The draws for the All-Ireland and Tailteann Cup round-robin series will take place next Tuesday at 1pm, live on GAAGO.
This is the maiden voyage of yet another new competition structure where, post-provincial championships, Gaelic football will float the concept of round-robin group stages upon the calm waters of early summer.
But for all the bells and whistles (not to mention spreadsheets) that have been festooning these newfangled formats from port to sea, how will they actually play out?
Let’s start with the All-Ireland SFC
A total of 16 teams will compete for the Sam Maguire – the eight provincial finalists, the next seven best placed teams at the conclusion of this year’s National League, and Westmeath as a result winning the 2022 Tailteann Cup.
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Four of the eight provincial finalists are already known: Galway, Sligo, Kerry, Clare. Following this weekend’s games, they will be joined by two from Leinster (Dublin or Kildare/Louth or Offaly) and two from Ulster (Derry or Monaghan/Armagh or Down).
In descending order, based on seedings at the end of the league, the seven teams currently occupying the remaining positions are: Mayo, Roscommon, Tyrone, Donegal, Louth, Cork, Kildare. That could change, depending on how Sunday’s provincial semi-finals play out.
Next Tuesday afternoon, the finalised 16 teams will be drawn on a seeded basis to compete in four groups of four in the All-Ireland round-robin series. The provincial champions will be first seeds, the beaten provincial finalists will be second seeds, with the third and fourth pots determined by league standings. Tailteann Cup winners Westmeath join at the bottom of the queue, in the fourth pot.
Each team will play three games – one at home, one away and one at a neutral venue. The first seeds will be granted home advantage in their opening game, with the initial round of matches taking place on the weekend of May 20th-21st. Three teams from all four groups will ultimately advance to the knockout stages.
The top team at the end of the round-robin phase will progress straight to the All-Ireland quarterfinals. The four second placed teams will be drawn to face a third placed team from a different group in a preliminary quarter-final. The second placed team will have home advantage in those games.
The four winners there will subsequently be drawn to face the group winners in quarterfinals that will take place at neutral venues on the weekend of July 1st-2nd. The All-Ireland semi-finals will take place on the weekend of July 15th-16th, with the final scheduled for July 30th.
The Tailteann Cup
Some 17 teams will be involved in football’s second tier championship – with New York entering after the round-robin stages.
The other 16 teams will be drawn next Tuesday among four groups of four. It is not an open draw, but rather will be conducted again through a seeded basis – with teams ranked in pots from one to four based on league standings.
The 14 counties already confirmed for the group stages of the Tailteann Cup are: Antrim, Carlow, Cavan, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, London, Longford, Meath, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow.
The remaining two counties will be known after this weekend’s games. Currently, Offaly and Down occupy those spots due to their league seedings, but should either advance to their respective provincial final there would be repercussions further up the food chain.
The most vulnerable sides are Kildare (who finished fifth in Division Two) and Cork (who finished fourth in Division Two).
The seedings for the third and fourth pots are already confirmed.
Third seeds: Longford, Tipperary, Laois, Wexford
Fourth seeds: Leitrim, Carlow, London, Waterford
If Sunday’s games go to form – Louth beating Offaly and Armagh accounting for Down – then the first and second pots will look like this:
First seeds: Meath, Cavan, Fermanagh, Limerick
Second seeds: Down, Offaly, Antrim, Wicklow
Each group will contain a team from one of the four pots and again every side is guaranteed three matches – one home, one away and one at a neutral venue. The first round of games will take place on the weekend of May 13-14th.
The top placed team at the end of the round robin phase will advance directly to the quarter-final stages. The four second placed teams will progress to preliminary quarterfinals, and this is where New York join the party.
Because of New York’s presence, of the four teams that finish third only the three best placed of that quartet will continue to the preliminary quarterfinals against one of the second placed sides.
The criteria used to determine the three best placed teams will first be those with the highest points tally, but if that cannot separate the sides then scoring difference will become the metric.
The four winners of the preliminary quarterfinals will advance to the quarterfinals proper where the group winners will be waiting. The four table-toppers will have the added prize of home advantage for those fixtures on the weekend of June 17th-18th.
The victorious teams there advance to the semi-final stages on the weekend of June 24th-25th. The Tailteann Cup final will take place at Croke Park prior to an All-Ireland semi-final on July 15th.
