)
• Munster (Kerry/Clare)

Pot Three

• Derry
• Tyrone
• Roscommon
• Monaghan

Pot Four

• Cavan
• Cork
• Meath
• Westmeath

As for the Tailteann Cup, the seeds are as follows.

Pot One

• Down
• Fermanagh
• Kildare
• Sligo

Pot Two

• Antrim
• Offaly
• Laois
• Leitrim

Pot Three

• Wicklow
• Limerick
• Wexford
• Longford

Pot Four

• Carlow
• Tipperary
• London
• Waterford