Group stages revamp to benefit clubs

GAA director general Paraic Duffy has proffered a "modest attempt" at restructuring the football championship by replacing the All-Ireland quarter-finals with two groups of four counties.

Duffy’s proposal paper, released by Croke Park following months of consultation with county boards, hopes to address “persistent criticism that the current championship format has grown lacklustre”, as well as the “unhealthy predictability” of both Leinster and Munster football competitions.

However, the provincial championships will not be abolished.

“Apart from one, perhaps two submissions, all counties wanted to maintain the provincial championships,” said GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghaíl.

Instead, they would be played out earlier in the summer, while the qualifiers are to be slightly altered so that division three and four counties receive home advantage.

Weaker counties

The notional ‘B’ championship for weaker counties has been dismissed.

“There was no appetite for counties to go into a second-tier competition after they were knocked out of their provincial championship,” Ó Fearghaíl said. “None whatsoever.”

Also, in an effort to avoid fixture backlogs caused by replays, championship matches ending in a draw will go into extra-time.

The proposal must go before next year’s congress in a number of separate motions, each needing a two-thirds majority, before the new structures could be adopted for the 2018 season.

This would add eight intercounty matches to the calendar, with the National League semi-finals to be abolished.

These Champions League-type group stages, contested by the provincial champions and the round four qualifier winners, would see each county playing three matches.

“We would play the two All-Ireland semis over one weekend,” Duffy continued. “In terms of excitement, I think that would be an absolutely brilliant weekend for the GAA in August.

“The eight extra games, none of them are in Croke Park. If it was a revenue generator, we could do that. The first four are in Croke Park but the other eight are going to the provinces.”

That means Dublin would play at least one championship game outside Croke Park every year.

Fantastic excitement

“That’s deliberate. Every team will have to go outside Croke Park. We could have, for example, Dublin going up to Donegal to play a championship game or Kerry going to Castlebar.

“There would be fantastic excitement for those games. We could get to a day where games are on at the same time and semi-final places are at stake.

“I think the atmosphere it would create at provincial venues would be good for the championship. No point in creating stadia all over Ireland and not using them.

“But it is absolutely vital that we must condense the fixtures.”

Both Duffy and Ó Fearghaíl stated the enhancement and protection of the club game was their main motivation behind this restructuring plan.

“Clubs were at the heart of everything counties wanted and they did not want anything that would further impact on clubs,” Ó Fearghaíl continued. “In fact, they wanted more of a streamlining for clubs and that informed the whole discussion.

“This will create a tighter calendar.

“If a majority of our players are concluding county activity three weeks earlier that can only be good for our clubs.”

Duffy agreed that the current format was damaging club football all over Ireland: “This is the huge point for me, if you are a club player, you won’t see your intercounty colleagues so long as the county is involved.

“Clubs get no value out of their county players. They might get the odd league game but a lot of them don’t.

Full attention

“The time the clubs want their county players back is when the county season is over and they can give their full attention to the clubs.

“So the earlier the intercounty season finishes, the better it will be for the clubs.

“That’s the huge thing in this: we have to condense the season. Even if it is only by three or four weeks.”

Eight more games, but the idea of stand-alone provincial championship matches on Sunday’s in May and June would be ended if this proposal paper gets voted into law.