|
Was talking to a club manager over the weekend.
2 players went to EP, a couple of others took the week for their own holidays not EP.
But 4 players now are informing him they've tickets for Katie Taylor fight next Saturday and not sure of availability!
Maybe we should get another weekend off?
tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1690 - 31/08/2026 16:39:05
2692175
Link
0
|
|
Replying To Pikeman96: "@Formertownie - I'm all in favour of a free weekend if the calendar allows it, for all the reasons you mention. I'm just not sure I'll ever be convinced that the best way of using the free weekend is to arrange it around when a minority of players would like to go to a music festival.
I'd suggest a more "natural" break this year would have been to play Round 5 football on the weekend just gone by, and then use next weekend as the free one after the groups were completed in both codes and before moving into the knockout stages." It is a minority of players, but a pretty significant minority at the same time. It would affect alot of clubs ability to field second teams after it.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20640 - 31/08/2026 16:55:48
2692185
Link
0
|
|
Replying To Formertownie: " Replying To Pikeman96: "@Formertownie - I'm all in favour of a free weekend if the calendar allows it, for all the reasons you mention. I'm just not sure I'll ever be convinced that the best way of using the free weekend is to arrange it around when a minority of players would like to go to a music festival.
I'd suggest a more "natural" break this year would have been to play Round 5 football on the weekend just gone by, and then use next weekend as the free one after the groups were completed in both codes and before moving into the knockout stages." In an ideal world ye that would ve been better. Only good thing is there is something riding on all football matches this weekend . Would prefer no prelim in hzrling as too long break between end of rould robin and 1 /4 final .. Be interesting to see on a poll of players done anonymously if a free weekend which weekend they would pick . To be off if they only had one weekend to choose. And i woukd agree there will cine a time it wont be feasible . Funny thing is its never fallen on a hurling weekend . Future planning by co board ?."
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20640 - 31/08/2026 16:58:18
2692186
Link
0
|
|
@Formertownie - that thing about "has never fallen on a hurling weekend" is thrown out from time to time all right, but what people either don't consider or don't realise is:
- Fell on a football weekend in 2022 and 2023 because we still had our hurling/football split season at the time, and the hurling was already finished by the time EP came round in the September of those years.
- 2024, if it hadn't been for the Fleadh in Wexford, the club championships would probably have started a week later because we wouldn't have needed the other free weekend. And in that case, EP weekend would have been Round 4 Hurling.
- 2025, the original fixtures plan had Round 5 Hurling marked in for EP weekend. It was only when both county hurlers and footballers went out early that we could start the club championships a week earlier than anticipated, and so free up the EP weekend as well as a free weekend for the Fleadh.
- If either our county hurlers or footballers had gone further this year and ended up playing but losing on weekend of June 20/21 (i.e. if hurlers had come third in Leinster but then lost All-Ireland quarter-final, or if footballers reached but lost Tailteann semi), then club championships would have started a week later, and the weekend just gone by would have been Hurling Round 5.
- Under another "contingency plan" for this year (i.e. hurlers reach but lose All-Ireland semi-final, and/or footballers reach Tailteann Final), the weekend just gone would have been Hurling Round 4.
There's no big conspiracy to engineer things such that EP weekend is always a football weekend. Obviously it fell that way while we had the 'split season'. But both this year and last year, if either of our county teams had gone further, EP weekend would have been hurling.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 31/08/2026 19:05:04
2692203
Link
0
|
|
Replying To tearintom: "Was talking to a club manager over the weekend.
2 players went to EP, a couple of others took the week for their own holidays not EP.
But 4 players now are informing him they've tickets for Katie Taylor fight next Saturday and not sure of availability!
Maybe we should get another weekend off?" I literally laughed out loud at this one. :D
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 31/08/2026 19:07:43
2692204
Link
0
|
|
30 years to the day since Wexford won the All Ireland in 1996. Great memories.
wexford2012 (Wexford) - Posts: 147 - 01/09/2026 15:45:53
2692316
Link
0
|
|
Replying To wexford2012: "30 years to the day since Wexford won the All Ireland in 1996. Great memories." Hard to believe 68 to 96 is a shorter Gap than 96 to now.....
If somebody told me then that we wouldn't reach another final for 30 years I'd never have believed it.
Still not over 19.....
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4658 - 01/09/2026 22:35:41
2692343
Link
0
|
|
Replying To Doylerwex: "Hard to believe 68 to 96 is a shorter Gap than 96 to now.....
If somebody told me then that we wouldn't reach another final for 30 years I'd never have believed it.
Still not over 19....." I'm the same.
I still remember how as the homecoming was winding down on the Monday night (or more accurately, around 3 a.m. on the Tuesday moring!), I looked around and thought "we'll never see the likes of it again. Not unless we have to wait another 28 years anyway. And surely we'll never have to wait 28 years again."
But here we are.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 02/09/2026 10:08:04
2692364
Link
0
|
|
The way we are going it might be another 28. Be glad you saw one, I was born in 1996 and don't see one soon.
StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2169 - 03/09/2026 11:46:25
2692522
Link
0
|
|
Replying To tearintom: "Was talking to a club manager over the weekend.
2 players went to EP, a couple of others took the week for their own holidays not EP.
But 4 players now are informing him they've tickets for Katie Taylor fight next Saturday and not sure of availability!
Maybe we should get another weekend off?" Imagine, players want to do something other than play football. Jesus wept.
StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2169 - 03/09/2026 11:47:19
2692526
Link
0
|
|
Replying To Pikeman96: "@Formertownie - I'm all in favour of a free weekend if the calendar allows it, for all the reasons you mention. I'm just not sure I'll ever be convinced that the best way of using the free weekend is to arrange it around when a minority of players would like to go to a music festival.
I'd suggest a more "natural" break this year would have been to play Round 5 football on the weekend just gone by, and then use next weekend as the free one after the groups were completed in both codes and before moving into the knockout stages." Would Wexford have enough referees, pitches, etc to play them all on Thursday night?
It would need every match the weekend before played before Saturday, just from a player welfare front.
StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 2169 - 03/09/2026 11:49:45
2692527
Link
0
|
|
@StoreysTash - there'd be absolutely no hope of playing them all on the same evening. Probably most obvious difficulty is how that'd mean many clubs having their first and second teams in action in different places at the same time, and in some cases, a third team being in action too.
Another obvious difficulty is the level of volunteerism needed to run matches. In the top three grades, there'd be 18 matches that would need 18 neutral venues, as you couldn't run double-headers. If it was Round 5, you'd need 30 neutral venues. You'd obviously use Wexford Park and St. Patrick's Park but you'd still need either 16 or 28 club venues where it falls to the host club to manage things by way of car park stewarding, operating the scoreboard, opening the dressing rooms, tidying up and closing up afterwards, etc.
Can be difficult enough in some places to get the required number of volunteers at the best of times but would be next to impossible if that club was itself playing somewhere else at the same time. Anyone who might normally volunteer to help with car parking (for example) would much rather be off somewhere else to watch their own team play.
Even running them over two evenings (let's say Wednesday and Thursday) would cause issues. One would be the knock-on effect on the Minor and U14 championships that normally run on those days.
Another would be the effect on regular club activity in the venues used. Say there's an attractive senior match put into somewhere like Oylegate or Farmleigh on a Wednesday evening. And say that normally on a Wednesday evening, those places have a couple of underage GAA squads and a couple of camogie/LGFA squads training. You'd basically be telling all those players "sorry, you can't train as usual this week, because the field will be too busy".
There's been a full round of midweek matches in the past all right, but not for about ten years or more now, and all those issues arose then too. Am sure the fixtures people would be keen to avoid them arising again, unless there really was no alternative.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 03/09/2026 14:43:50
2692550
Link
0
|
|
Replying To StoreysTash: "Imagine, players want to do something other than play football. Jesus wept." Well they have a choice. We were told players love the split season because they could plan for holidays/concerts in the summer.
Seems like some don't love their clubs as much as they pretend!
richiepmurphy (Kilkenny) - Posts: 162 - 03/09/2026 17:16:04
2692584
Link
0
|
|
Replying To richiepmurphy: "Well they have a choice. We were told players love the split season because they could plan for holidays/concerts in the summer.
Seems like some don't love their clubs as much as they pretend!" Fact is that everybody who bought tickets for the Katie Taylor fight would have known all these things at the time, or at least would have know if they'd asked:
- there'd be club matches that weekend.
- only way it wouldn't be Football Round 5 would have been if our footballers made the Tailteann Cup Final.
- if our footballers had made that final, our club championships would have become a "knockout with a back door" format, and you therefore couldn't take a chance on missing even one match if you were serious about it.
- and finally, with the way Round 5 fixtures are normally done, there'd be a high chance of your own match being on the Saturday. You could almost be guaranteed it if you play Intermediate or Intermediate A.
So, I'm inclined to agree to you. Anyone who went and bought tickets anyway and who's now saying "oh, I don't know if I'll go to the fight or if I'll give it a miss and tog off for the match instead" mustn't be too serious about the match in the first place.
I accept the StoreysTash view that it's not unreasonable for players to want to do something else at the weekend from time to time. But I'd contend that it is unreasonable to think that fixtures at this crucial time of year should be worked around optional and social events, two weekends in a row.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 03/09/2026 23:08:20
2692631
Link
0
|
|
I ve tried to post a reply 3 times on this i ll try again .
Tickets for EP are sold a year before the event .
So do u buy urs and hope there ll be a positive or favourable stance from fixtures committee on EP . Or risk not getting ur ticket and possibly having to pay over the odds closer to the time .
If its the one weekend that would have the most impact on club players . Why not give the players that choice and ask if it could be accomodated what weekend would you prefer to be free on . And if its not EP then so be it .
If it happens that we go well in championship and all the ireland series football or hurling . . One way to allow that Ep weekend off would be that 3 rounds be played structured slightly differently .
Week before EP have all top 3 tiers played before the Saturday evening. And bottom 3 tiers on Saturday evening and sunday
Week of EP play top 3 tiers on wed and Thurs evening worst case on wed Thurs Fri no bottom 3 tiers that weekend they dint have to be finished for a leinster club championship . .
Then following weekend return to normal .
Hopefully the preliminary 1/4 finsls will be taken out of the hurling format if groups of 6 retained again Would give an extra weekend rest to everyone not just the top 6 in each grade or extra weekend if champ more condensed
Thats if theres not a totally new format where not as many games but more jeopardy .
To be honest there is a year almost to plan around it if there is an appetite . Working out most scenarios .
To alleviate any undeage interference the weekend of EP could be used for the underage fixtures.
As it already says on the master fixture subject to change.
Do the master plans incorporating as many scenarios as possible . Once champ structure is known
Publish them on the websites let players have access to them see if there are times that suit them and let them decide or plan a holiday, a break ,a wedding, stag party or whatever if they have an idea of dates then if it clashes with their plans at least they ll have a choice on knowing what they potentially might miss or plan round any breaks .
It will also show players that maybe the gaa are forward planning and thinking of the players the biggest assets they need
Formertownie (Wexford) - Posts: 692 - 04/09/2026 09:22:34
2692648
Link
0
|
|
@Formertownie - getting rid of the hurling preliminary q/finals would definitely be a help in freeing up a weekend. Personally I thought the system of the past couple of years was ridiculous, where there were 150 matches played across the top five grades and still everybody went through. I still think it's crazy to play 150 matches to eliminate just ten teams.
Playing what would normally be the Wednesday/Thursday underage games on the EP weekend instead is a good idea. So long as the coaches/managers of those teams, who aren't involved with adult teams, hadn't already bought EP tickets themselves, on the assumption that they'd be free that weekend the same as every other weekend!! :D
But more seriously - around EP time of year, every underage team in the county from U12 up to U18 is preparing for a quarter-final of some sort (even if they're called "placement games" in the case of U12). So back to the point that if you had an attractive Senior match somewhere like Oylegate or Farmleigh on a Wednesday or Thursday, you're basically telling the underage squads there that they can't train that night, despite how they have a big match of their own just a couple of days later.
The master fixtures plans are sent to club secretaries, and are sent from there to anyone who asks for them, like me. Agree would be a good idea to publish them on the website as well, though. Would guess it's just a case of nobody ever thought of doing so rather than wanting to keep them secret.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 04/09/2026 10:46:17
2692663
Link
0
|
|
Replying To Formertownie: "I ve tried to post a reply 3 times on this i ll try again .
Tickets for EP are sold a year before the event .
So do u buy urs and hope there ll be a positive or favourable stance from fixtures committee on EP . Or risk not getting ur ticket and possibly having to pay over the odds closer to the time .
If its the one weekend that would have the most impact on club players . Why not give the players that choice and ask if it could be accomodated what weekend would you prefer to be free on . And if its not EP then so be it .
If it happens that we go well in championship and all the ireland series football or hurling . . One way to allow that Ep weekend off would be that 3 rounds be played structured slightly differently .
Week before EP have all top 3 tiers played before the Saturday evening. And bottom 3 tiers on Saturday evening and sunday
Week of EP play top 3 tiers on wed and Thurs evening worst case on wed Thurs Fri no bottom 3 tiers that weekend they dint have to be finished for a leinster club championship . .
Then following weekend return to normal .
Hopefully the preliminary 1/4 finsls will be taken out of the hurling format if groups of 6 retained again Would give an extra weekend rest to everyone not just the top 6 in each grade or extra weekend if champ more condensed
Thats if theres not a totally new format where not as many games but more jeopardy .
To be honest there is a year almost to plan around it if there is an appetite . Working out most scenarios .
To alleviate any undeage interference the weekend of EP could be used for the underage fixtures.
As it already says on the master fixture subject to change.
Do the master plans incorporating as many scenarios as possible . Once champ structure is known
Publish them on the websites let players have access to them see if there are times that suit them and let them decide or plan a holiday, a break ,a wedding, stag party or whatever if they have an idea of dates then if it clashes with their plans at least they ll have a choice on knowing what they potentially might miss or plan round any breaks .
It will also show players that maybe the gaa are forward planning and thinking of the players the biggest assets they need" Why is it always what the players want and nothjng else?
I mean we changed the entire organisation for them and still its more needed.
And all for a minority of players at that when it comes to Electric Picnic. If the county teams go long in to the championship then under no circumstances should we be considering how to work around giving a week off for a session in a field in Laois whilst considering what structures we need to change etc.
For me personally it just demonstrates to me how unserious we are as a county when it comes to being a little out of our comfort zone, we just dont have it.
tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1690 - 04/09/2026 10:54:21
2692665
Link
0
|
|
Replying To tearintom: "Why is it always what the players want and nothjng else?
I mean we changed the entire organisation for them and still its more needed.
And all for a minority of players at that when it comes to Electric Picnic. If the county teams go long in to the championship then under no circumstances should we be considering how to work around giving a week off for a session in a field in Laois whilst considering what structures we need to change etc.
For me personally it just demonstrates to me how unserious we are as a county when it comes to being a little out of our comfort zone, we just dont have it." Are you saying players training/playing matches/gyming minimum 2 or 3 nights a week since February/March don't deserve some sort of leeway for a weekend off after most of which playing 9 weekends in a row of championship matches?
hownow1 (Wexford) - Posts: 8 - 04/09/2026 11:43:50
2692675
Link
0
|
|
Replying To tearintom: "Why is it always what the players want and nothjng else?
I mean we changed the entire organisation for them and still its more needed.
And all for a minority of players at that when it comes to Electric Picnic. If the county teams go long in to the championship then under no circumstances should we be considering how to work around giving a week off for a session in a field in Laois whilst considering what structures we need to change etc.
For me personally it just demonstrates to me how unserious we are as a county when it comes to being a little out of our comfort zone, we just dont have it." It's a cold hard and maybe merciless-sounding fact that players don't always want what's best overall. Also that they can't always get what they want. For instance:
- Generally speaking, players (like their clubs at the meetings that decide these things), don't want just three matches in groups of four. Perform poorly and lose your first two matches there and you're either already out or on the verge of going out, instead of having three more chances to recover and go through anyway.
- But players want free weekends in amongst all the games it takes to run the two groups of six structure. Even if there was no EP or anything else to consider, that'd be a fair point, as everybody accepts it's tough going to have matches week in and week out. This affects everybody involved in running matches as well as everybody playing them. But there are only so many weeks in the calendar, and you can't make any more.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3985 - 04/09/2026 12:05:28
2692682
Link
0
|
|
Replying To tearintom: "Why is it always what the players want and nothjng else?
I mean we changed the entire organisation for them and still its more needed.
And all for a minority of players at that when it comes to Electric Picnic. If the county teams go long in to the championship then under no circumstances should we be considering how to work around giving a week off for a session in a field in Laois whilst considering what structures we need to change etc.
For me personally it just demonstrates to me how unserious we are as a county when it comes to being a little out of our comfort zone, we just dont have it." I'm inclined to agree to be honest. The fact that any player would prioritize a music festival over a championship match is just off the wall to me.
Go to music festivals when you're a teenager or retired.
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4658 - 04/09/2026 12:07:11
2692683
Link
0
|