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Does Ulster Championship Benefit Ulster Teams?

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Replying To Loughduff Lad:  "Yout think the group stage in a Championship to get rid of 4 teams is good?"
I think its great. It makes the final round very interesting with every team having something to play for. Finishing 1st gives you a bye to the QF.

Only change I would make is getting rid of provincials and spacing out the league and championship

Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 513 - 02/05/2024 11:34:32    2542434

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Replying To Temple56:  "I think its great. It makes the final round very interesting with every team having something to play for. Finishing 1st gives you a bye to the QF.

Only change I would make is getting rid of provincials and spacing out the league and championship"
But is it really needed and is that final round better than if it was just straight knockout?

Loughduff Lad (Cavan) - Posts: 2450 - 02/05/2024 13:01:57    2542451

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Replying To Temple56:  "I think its great. It makes the final round very interesting with every team having something to play for. Finishing 1st gives you a bye to the QF.

Only change I would make is getting rid of provincials and spacing out the league and championship"
Sorry for additional reply, but forgot to say to your 2nd point. What does getting rid of the provincials solve? Removing a Championship trophy that more teams have a chance of winning is silly. Is it because Leinster is bad? So we kill off Ulster and Connacht because the GAA have failed to address issues in other areas? We reward failure with failure?

I don't get it. Soundbites and groupthink stuff like this thrown out with no actual concept about what it means to do this. Championship then essentially exists for a few top teams to could win Sam

Loughduff Lad (Cavan) - Posts: 2450 - 02/05/2024 14:04:49    2542468

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Replying To Loughduff Lad:  "Sorry for additional reply, but forgot to say to your 2nd point. What does getting rid of the provincials solve? Removing a Championship trophy that more teams have a chance of winning is silly. Is it because Leinster is bad? So we kill off Ulster and Connacht because the GAA have failed to address issues in other areas? We reward failure with failure?

I don't get it. Soundbites and groupthink stuff like this thrown out with no actual concept about what it means to do this. Championship then essentially exists for a few top teams to could win Sam"
Play the provincial championships before the league with the winners getting top seeding. The rest make up from league placing which is played just before the championship. The current system is not fit for purpose and it all comes down to the provincial championships. Imagine Clare or Louth still in the running for a top seed while League champions Derry are considered 3rd seeds.

Winning a provincial championship is great and any county should be proud when they do it but the real goal is the Sam Maguire its the pinnacle of our sport. As stated above by a few posters the Ulster championship definitely gets in the way of teams going on and competing for the All Ireland. I bet you if you asked Derry players would you trade the two ulster medals over the last two years for an All Ireland medal I know for fact they would take hand all all for that All Ireland Medal.

Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 513 - 02/05/2024 15:36:59    2542491

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Replying To Temple56:  "Play the provincial championships before the league with the winners getting top seeding. The rest make up from league placing which is played just before the championship. The current system is not fit for purpose and it all comes down to the provincial championships. Imagine Clare or Louth still in the running for a top seed while League champions Derry are considered 3rd seeds.

Winning a provincial championship is great and any county should be proud when they do it but the real goal is the Sam Maguire its the pinnacle of our sport. As stated above by a few posters the Ulster championship definitely gets in the way of teams going on and competing for the All Ireland. I bet you if you asked Derry players would you trade the two ulster medals over the last two years for an All Ireland medal I know for fact they would take hand all all for that All Ireland Medal."
You just said get rid of them, now back to before the League? Where has this come from? I see this loads but no one can answer how this works. How do provincials in January/February work apart from killing them off? Or is that the idea?

You're right. It isn't fit for purpose. Hence why I can't see why we bin old stuff that did work and keep hew stuff that doesn't work. Are we not allowed go back to things? Can't League, Provincials, and then knockout Sam and Tailteann work for what we need than inserting in useless group games for the sake of it?

Yes Sam is. But most can't or won't ever win it. They can for provincials. That's the point. You'd get rid of it and never have those days again for lesser sides. Even very good sides who come up against generational teams who win Sam.

Why does it have to be swapping them for an All Ireland? Would the question not be that if they don't get over the line and win Sam in a period of Dublin dominance, won't the Ulsters still mean they've something to show for a period with a good team?

Loughduff Lad (Cavan) - Posts: 2450 - 02/05/2024 17:23:22    2542515

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Could Ulster (and all other provinces) use the McKenna cup (McGrath cup, FBD league etc) to "filter" their senior championship.

Could the McKenna.cup not be used to remove the need for a prelim round ( and maybe even some q finals)

2025
Group 1 - Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Antrim
Group 2 - Armagh, Cavan, Monaghan, Down

Ulster Championship
Q final 1 - Tyrone v Monaghan
Q final 2 - Cavan v Derry

Semifinal 1 - Q final 1 winner v Donegal
Semifinal 2 - Q final 2 winner v Armagh

You still have to win Ulster on merit but you'd remove some of the jeopardy and potential for a 4 game route via preliminary round

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1197 - 04/05/2024 15:33:50    2542832

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Replying To tirawleybaron:  "Could Ulster (and all other provinces) use the McKenna cup (McGrath cup, FBD league etc) to "filter" their senior championship.

Could the McKenna.cup not be used to remove the need for a prelim round ( and maybe even some q finals)

2025
Group 1 - Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Antrim
Group 2 - Armagh, Cavan, Monaghan, Down

Ulster Championship
Q final 1 - Tyrone v Monaghan
Q final 2 - Cavan v Derry

Semifinal 1 - Q final 1 winner v Donegal
Semifinal 2 - Q final 2 winner v Armagh

You still have to win Ulster on merit but you'd remove some of the jeopardy and potential for a 4 game route via preliminary round"
The Ulster Championship isn't broken. The current format has lent itself to the competitiveness of almost all counties! The spread of provincial finalists and even AI progression is far and away ahead of other provinces. 9 teams and every one has made a provincial final this century. That's a good competition.

What's broken is how the All-Ireland fits around it. My two cents:

The fixture calendar is a disaster, and all attempts to fix it have been half-hearted and self-defeating. The All-Ireland Football Championship (excl Tailteann Cup) consists of 64 matches. Only 29 of these are provincial. This is too much football, and the fans have already turned their backs on the group stages. Cut them.

Whilst Gaelic Football is an amateur sport, it is imperative that they retain cup formats as the primary competitions. I am a firm believer in the "magic of the cup", and although a league format may lead to the best team winning more often, it means that the upsets aren't as important. Dublin can lose a shock one-off game to Cavan, but they'll still win the Championship. Let the upset mean something.

The provincial championships are your old reliable, competitive local derbies will sell tickets.How should the other provinces fix the lack of competitiveness of their competition? Re-distribution of teams? Amalgamations in provincials of Div 3/4 teams?

No team should expect to play less games than any other team. Kerry and Dublin have had no need to ramp up their intensity yet, whilst Donegal, Derry, and Tyrone have been taking chunks out of each other to win a prestigious Ulster Championship. Kerry can win the All-Ireland and Munster playing 8 Championship matches. Donegal would need to play a guaranteed 9 games to do the same in Ulster, and Monaghan/Cavan would have needed 10. It may seem like a small thing, but biases like this build up over the year and with a Matthew effect leads to runaway victors and an imbalance in competition, hence a devaluation of competition. Kerry won Sam playing 3 matches in 1980. What a waste.

Solution? Return to qualifiers and use League Seedings to decide where the provincial finalists enter the All-Ireland series. The top 16 teams in the final league standings, ranked 1 - 16. The two provinces with the best total scores enter the All Ireland series one stage later than the two provinces with the worst score. All Div 3/4 teams enter Tailteann Cup on exit from Sam Maguire (up until QF).

SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 437 - 04/05/2024 19:00:56    2542905

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Replying To Temple56:  "Is the the Ulster Championship a good competition ? Yes is the answer.

Are the games exciting? Yes is the answer.

If Kerry or Dublin were in Ulster the last 10 years would they be both being going for 10 in a row? Probably is the answer for Kerry and a definite yes for Dublin.

In the last 10 years since Donegal shocked Dublin in the All Ireland semi final only one team from Ulster have beat either a Kerry or Dublin in championship and that was Tyrone in 2021 when there was no QFs.

What does this say? I think it proves the quality of the ulster teams isn't that great and the Ulster championship does them no good.

The provincial championships are helping no one and the quicker Ulster people realize the better."
Kerry 10 points winners over Monaghan
Galway 5 points winners over Derry
Mayo 11 points winners over Cavan

Fermanagh and Antrim just about scrape over Carlow and Wexford probably two of the worse teams in Leinster. Down the only team that looked impressive this weekend but then again Westmeath the 4th best team in Lenister beat them in a league final.

When will Ulster people wake up and see Ulster championship is not what it is made out to be!

It means so much for Ulster people to win an Ulster championship because they know all 9 teams in Ulster have no hope of winning an All Ireland!

Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 513 - 19/05/2024 12:44:24    2545550

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Replying To Temple56:  "Kerry 10 points winners over Monaghan
Galway 5 points winners over Derry
Mayo 11 points winners over Cavan

Fermanagh and Antrim just about scrape over Carlow and Wexford probably two of the worse teams in Leinster. Down the only team that looked impressive this weekend but then again Westmeath the 4th best team in Lenister beat them in a league final.

When will Ulster people wake up and see Ulster championship is not what it is made out to be!

It means so much for Ulster people to win an Ulster championship because they know all 9 teams in Ulster have no hope of winning an All Ireland!"
Mostly you find lads from the weaker counties rabbiting about "Ulster." There have usually been 2/3 good teams in Ulster over past 50 years, but most are pretty poor. Even those with glorious pasts like Cavan.

Besides, the border hatreds are something to behold. I have Tyrone friend from Gortin and few things in life give him greater pleasure than Derry being beaten.

He would have enjoyed yesterday immensely. (Not too gone on Donegal either so that wouldn't have counted much.)

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3118 - 19/05/2024 13:04:15    2545557

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Mostly you find lads from the weaker counties rabbiting about "Ulster." There have usually been 2/3 good teams in Ulster over past 50 years, but most are pretty poor. Even those with glorious pasts like Cavan.

Besides, the border hatreds are something to behold. I have Tyrone friend from Gortin and few things in life give him greater pleasure than Derry being beaten.

He would have enjoyed yesterday immensely. (Not too gone on Donegal either so that wouldn't have counted much.)"
Everyone can have their own opinion, but since the leagues moved away from Div 1 A/B format only once has any other province had more Div 1 teams than Ulster.

6 of 9 teams are in the Sam Maguire this year, and that would have been 7 if it hadn't been for Munster having a seeding system which allows for an entire half of the draw to contain Division 3/4 teams. This same seeding ensures that there's a 50% chance that this will occur again next year.

SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 437 - 19/05/2024 14:20:15    2545578

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Replying To Temple56:  "Kerry 10 points winners over Monaghan
Galway 5 points winners over Derry
Mayo 11 points winners over Cavan

Fermanagh and Antrim just about scrape over Carlow and Wexford probably two of the worse teams in Leinster. Down the only team that looked impressive this weekend but then again Westmeath the 4th best team in Lenister beat them in a league final.

When will Ulster people wake up and see Ulster championship is not what it is made out to be!

It means so much for Ulster people to win an Ulster championship because they know all 9 teams in Ulster have no hope of winning an All Ireland!"
The greatest myth in the GAA is Ulster is the best provisional championship where every team can win it. Despite everything saying otherwise.

oneoff (UK) - Posts: 1472 - 19/05/2024 14:43:54    2545582

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Replying To oneoff:  "The greatest myth in the GAA is Ulster is the best provisional championship where every team can win it. Despite everything saying otherwise."
One thing's for sure, it doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as the munster hurling provincial championship.
Amazing game in clare today.

Galway9801 (Galway) - Posts: 1942 - 19/05/2024 15:44:12    2545593

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4 of the 7 league qualifiers are from Ulster. A fair reflection of the strength in Ulster. Derry and Monaghan weren't hindered by an arduous Ulster championship campaign.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 8284 - 19/05/2024 16:35:19    2545600

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Tyrone U20s say yes.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3487 - 19/05/2024 17:04:27    2545608

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Replying To SurelyToGod:  "Everyone can have their own opinion, but since the leagues moved away from Div 1 A/B format only once has any other province had more Div 1 teams than Ulster.

6 of 9 teams are in the Sam Maguire this year, and that would have been 7 if it hadn't been for Munster having a seeding system which allows for an entire half of the draw to contain Division 3/4 teams. This same seeding ensures that there's a 50% chance that this will occur again next year."
League means nothing at the end of the day! Championship is where it is at. Ulster teams struggle big time in championship because they put way to much effort into Ulster.

Ulster teams are flying in the league because they know they have to be ready by the time Ulster championship comes around. The likes of Dublin, Kerry, Galway and Mayo don't get out of 1st gear in the league most years as they know they have big fish to fry later in the year.

Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 513 - 19/05/2024 17:04:42    2545609

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Replying To Temple56:  "Kerry 10 points winners over Monaghan
Galway 5 points winners over Derry
Mayo 11 points winners over Cavan

Fermanagh and Antrim just about scrape over Carlow and Wexford probably two of the worse teams in Leinster. Down the only team that looked impressive this weekend but then again Westmeath the 4th best team in Lenister beat them in a league final.

When will Ulster people wake up and see Ulster championship is not what it is made out to be!

It means so much for Ulster people to win an Ulster championship because they know all 9 teams in Ulster have no hope of winning an All Ireland!"
5 of the last 10 counties to win Sam have been from Ulster, the last 2 counties to win Sam not named Kerry and Dublin have been from Ulster too

joeteor (Donegal) - Posts: 228 - 20/05/2024 18:26:39    2545976

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Replying To joeteor:  "5 of the last 10 counties to win Sam have been from Ulster, the last 2 counties to win Sam not named Kerry and Dublin have been from Ulster too"
Nice stat. Don't sound has good though if you say 2 in the last 15 years does it?

oneoff (UK) - Posts: 1472 - 20/05/2024 19:03:02    2545984

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Replying To Temple56:  "League means nothing at the end of the day! Championship is where it is at. Ulster teams struggle big time in championship because they put way to much effort into Ulster.

Ulster teams are flying in the league because they know they have to be ready by the time Ulster championship comes around. The likes of Dublin, Kerry, Galway and Mayo don't get out of 1st gear in the league most years as they know they have big fish to fry later in the year."
That's because the new format makes it possible for a team to qualify for Division 1 and the following season pretty much ignore the league and provincials and plan to peak for the All Ireland Series. Previously the back door system also devalued the provincials. No more win or go home games until the backdoor shut and provincials werd over. Fact is the Ulster Championship has the most contenders at a similarly high level but it'll be their downfall, in this format, if they put too much emphasis on it over the All Ireland. Definitely it's currently an uneven playing field for Ulster teams. So they might remove the provincials having any bearing on All Ireland qualification and seedings, scrap provincial leagues, and play provincials in break weekends during the league. Leave three or four rounds of the league to decide seedings for All Ireland series which might spice up the league finish.

Then youv'e 16 teams, provincials finished, finishing the league within the same week into the 4 round robin groups. Not expecting it to match the intensity, no chance it'll match the skills, of hurling, but could give us a better foitball championship.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7651 - 20/05/2024 19:46:02    2545989

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Replying To joeteor:  "5 of the last 10 counties to win Sam have been from Ulster, the last 2 counties to win Sam not named Kerry and Dublin have been from Ulster too"
Its easy pick stats to suit an argument.How about this one and it's fact.The only Ulster team to win an All Ireland in the last 15 years is Donegal.Fact!The only Leinster team to win an All Ireland in the last 15 years are Dublin (9 in fairness).Fact!.No Connaught team has won the All Ireland in the last 15 years (altho Mayo very unlucky)Fact! and finally two Munster counties have won the All Ireland in the last 15 years (both Kerry and Cork).Fact!So there you have it Munster are the only province to have two winners over the last 15 years.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 3844 - 20/05/2024 20:48:32    2545997

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Replying To CiarraiMick:  "Its easy pick stats to suit an argument.How about this one and it's fact.The only Ulster team to win an All Ireland in the last 15 years is Donegal.Fact!The only Leinster team to win an All Ireland in the last 15 years are Dublin (9 in fairness).Fact!.No Connaught team has won the All Ireland in the last 15 years (altho Mayo very unlucky)Fact! and finally two Munster counties have won the All Ireland in the last 15 years (both Kerry and Cork).Fact!So there you have it Munster are the only province to have two winners over the last 15 years."
CiarraiMick has forgotten that Tyrone won the All Ireland in 2021. Fact!

shaggykev (Donegal) - Posts: 286 - 20/05/2024 20:58:07    2545998

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