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Westmeath Football thread

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If Sam McCartan is fit for sunday-he has to start and start every game.Sam has been one of Westmeath's most consistant performers over the last few seasons if not the most consistant.Hopefully hes fit and plays. Bruno@1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 296 - 23/01/2026 15:08:51 2652742 Link
Delighted to hear Sam played a half v Leitrim, I thought he was still a bit away. Huge addition whenever we see him. BigSur (Westmeath) - Posts: 1239 - 23/01/2026 15:51:12 2652756 Link
Sam Smyth is going to be a massive boost when he is back on the team. He had a very strong first season last yaar when he slotted into the starting team. A full back line of Baker, Drumm & Smyth would be very strong. Be interesting to see who starts in goals at the weekend. I expect he will go with Daly. Allen will also be in contention soon once he gets some minutes into him. A massive game on Sunday am I hope some support comes out now as we always have been very badly supported. We were out numbered by away supporters for all home games last year which was very embarrassing. Matthew (None) - Posts: 1106 - 23/01/2026 16:00:19 2652759 Link
Really driver for me looks to be loss of revenue, from 154k in 2021 to 108k in 2024 for football group stages. For me this is driven by strange choice of venues in some cases (2 teams from south west facing off in Kinnegad/Mullingar for example) and Iarmhi TV leading to people not attending games martyW (Westmeath) - Posts: 339 - 23/01/2026 16:00:35 2652760 Link
Regarding the meeting this evening. Who is proposing this change. We are told it's the county board, but it will have to go back to the CCC and then the county management committee, who are the county board!!!! This is the way a small number of individuals in mullingar get their way. Listen to the clubs (NO) , no matter what is said this evening it won't make a difference. Go to the CCC, who will be told by these few individuals the way they want to structure the championship. They will then bring it to management where they will be told it's the best outcome for the county pockets and they will be told that they have to vote as a group (even against their own clubs). Then Decision will be brought to the planning meeting for the clubs to agree, where a vote will happen and the county management 25 odd votes will decide the outcome. 100% the championship will be option 1. Watch this space. CHAMPS (Westmeath) - Posts: 48 - 23/01/2026 19:25:49 2652795 Link
Replying To martyW: "Really driver for me looks to be loss of revenue, from 154k in 2021 to 108k in 2024 for football group stages. For me this is driven by strange choice of venues in some cases (2 teams from south west facing off in Kinnegad/Mullingar for example) and Iarmhi TV leading to people not attending games" Agreed, and the pairings for games also is interesting. Early round games in Cusack are unnecessary I feel, teams like Loman's only get going late in the group and bringing them to places like Ballymore, Tubberclair, Castletown etc would bring more neutral interest. To change the structure is certainly not the answer. OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 219 - 23/01/2026 19:35:15 2652797 Link
It would be some own goal if the championship format was changed. There are some merits to the other formats, but the status quo has proven itself over time and in my opinion, nothing can beat it. Iarmhisamhi (Westmeath) - Posts: 37 - 23/01/2026 19:53:03 2652799 Link
Strange that Coralstown/Kinnegad only have one player on county panel despite reaching 2/3 of last county finals. Yet teams that they would beat regularly and have beaten recently have up to 4 players. When the club championship starts, they will probably still be one of the main challengers to The Downs, surely one or two others on their team must be worth a look? Iarmhisamhi (Westmeath) - Posts: 37 - 23/01/2026 21:44:05 2652819 Link
Anyone know how close Conor Dillon and Shane Allen are to a return? Westmeath25 (Westmeath) - Posts: 3 - 23/01/2026 23:12:29 2652826 Link
Replying To martyW: "Really driver for me looks to be loss of revenue, from 154k in 2021 to 108k in 2024 for football group stages. For me this is driven by strange choice of venues in some cases (2 teams from south west facing off in Kinnegad/Mullingar for example) and Iarmhi TV leading to people not attending games" Attendances in 2021 were lowered due to Covid 19 and the 2024 Football Championships brought in €229,000. Where are you pulling €108,000 from? Completely agree that the choice of venue is a key factor influencing revenue from matches. They are just deflecting again, trying to change a format that has served really well instead of expanding commercial partnerships to generate additional revenue that goes beyond gate receipts like every other county is doing. We haven't a hope of getting the Centre of Excellence built with this clueless carry on. iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 295 - 23/01/2026 23:58:04 2652830 Link
Replying To martyW: "Really driver for me looks to be loss of revenue, from 154k in 2021 to 108k in 2024 for football group stages. For me this is driven by strange choice of venues in some cases (2 teams from south west facing off in Kinnegad/Mullingar for example) and Iarmhi TV leading to people not attending games" How will significantly reducing the amount of games overall lead to an increase in revenue? Iarmhí tv revenues should be combined with gate receipts. Wmeath2 (Westmeath) - Posts: 201 - 24/01/2026 02:50:16 2652835 Link
Replying To martyW: "Really driver for me looks to be loss of revenue, from 154k in 2021 to 108k in 2024 for football group stages. For me this is driven by strange choice of venues in some cases (2 teams from south west facing off in Kinnegad/Mullingar for example) and Iarmhi TV leading to people not attending games" Exactly what Lomans or Downs supporters are going to be too bothered about attending A division games when they know deep down when the lads bother they will make at least the quarter finals.Reality of course is we dont have 12 senior football teams.The hurling people admitted we didnt have 8 senior teams, created three very good championships and hurling gates rise dramatically. jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1871 - 24/01/2026 07:20:52 2652839 Link
Replying To Temple56: "I have talk to a lot of people since this came out. Yes, I am from the Athlone region so dual players aren't too common down here. However, every person I have talked to agrees there is no need for change in the football structure. From reading this forum it seems 99% have the same views. This is a real own goal by the new county board." There seems to be a few own goals at the min. Centre of excellence No gym New structures in championship U18 players not allowed play adult Fundraising I do believe the people making the decisions are not making for the benefit of westmeath. PW is a gentleman and has a vision, hopefully he can push county out of the dark age Upforthegame23 (Westmeath) - Posts: 158 - 24/01/2026 08:42:50 2652843 Link
Strong team out think Sam Mc being back is a huge boost hopefully can get the business done and get off to strong start. Dazzler30 (Westmeath) - Posts: 76 - 24/01/2026 10:09:46 2652847 Link
Any insights to last night's meeting or what was the feeling? OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 219 - 24/01/2026 10:25:18 2652849 Link
Replying To Westmeath25: "Anyone know how close Conor Dillon and Shane Allen are to a return?" Conor Dillon is a good bit a way yet he would be pushing to get back in time for the championship I'd imagine. And as of a week ago Shane. Allen though named on the panel for the year , has not returned to the squad yet. Westmeath213 (Westmeath) - Posts: 346 - 24/01/2026 11:11:16 2652857 Link
Replying To Westmeath25: "Anyone know how close Conor Dillon and Shane Allen are to a return?" Interesting to see that the team that already won 3 matches isn't deemed good enough. I think sligo will be waiting for us tomorrow and we will have to be wary . Harry niall is a surprise omission mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1913 - 24/01/2026 11:36:15 2652864 Link
Replying To Upforthegame23: "There seems to be a few own goals at the min. Centre of excellence No gym New structures in championship U18 players not allowed play adult Fundraising I do believe the people making the decisions are not making for the benefit of westmeath. PW is a gentleman and has a vision, hopefully he can push county out of the dark age" At this stage we may as well stop talking about the Centre of Excellence it's 8-10 years away, like everything else here. Always delayed, over budget.... Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 124 - 24/01/2026 11:45:01 2652866 Link
Replying To Upforthegame23: "There seems to be a few own goals at the min. Centre of excellence No gym New structures in championship U18 players not allowed play adult Fundraising I do believe the people making the decisions are not making for the benefit of westmeath. PW is a gentleman and has a vision, hopefully he can push county out of the dark age" Centre of Excellence for the current generation is very unlikely; I think some of the fundraising for it has gone to other areas of expenditure. I don't think our U20 team has a dedicated S&C coach which in 2025 is not good. The changing of championship structures and U18s not been allowed play is ridiculous. At what stage do the county board realize they need to serve clubs and our players rather than themselves. So what if they have to organise additional fixtures, deal with it. The U17 championship was on a Monday night for years then all of a sudden it was put to a Friday night so they could justify it as an issue and a planning problem. Hopefully Wallace can fix this but time will tell. OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 219 - 24/01/2026 12:11:44 2652870 Link
Replying To Upforthegame23: "There seems to be a few own goals at the min. Centre of excellence No gym New structures in championship U18 players not allowed play adult Fundraising I do believe the people making the decisions are not making for the benefit of westmeath. PW is a gentleman and has a vision, hopefully he can push county out of the dark age" Why would they not be making decisions for the benefit of Westmeath Gaa? Who benefits from their decisions? Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 2547 - 24/01/2026 12:20:32 2652872 Link