The evolution of the split season and the facilitation of the new round-robin football championships is clear to see in the proposed 2023 fixtures draft that the GAA's Central Council will consider this weekend.

JANUARY

Under the proposal, the new season will begin with All-Ireland senior club football semi-finals in the second week of January with the finals in both codes taking place on 21 or 22 January.

A week later the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues will begin.

FEBRUARY

The Sigerson Cup final is down for 15 February with the Fitzgibbon Cup decider three days later.

MARCH

The next key landmark is the start of the Under-20 football championship, which will not commence until 18 and 19 March at the earliest.

With such pressure on the fixtures calendar, and to allow breathing space between the end of the football league relegation games and the start of the provincial championships, the GAA’s Competitions Control Committee will this weekend request that there are no league finals across the four football divisions, allowing a two-week gap before the start of the championships.

APRIL

Hurling league finals will take place on the weekend of 1/2 April. The provincial football series will begin a week later.

MAY

Provincial finals will take place early May.

The new format, if passed at Central Council level, would see both the qualifiers for the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup competitions played across three weekends, starting on 18 May.

JUNE

The All-Ireland football qualifiers are down for the start of June under the proposed new draft.

In hurling, the move to play both the Leinster and Munster showpieces on the same day will attract plenty of debate. If the new plan is adapted the Joe McDonagh Cup final could now take place before the All-Ireland U20 hurling final at the end of May.

JULY

The All-Ireland football quarter-finals have been provisionally fixed for the first weekend of July.

The Tailteann Cup final is down for 15/16 July, with the All-Ireland hurling final taking place a week later. Under these proposals the All-Ireland football final will move from 23 to 30 July.

AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER

The first weekend in August would facilitate a hurling final replay and also signal the start of county championships across the country. From week 32 until week 51, with the hurling semi-finals ending the season, the club championships will dominate the calendar.

Whilst work on the new fixtures calendar could be progressed by Central Council this weekend, discussions continue to take place on the introduction of a stand-alone Under-19 grade for inter-county action.

At the most recent Congress a move to introduce U19 at county level on a three-year trial basis needed 60% support, but only gained 56%.

However, it is understood that the proposal for an Under-19 grade, with Under-17 moving to developmental only, could be back on the table soon again.