2024 Provincial Football Championships draw
Saturday, 21 October
RADIO
The draws for the 2024 provincial football championships will be made live on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport, presented by Joanne Cantwell and Des Cahill, at approximately 3.15pm. They will also be streamed on RTÉ.ie/sport.
Just 83 days since Dublin lifted Sam Maguire, the focus for next year's football championship comes firmly into view.
The draws for next year’s provincial football championships takes place on RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport, where Joanne Cantwell and Des Cahill will be joined by representatives of the respective provincial councils with Bernard Smith, Games Administration Manager, overseeing the process on behalf of the GAA.
Cora Staunton and Enda McGinley will join Des and Joanne in studio to analyse the draws.
The football championships have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, with numerous calls for more change to the championship structure.
With Dublin (13 in a row) and Kerry (10 titles in last 11 years) laying siege to Leinster and Munster respectively, questions over the competitive element of the status quo remain firmly in place.
Throw in serious trimmings for the likes of Leitrim and Sligo in Connacht, and it’s left to Ulster to be the poster child of the provincial championships, though many observers would argue that such is the strength of the Ulster championship, teams reaching the decider are perhaps a little leggy as the season moves towards the business end, particularly for sides involved in the preliminary quarter-final.
The biggest gripe would appear to be the lack of tiers – unlike the National League – yet the introduction of the Tailteann Cup has acknowledged this to some degree.
The secondary competition – won last year by Meath - has changed the landscape somewhat, and for the second successive season, the football championship will consist of a traditional knock-out provincial phase, followed by the All-Ireland series and Tailteann Cup.
2024 Championship draw
Next year’s championship will, like 2023, will be split, with 16 teams competing for Sam Maguire, and 16 placed in the Tailteann Cup.
All-Ireland Series
The eight provincial finalists and Tailteann Cup champions Meath qualify automatically for the Sam Maguire series, with the remaining spots filled based on finishing positions in the Allianz Football League.
Tailteann Cup
The second tier competition will comprise of the remaining 16 teams.
Provincial draws
The picture for next year’s championship will become clearer after Saturday's draws.
Leinster: Holders Dublin will be one of four teams seeded into the quarter-finals in Leinster, alongside the other teams who reached the semis last year: Kildare, Offaly and Louth.
There will be three first-round games, with one of Carlow, Laois, Longford, Meath, Wexford, Westmeath and Wicklow also receiving a bye to the quarter-finals.
Connacht: Under the rotating quarter-final system in place in Connacht, Mayo will travel to New York and holders Galway to London.
Two of Leitrim, Sligo and Roscommon will face off in a third quarter-final, with the remaining team getting a bye to the semi-finals. The last four pairings will be decided in a separate draw.
Munster: Last year's Munster SFC finalists Kerry and Clare will be in the semi-finals, which will be an open draw that also includes the winners of two quarter-finals between Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford.
Ulster: The four teams who contested the preliminary round over the last two years - Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh and Antrim - cannot be in the extra round again.
Two from Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down and Monaghan will be chosen to face off, with that fixture and the remaining seven teams then drawn into quarter-final pairings.
