GAA advances plans for pre-Christmas All-Ireland
THE GAA’s Central Competition Controls Committee (CCCC) is advancing plans for the inter-county season with the aim of completing it in the same calendar year and finishing out the remaining league games on the first two weekends available, October 17/18 and October 24/25.
The Irish Independent understands that CCCC is working on the principle of getting All-Ireland hurling and football finals played in 2020 which could potentially mean a football final on the weekend of December 19/20, the last available window before Christmas.
GAA president John Horan had intimated on a couple of occasions that a championship could run into 2021, even as far in as February. But that now seems unlikely.
CCCC is also working on the principle of giving a minimum two games to every county in football and hurling.
However, in football – with the decision now taken to complete the leagues on those dates – one of those two guaranteed games will be in the league.
As a result, there could be a split in formats with the hurling championship having qualifiers that would offer two games but the football championship operating as a straight knockout because of time constraints that they are keen to adhere to.
Tandem
The provincial hurling championships, preliminary quarter-finals in Munster and Leinster, are now likely to start on the weekend of October 24/25, in tandem with the other hurling tiers. Hurling qualifiers may prove quite complex and could take three rounds to establish quarter-finalists.
The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) was due to close off a poll on preferences of its membership yesterday evening with projections that a sameyear completion with a second chance would be favoured.
But with the first two weekends being set aside for the remaining league games, it leaves just eight available weekends before Christmas for a format that requires nine weekends minimum to complete; thus the potential for different championship formats for football and hurling.
Meanwhile, Wexford have clarified that it was a full county board meeting and not their Competition Controls Committee (CCC) that met on Wednesday night to decide on local championship formats.
There has been much speculation that a Sunday, August 23 conclusion to the hurling championship, taking just over three weeks to complete, is being favoured but no dates have been firmed up until the national fixtures plan is released, while the provision for quarter-finals is also an option which would push back the date of the final.