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Football Format Changes Discussion

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Replying To Seanfan: "A compromise to reduce dead rubbers - 2 Top teams straight to Qtr Finals plus 2 best seconds. Other 2 seconds play 2 best thirds in Prelim.?" I presume you mean the teams that top groups go straight to Quarter Finsls? I would be against playing 3 rounds of football to eliminate 1 team from each group. Dead Rubbers are a necessary evil unfortunately. The current system has way too many anomalies to be allowed decide who wins the biggest prize in football. This is Gaelic Footballs Champions League and should be treated as such. Luck of the draw shouldn't be a thing in such an important competition. Home advantage should be earned etc. In this season you may have to play away ( i think) in every round, play extra time in every round and even penalties. Thats mad when you think about it. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 25/05/2026 22:14:34 2675568 Link
Replying To Seanfan: "A compromise to reduce dead rubbers - 2 Top teams straight to Qtr Finals plus 2 best seconds. Other 2 seconds play 2 best thirds in Prelim.?" How about this. 1. Provincial winners go forward to the quarter finals. 2. Runners up seeded 1, top 4 from league seeded 2 and next 4/ TC winners seeded 3 in round robin. 4 groups of 3. 1 home and one away game each played over 3 weekends. 3. Top team from each group to quarter finals v Provincial winners. Proper reward for winning Provincial championship and time to celebrate same. Break of 5 weeks can be both good or bad depending on your perspective. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 25/05/2026 22:58:50 2675574 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "How about this. 1. Provincial winners go forward to the quarter finals. 2. Runners up seeded 1, top 4 from league seeded 2 and next 4/ TC winners seeded 3 in round robin. 4 groups of 3. 1 home and one away game each played over 3 weekends. 3. Top team from each group to quarter finals v Provincial winners. Proper reward for winning Provincial championship and time to celebrate same. Break of 5 weeks can be both good or bad depending on your perspective." Wasn't that one of the options put forward by HQ when they panicked in 2024? But they told the Counties their favoured system was the one we have now. Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 590 - 26/05/2026 10:22:18 2675637 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "I presume you mean the teams that top groups go straight to Quarter Finsls? I would be against playing 3 rounds of football to eliminate 1 team from each group. Dead Rubbers are a necessary evil unfortunately. The current system has way too many anomalies to be allowed decide who wins the biggest prize in football. This is Gaelic Footballs Champions League and should be treated as such. Luck of the draw shouldn't be a thing in such an important competition. Home advantage should be earned etc. In this season you may have to play away ( i think) in every round, play extra time in every round and even penalties. Thats mad when you think about it." My suggestion is eliminating 6 teams. Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 590 - 26/05/2026 10:23:43 2675640 Link
Replying To Seanfan: "Wasn't that one of the options put forward by HQ when they panicked in 2024? But they told the Counties their favoured system was the one we have now." It was, it didn't really make any sense. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4686 - 26/05/2026 13:22:46 2675725 Link
Replying To legendzxix: "If the provincials were before the league, the 4 provincial winners could join the defending All Ireland winners and Tailteann winners as qualified. There would be a clearer picture then of the 10 to 12 spots available through the league. An All Ireland 16 straight after the league could have the following: ROUND 1A 1 to 4 drawn against 5 to 8. Division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw. ROUND 1B 9 to 12 drawn against 13 to 16. Any division winners with home advantage. All other home and away games by luck of the draw. ROUND 2 1A losers v 1B winners. QUARTER FINALS 1A winners v R2 winners. Reward & jeopardy: A bit like the AFL top 4 - Division 1 top 6 and 2 promoted teams have award of 2 bites at making quarter finals. Relegated Division 1 teams and 6 others have the jeopardy of being in straight knockout." I like it - a bit like double-size AFL Playoffs, like you said, or last year's double-size Liam McC Playoffs (Prov Finals & Prelim QFs). That is: NFL - top 4 seeded at home v next 2 & promoted 2 away (with back door); Div 2 3rd/4th at home & Div 1 relegated 2 at home v Div 2 5th/6th & Div 3 promoted 2 away (KO, no back door). How about a new middle tier between Sam & Tailteann? Say, middle tier has Sam 'KO 4' losers above (parachuted down to Tier 2) v Tailteann Last 4 (upgraded to Tier 2). Tailteann QF losers get a back door - hosting 4 'Last 8' ties (call them Prelim SFs) v 4 winners from 'Rd of 16, losing 8). For clarity, Tier 2 QFs are current 4 Sam Rd 2B losers v 4 Tailteann QF winners. omahant (USA) - Posts: 3433 - 26/05/2026 14:15:17 2675748 Link
Replying To edu: "Camoige All Ireland this year has a group of 4 and a group of 6. No teams are eliminated after the round robin in the group of 4 with the top 2 qualifying for the semi finals and the bottom 2 joining the top 2 from the group of 6 in the quarter finals. The teams in the group of 4 are the 4 All Ireland semi finalists from last year." What is your point here - SFC and/or SHC could/should take this route? omahant (USA) - Posts: 3433 - 26/05/2026 14:18:48 2675750 Link
Replying To JimB1991: "It doesn't naturally even things out, thats rubbish. Firstly I don't know where you're getting 7 rounds of games from, it's 5 or 6 depending on whether it takes you 2 or 3 games to get to the QF, am I missing something? Secondly your first round All Ireland series game being at home is a massive leg up to start your All Ireland campaign. Giving the seeded Munster finalists, which 9 or 10 times out of 10 will be Kerry and Cork, this home game as if there acheivement is the same as Armaghs, Monaghans, Westmeaths, etc, is just blatantly unfair. Its not just Kerry and Cork either, Galway getting the same advantage for beating Sligo is not fair either." I think could use a 'strength of schedule' mechanism to determine the 8 home teams (so Kerry & my native Cork will likely always start away). omahant (USA) - Posts: 3433 - 26/05/2026 14:23:53 2675759 Link
Replying To brianb: "With the current format I still think the best schedule would have the League and Provincial championships played in tandem. With the current calendar the league stared on Jan 24th and the provincial finals were played up to May 15th - so something like this: Jan 24/25 Preliminary Provincial round in Ulster / Leinster Jan 31/Feb1 League round 1 Feb7/8 (OFF) Off Feb 14/15 Provincial Quarter Finals Feb 21/22 League round 2 Feb 28/Mar1 League round 3 Mar7/8 Off Mar14/15 League round 4 Mar21/22 Provincial Semi Finals Mar28/29 League round 5 April 4/5 Off April 11/12 League round 6 April 18/19 Off April 25/26 League round 7 May 2/3 League Finals May 9/10 Provincial Finals May 16/17 Provincial Finals The top 16 placings would be known after the provincial semi finals meaning all teams would know what they were playing for in the last 3 rounds of the league. I'd still much prefer championship based promotion & relegation with winning a province a way of being promoted as I outlined in a previous posts here." I still like the idea of 'doubling up' most Prov KO ties as league ties, with match points on the line and required to advance to AIC Playoffs. Also, what's wrong with the 'Sam 16' known at the start of the season, with promotion & relegation based on prior year League & AIC performance (as I have in my AILC)? omahant (USA) - Posts: 3433 - 26/05/2026 14:37:03 2675769 Link
Replying To brianb: "With the current format I still think the best schedule would have the League and Provincial championships played in tandem. With the current calendar the league stared on Jan 24th and the provincial finals were played up to May 15th - so something like this: Jan 24/25 Preliminary Provincial round in Ulster / Leinster Jan 31/Feb1 League round 1 Feb7/8 (OFF) Off Feb 14/15 Provincial Quarter Finals Feb 21/22 League round 2 Feb 28/Mar1 League round 3 Mar7/8 Off Mar14/15 League round 4 Mar21/22 Provincial Semi Finals Mar28/29 League round 5 April 4/5 Off April 11/12 League round 6 April 18/19 Off April 25/26 League round 7 May 2/3 League Finals May 9/10 Provincial Finals May 16/17 Provincial Finals The top 16 placings would be known after the provincial semi finals meaning all teams would know what they were playing for in the last 3 rounds of the league. I'd still much prefer championship based promotion & relegation with winning a province a way of being promoted as I outlined in a previous posts here." Adding ELIGIBLE below to prior post for accuracy: I still like the idea of 'doubling up' most Prov KO ties as league ties, with match points on the line and required to advance to AIC Playoffs. Also, what's wrong with the ELIGIBLE 'Sam 16' known at the start of the season, with promotion & relegation based on prior year League & AIC performance (as I have in my AILC)? omahant (USA) - Posts: 3433 - 26/05/2026 14:39:58 2675771 Link
Replying To legendzxix: "2 small changes: 1. Partial draws the day after provincial finals. Connacht and Munster finalists drawn against the first 4 qualifiers out of the hat. The remaining 4 drawn against Leinster and Ulster finalists the day after those finals. 2. There currently cannot be a repeat pairing of a provincial final in Round 2. Provincial winners not drawing each other in Round 2 should take precedence. Roscommon, Kerry, Westmeath and Armagh as provincial winners should not clash as early as round 2 IMHO. ... outside of that, just get on with the game." 'Getting on with the game' is overplayed - nothing like getting bogged down with endless formats - and end in itself :) omahant (USA) - Posts: 3433 - 26/05/2026 15:36:54 2675798 Link
Replying To Seanfan: "Wasn't that one of the options put forward by HQ when they panicked in 2024? But they told the Counties their favoured system was the one we have now." Well this one is so flawed that you have to wonder how much thought was actually put into it at all. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 26/05/2026 17:45:22 2675849 Link
Replying To Seanfan: "My suggestion is eliminating 6 teams." Any system that doesnt treat every team the same is a non runner for me. That would include groups. I think its a big flaw in Roscommon Championship tbh. 4 groups of 3 or 2 groups of 6 is much more transparent and thus fairer. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 26/05/2026 17:47:47 2675850 Link
Replying To Whammo86: "It was, it didn't really make any sense." Why doesnt it make sense? Tyrone just waited 5 weeks for a game and won Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 26/05/2026 17:48:33 2675851 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "Why doesnt it make sense? Tyrone just waited 5 weeks for a game and won" A group stage where 1 from 3 qualifies doesn't make sense. The wait time happens but it's far from ideal. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4686 - 26/05/2026 21:24:28 2675899 Link
Replying To Whammo86: "A group stage where 1 from 3 qualifies doesn't make sense. The wait time happens but it's far from ideal." Im not sure i agree with yoi tbh. You get one home and one away game with a weekend off thrown in. The best team after a very fair system goes forward to the quarter finals. Im not sure what doesnt make sense there. You may not like that system but it does make sense Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 27/05/2026 11:04:26 2675943 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "Im not sure i agree with yoi tbh. You get one home and one away game with a weekend off thrown in. The best team after a very fair system goes forward to the quarter finals. Im not sure what doesnt make sense there. You may not like that system but it does make sense" Problem with giving perks/rewards to Provincial Champions is that Kerry get unfair advantages due to Munster SFC being a cakewalk 90% of the time. Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 590 - 27/05/2026 11:17:45 2675951 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "Im not sure i agree with yoi tbh. You get one home and one away game with a weekend off thrown in. The best team after a very fair system goes forward to the quarter finals. Im not sure what doesnt make sense there. You may not like that system but it does make sense" Ok I'll rephrase it's a terrible system and no real point to it, the Provincial champions could be playing alongside the other teams and not waiting around for no reason. Going straight through to a quarterfinal is too much reward for winning some of the Provincial championships. Groups where only 1 team goes through are a bit rubbish with a team that loses their first game having it out of their hands to qualify. It should just be straight knockout instead of that format. Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4686 - 27/05/2026 14:01:32 2676006 Link
Replying To Seanfan: "Problem with giving perks/rewards to Provincial Champions is that Kerry get unfair advantages due to Munster SFC being a cakewalk 90% of the time." Again its all about Kerry. When will you all stop fixating on them. There are 4 provincial championships. Why diminish 3 because you dont like one county? That seems petty to me. You are diminishing your own counties achievements in doing so. Imagine Rossies got a week or so to celebrate the achievement (WM too or other 2) and 2 weeks to prepare. No Tyrone to bring everyone back down to earth. Forget about Kerry. No matter what format is applied that will remain the case. Or do you want to diminish Roscommons achievement. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 27/05/2026 15:14:20 2676053 Link
Replying To Whammo86: "Ok I'll rephrase it's a terrible system and no real point to it, the Provincial champions could be playing alongside the other teams and not waiting around for no reason. Going straight through to a quarterfinal is too much reward for winning some of the Provincial championships. Groups where only 1 team goes through are a bit rubbish with a team that loses their first game having it out of their hands to qualify. It should just be straight knockout instead of that format." There would be a reason. They would be already qualified for the quarter final through winning the provincial championship. The other 12 teams would be battling it out to join them. If you lose your first game you are not automatically out. You need to win your last game of course but the team that beat you have to win their other game also. In a 3 team group I dont think head to head result would be agreeable at all. If you prefer 4 groups of 4 so be it. I just dont think 3 matches to lose 1 team is efficient. I also think that the preliminary qf round puts pressure on the schedule and players physically. That said, the current system is mad that way. You could, in theory , have to play extra time and pens in every single round. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 485 - 27/05/2026 15:21:21 2676057 Link