It now seems certain that the GAA will unveil plans for a radical new eight-month football super championship in Croke Park on Monday.

The blueprint, details of which were published in yesterday's edition of the Star, has been devised by the GAA's Football Development Committee and would completely overhaul the traditional structure of the sport.

The proposal involves scrapping both the much-maligned National League and championship in favour of a north-south competition played over 10 rounds, thereby guaranteeing all counties games during the fine weather.

However, it does retain the venerated and historic provincial final system.

The Football Development Committee - which includes household names like Colm O'Rourke, Art McRory and Dr Pat O'Neill - was established as soon as Joe McDonagh began his term as president in 1997 and their brief was to improve the problematic nature of the old knockout championship system.

Although a number of members of the 11-person committee contacted last night were reluctant to elaborate on the report, it was confirmed that the published information corresponded quite closely with the proposal to be announced on Monday evening.

Given the current difficulties that provincial councils are encountering in trying to introduce a round-robin system to their summer championships, the proposed new system seems highly imaginative and extremely visionary for an organisation which has traditionally been very slow to implement any kind of change.

The new structure will, of course, have to be passed at Congress in April and it is likely to be met with some opposition - particularly from county board and provincial council officers who could interpret the changes as bringing the curtain down on the annual windfalls they get through league and championship gate receipts.

The new super championship would pair the top seven teams in Ulster and the top four in Connacht in one section. The top seven in Leinster and top four from Munster will form the corresponding southern section.

After 10 rounds of matches, the top four placed sides from Leinster and Ulster go into their provincial knockout semi-finals.

The top two in both Munster and Connacht will play in the provincial finals and the winners then go on and play in the traditional All-Ireland semi-finals.

London and the 10 counties which don't qualify for the north-south divisions will play in an All-Ireland B championship and will also be guaranteed 10 matches. Elevation to the premier championship is the spur in this section - the bottom-placed county from each province in the championship will be relegated, with the best-placed teams in the B championship promoted in their stead.

It has been predicted that Monday's launch will be followed by comprehensive and intense rallying to generate public support.

The bold new departure would certainly appear to provide a blanket solution to some of the problems which have beset Gaelic football in recent years. Since fitness levels exploded, players have been increasingly unhappy at training for up to eight months for potentially just one championship game. Winter league football has been roundly condemned as a joyless experience for players and supporters alike while extra games have long been seen as a way of encouraging progression in the weaker counties.

Whether it meets sufficient approval among GAA members remains to be seen but it will almost certainly be uniformly welcomed by players and managers across the country.

The new championship would also have far-reaching consequences for broadcast rights and corporate sponsorship.