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Tailteann Cup: Right To Scrap Group Stage?

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Replying To ohwow: "Not at all, we know our place in the scheme of things, but it isn't being helped by being kept from the top table. Why not two chances in an all ireland qualifier in comparison to a teacup competition. Only 3 or 4 teams can win the all Ireland at most anyway so what harm is it" Agreed. If Leitrim can work with Cavan, Down, Westmeath and other counties on bringing a motion to Congress. Needs 60% of the vote to bring back the qualifiers is some form. legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9735 - 29/04/2026 14:53:24 2669780 Link
Replying To ohwow: "Not at all, we know our place in the scheme of things, but it isn't being helped by being kept from the top table. Why not two chances in an all ireland qualifier in comparison to a teacup competition. Only 3 or 4 teams can win the all Ireland at most anyway so what harm is it" Second chances really favour the strongest counties. They might be caught once, but seldom twice or 3 times. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19705 - 29/04/2026 15:01:47 2669781 Link
Replying To legendzxix: "Agreed. If Leitrim can work with Cavan, Down, Westmeath and other counties on bringing a motion to Congress. Needs 60% of the vote to bring back the qualifiers is some form." Indeed and reward teams that win their league divisions with money towards a holiday or some such incentive, the GAA can afford to do it for four different teams. This idea that playing in a three quarter empty Croke Park for a teacup final is a reward in itself is becoming increasingly outdated i think. ohwow (Leitrim) - Posts: 196 - 29/04/2026 15:26:45 2669799 Link
Replying To systematic: "More chances for a few more games is probably there but currently no calendar space. I think possibly it's worth changing the league qualification where only guaranteed places are 6 Div 1 teams, 2 promoted Div 2 teams and 2 relegated Div 1 teams, and everyone else has to do seeded playoffs for their spot. As an aside I wonder why teacup didn't bother with seeding this year they could have gone with league standing and just had the Team 16 in the top group." There's plenty of space if they want it, usually August before club championships start in this neck of the woods, that is 12 weekends away. I'm sure a lot of other counties are similar. ohwow (Leitrim) - Posts: 196 - 29/04/2026 15:30:28 2669801 Link
QUALIFIER ROUND 1 The weekend of the Ulster and Leinster finals, could be for Qualifier Round 1: 16 or 18 counties playing off to make Qualifier Round 2, 16 or 18 is depending on whether the Tailteann winner has made their final. QUALIFIER ROUND 2 The weekend after then could be for Qualifier Round 2: 14 or 16 counties playing off for 7 or 8 qualifier spots, 14 or 16 is depending on whether the Tailteann winner has made their final. ALL IRELAND ROUND 1 The weekend after then that the Ulster and Leinster finalists currently will enter All Ireland Round 1 has no provincial hurling. All eight round 1 games could be played on that weekend. 2 knockout qualifying rounds is easily integrated to the current timeline. Up to the counties involved to bring the motion to Congress! legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9735 - 29/04/2026 16:51:24 2669826 Link
14. CAVAN - 7th league qualifier spot. ------- 15. Down - Tailteann Cup participant 16. Wexford - Tailteann Cup participant 17. KILDARE - Tailteann Cup winners and 16th All Ireland spot. 18. Offaly - Tailteann Cup participant 19. WESTMEATH - Leinster finalist and seeded in Round 1 draw. 20. Laois - Tailteann Cup participant... Tough on Down to miss out on the All Ireland but one of Cavan, Down, Kildare and Westmeath were always likely to miss out. Kildare had their golden ticket from last year's Tailteann. Someone had to miss out. Below 5th place in Division 2 is asking for trouble. legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9735 - 03/05/2026 17:33:53 2670668 Link
Replying To ohwow: "There's plenty of space if they want it, usually August before club championships start in this neck of the woods, that is 12 weekends away. I'm sure a lot of other counties are similar." Grand if you dont have much of either or both of a club hurling or club football championship. You dont need as many weekends. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19705 - 03/05/2026 19:29:09 2670721 Link
Replying To ohwow: "There's plenty of space if they want it, usually August before club championships start in this neck of the woods, that is 12 weekends away. I'm sure a lot of other counties are similar." Yes. As Viking points out above - grand in a county where you don't have much of a hurling championship, e.g. Leitrim, where for the past couple of years, just two teams have entered at senior level and the only match to be played is a final. Places like Sligo, Fermanagh and Longford don't need too many weekends for club hurling either. Not so grand for Tailteann Cup counties where several weekends are needed for both club hurling and football championships - e.g. Clare, Offaly, Limerick, Tipperary, and ourselves here in Wexford. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3659 - 05/05/2026 14:07:24 2671106 Link
Anyone going to start a "Tailteann Cup 2026" thread? legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9735 - 05/05/2026 14:42:40 2671123 Link
Round 1 Clare Vs Offaly - Prediction Clare Wexford Vs Limerick - Prediction Wexford Sligo Vs Tipperary - Prediction Sligo Carlow Vs Antrim - Prediction Carlow Laois Vs Wicklow - Prediction Wicklow Waterford Vs London - Prediction London Fermanagh Vs Longford - Prediction Fermanagh Down Vs Leitrim - Prediction Down Jack L (None) - Posts: 3207 - 05/05/2026 15:05:58 2671138 Link
Replying To legendzxix: "Anyone going to start a "Tailteann Cup 2026" thread?" Agreed. That's what should have happened. Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1301 - 06/05/2026 00:03:43 2671222 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "Yes. As Viking points out above - grand in a county where you don't have much of a hurling championship, e.g. Leitrim, where for the past couple of years, just two teams have entered at senior level and the only match to be played is a final. Places like Sligo, Fermanagh and Longford don't need too many weekends for club hurling either. Not so grand for Tailteann Cup counties where several weekends are needed for both club hurling and football championships - e.g. Clare, Offaly, Limerick, Tipperary, and ourselves here in Wexford." The teams knocked out in the first round/quarter final provincial stages could already have had their 1st round qualifier game played, losing semi finalists of provincial playing the winners of round 1 this weekend, losing provinicial finalists play winners of round two next weekend. Winners of that into the quarter finals against provincial champions. Anyone who wants to play in the teacup can do so, those who don't want to don't have to. ohwow (Leitrim) - Posts: 196 - 06/05/2026 11:21:38 2671250 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "Yes. As Viking points out above - grand in a county where you don't have much of a hurling championship, e.g. Leitrim, where for the past couple of years, just two teams have entered at senior level and the only match to be played is a final. Places like Sligo, Fermanagh and Longford don't need too many weekends for club hurling either. Not so grand for Tailteann Cup counties where several weekends are needed for both club hurling and football championships - e.g. Clare, Offaly, Limerick, Tipperary, and ourselves here in Wexford." Sligo has 7 senior club teams with a,junior and senior championship ,with second teams playing in junior ,just 4 in senior with top 2 final ,we need dont need as many as football but we need space and there's another new club formed to make it 8 senior soon, leitrim ,fermanagh and Longford have only 2 and 3 clubs in there countys Timmy86 (Sligo) - Posts: 368 - 06/05/2026 11:57:45 2671259 Link
Replying To Timmy86: "Sligo has 7 senior club teams with a,junior and senior championship ,with second teams playing in junior ,just 4 in senior with top 2 final ,we need dont need as many as football but we need space and there's another new club formed to make it 8 senior soon, leitrim ,fermanagh and Longford have only 2 and 3 clubs in there countys" Good to hear there's another senior hurling club being formed in Sligo. Where is it? But the real point here is that in Sligo, you were able to get away last year with starting your hurling championship in the last few days of July, and starting your football in August. That'd give you time for an extended Tailteann Cup all right. Not so here in Wexford. If we're to start our club championships any later than the first weekend of July, we simply don't have time to run them at a rate of one round per weekend in order to have them finished in time for the Leinster Club Championships. We'd either have to move to including midweek games as well, or change to a different format altogether. Matter of fact, there already alternate formats agreed for if our footballers make the Tailteann Cup Final...or if our hurlers go further than looks likely at the moment! Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3659 - 06/05/2026 13:38:43 2671291 Link
Replying To Pikeman96: "Good to hear there's another senior hurling club being formed in Sligo. Where is it? But the real point here is that in Sligo, you were able to get away last year with starting your hurling championship in the last few days of July, and starting your football in August. That'd give you time for an extended Tailteann Cup all right. Not so here in Wexford. If we're to start our club championships any later than the first weekend of July, we simply don't have time to run them at a rate of one round per weekend in order to have them finished in time for the Leinster Club Championships. We'd either have to move to including midweek games as well, or change to a different format altogether. Matter of fact, there already alternate formats agreed for if our footballers make the Tailteann Cup Final...or if our hurlers go further than looks likely at the moment!" Your forgetting to mention that Wexford have an unnecessarily long football championship with 5 group games. Most football counties only have 2 group games. tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1823 - 07/05/2026 09:28:12 2671406 Link
Replying To tirawleybaron: "Your forgetting to mention that Wexford have an unnecessarily long football championship with 5 group games. Most football counties only have 2 group games." Well, another way of looking at that is that most counties have unnecessarily short championships. Only two group games, presumably followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final uses only five weeks out of what's probably 15 or more weeks available to them. Or six weeks if you've a system with preliminary quarter-finals. Anyway, the structure and format of club championships are matters for the counties themselves. It's not up to an anonymous internet poster from the other end of the country to say that Wexford's are "unnecessarily long", any more than I'm entitled to say that some other county's championship is unnecessarily short or unnecessarily complicated or anything else. Our structure of two groups of six in the top five grades in both codes has operated every year since 2012, apart from when it was affected by Covid. There's never been any significant support for any other proposal when these things are decided each year at County Board level. So, the people who actually matter don't consider it "unnecessarily long". And with all due respect, you're not one of them. Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3659 - 07/05/2026 10:22:24 2671415 Link
Replying To tirawleybaron: "Your forgetting to mention that Wexford have an unnecessarily long football championship with 5 group games. Most football counties only have 2 group games." Three Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 569 - 07/05/2026 10:42:58 2671420 Link
Yes hlynch12 (Limerick) - Posts: 28 - 09/05/2026 15:56:54 2671795 Link
Replying To tirawleybaron: "Your forgetting to mention that Wexford have an unnecessarily long football championship with 5 group games. Most football counties only have 2 group games." Thats up to them. We look after our club players. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 19705 - 10/05/2026 00:52:49 2671911 Link

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