Who would have thunk it?
After a decade-long panic about increasing elitism and stratification within the inter-county game, Division 2 has embarked on a glorious new era as the natural home of the All-Ireland champions.
In the last two seasons, teams who began the year nursing their wounds in the second tier finished it with Sam in their possession.
Okay, so Dublin may have been an atypical resident of Division 2. That they wound up there at all was regarded as a freak occurrence, the result of a strange mini-crisis at the beginning of the 2022 league.
But Armagh? They've been yo-yoing for a few years and were certainly no strangers to the off-Broadway environment. The 2024 All-Ireland champions know all too well what it's like to pitch up in Ennis or Páirc Tailteann on a wintry afternoon.
Even back in 2022, Galway reached their first All-Ireland final in over two decades having spent the early part of the season in Div. 2.
Recent trends indicate that, provided you're not down there too long, a quick spell in the second tier can be the ideal primer for a tilt at the championship. Teams on the fence between the top two divisions have tended to develop a winning habit and built up confidence and momentum.
From another perspective, there is no league more pressured than Division 2 under the current format.
Unlike in other divisions, there's no scope to rest in mid-table safety come the back end of the campaign, with every team scrapping to stay high enough up the ladder to make double sure of their Sam Maguire Cup place.
Meath found out the hard way in 2023 that surviving in the division does not guarantee top tier championship football later in the year. Colm O'Rourke's side had finished sixth in the league, but Clare's surprise Munster semi-final win over Cork and Sligo's straightforward path to the Connacht final, combined with their own Leinster quarter-final loss to Offaly, saw them placed in the Tailteann Cup that summer, though that may have been a blessing in the end.
Conor Laverty's Down, like Meath last year, are exempt from all these pressures as the reigning Tailteann Cup winners, and are already pencilled in for the 2025 Sam Maguire round robin.
The pool of teams down there may be slightly less shark-infested than in 2024. Last year, they had Donegal, immediately re-invigorated following their messiah's return, and Armagh, about to embark on their winding road to the ultimate glory.
Stepping down from the top tier this year are Roscommon, the most prolific Division 2 champions of the modern era, and a Monaghan side who finally fell through the trapdoor after surviving for so many years.
Roscommon, who won the Division 2 crown four times in the past decade (2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022), look a strong bet for a fifth. 2024 was a miserable year for most of it, the Rossies enduring relegation and winning just one of their first 10 competitive matches.
But they lifted their game in time to beat Cavan in an absurdly high-scoring round robin tie to avail of the controversial third qualification spot in the group.
This teed up one of their finest championship wins of modern times, when they turned over Tyrone in Omagh, with Diarmuid Murtagh and Daire Cregg delivering an exhibition of point-taking.
They've long had a happy knack of producing quality forwards and are potentially more stacked than ever in this regard, with Murtagh and Cregg, plus the returning Ciaran Murtagh and Ben O'Carroll. On paper, at least, they look to be clearly the best team in the division.
Monaghan may be on shakier ground and are plainly in a transitional moment. Conor McManus' retirement announcement could be said to mark the official end of that 2010s generation that over-achieved for so long. Nonetheless, their underage machine are still churning out players, with Jason Irwin and Michael Hamill breaking through.
Coming the other way are Down and Westmeath. While it was the midlanders who won the ultimately crucial Division 3 final and nailed down a Sam Maguire place, it is Down who look in ruder health this year.
Down and Kilcoo stalwart Laverty appears to have solved the issue of his own club's disengagement from the county set-up and, after many years of drift, the former aristocrats of northern football are back on an upward curve. They won 13 of 16 matches in 2024, losing only the aforementioned Division 3 final and their Ulster semi-final to Armagh, and that only by a solitary point.
For the second year running, Westmeath proved surprisingly stubborn opposition in the Sam Maguire group of death, deploying their catenaccio-style double sweeper formation to frustrate their much-vaunted opponents. However, a big scalp proved beyond them. Dessie Dolan departed in the off-season, as did a host of high profile players, John Heslin among them.
Of the four counties that stayed where they are, some are more static than others.
In Meath, county legend O'Rourke was forced out of the managerial hotseat in unpleasantly acrimonious circumstances last autumn, amid mutterings of unflattering feedback from some players in their internal review. In his Sunday Independent column, a week out from the start of the current league, O'Rourke had a cut at the Meath county board over their lack of loyalty, as well as a cohort of the players who he said were inclined to seek excuses.
In his two-year stint, they did win the Tailteann Cup but their subsequent Sam Maguire campaign, which included a damning 10-point loss to neighbours Louth, merely underlined the distance they've still to travel. Incoming manager Robbie Brennan does come with very strong credentials, having guided Kilmacud Crokes to three Leinster titles in a row, and the 2022-23 All-Ireland title (the 16th man).
Louth enjoyed probably their best campaign since 1957 - 2010 is sadly denied that tag - in 2024, with Ger Brennan making a stellar start to his managerial career. They just survived in the league, despite a +20 score difference racked in a six-goal hammering of Fermanagh.
In the championship, they were shockingly respectable against Dublin in the provincial decider, only losing by four, making it the tightest Leinster final since 2012.
In Cork, John Cleary enters his fourth season in charge, having provided some badly needed stability, with Kevin Walsh an influential member of his backroom team. They made a horrible start to last year's league but rallied brilliantly in the second half of the campaign, Maurice Shanley's injury-time goal in Fermanagh proving vital.
Championship quarter-finalists in 2023, the round robin victory over Donegal hinted that they were finally a coming force in Gaelic football. But they were rocked by defeat away to Louth and there's been an exodus of players over the winter, most notably Kevin Flahive and Steven Sherlock.
Cavan wound up third in Raymond Galligan's first league campaign, although there was an uncommonly wide gap between them and second. Intriguingly all three of their wins came away from home, as did their sole championship victory against Monaghan in Clones.
They are boosted by the return of Gearóid McKiernan to the fold. Their inability to beat Roscommon under any circumstances could hobble them but they'll have designs on reaching the top tier for the first time since 2019.
Cavan
2024 league: Third in Division 2
2024 championhip: Ulster quarter-final loss to Tyrone; Bottom of Sam Maguire round robin group
Manager: Raymond Galligan (second year in charge)
Squad news: Cavan are boosted by the return of Gearóid McKiernan, the experienced midfielder having opted out for 2024. Their scorer-in-chief Paddy Lynch is also fit again, having been struck down by a cruciate ligament injury last April.
Ex-Leitrim goalkeeper Nevin O'Donnell joined the Cavan squad in December. It marks a return to the native county for O'Donnell who featured in Cavan's glut of underage success in the early 2010s but struggled to break into the senior set-up, opting to declare for Leitrim in 2016 after coming home from London.
Prospects: Cavan finished third last year though such was the gap between the top two and the rest, there was little prospect of promotion in the final weeks.
They have the benefit of four home games, with a couple of winnable away games to Meath and Westmeath. The major caveat being that all their competitive wins occurred away from home in 2024.
With McKiernan and Lynch - the latter being the top scorer across all four divisions last year - back available, Cavan should be able to give promotion a decent rattle in Galligan's second term.
League prediction: Third
Cork
2024 league: Fourth in Division 2
2024 championship: Munster semi-final loss to Kerry; preliminary quarter-final defeat to Louth
Manager: John Cleary (fourth year in charge)
Squad news: Riven with injuries, opt-outs as well as shipping retirements in the off-season. Steven Sherlock and Kevin Flahive have opted out for the year.
Castlehaven star Jack Cahalane is choosing hurling for 2025. Thomas Clancy, Killian O'Hanlon and John O'Rourke have all retired. Promising UCC player Fionn Herlihy is opting out for the coming year, as is panellist Damien Gore.
On top of that, Conor Corbett has an ACL injury, Luke Fahy, Sean Meehan and Kevin O'Donovan will miss the entire league with injury, while Ian Maguire is ruled out for the early rounds.
Prospects: In Cleary's three seasons to date, he's provided Cork with a greater degree of stability and consistency. A quarter-final appearance in 2023 and a win over Donegal last year indicated they were on an upward curve. But the last-12 loss to Louth was a sickener.
The exodus of eight players has thrown doubt on the promotion hopes, though with Brian Hurley and Chris Óg Jones in attack, they still have the ability to mount a charge.
Four games are at home, including against their 2024 nemesis Louth. All three of their away fixtures are in Ulster, against Down, Monaghan and Cavan.
League prediction: Fourth
Down
2024 league: First in Division 3 (runners-up)
2024 championship: Ulster semi-final loss to Armagh; Tailteann Cup winners
Manager: Conor Laverty (third year in charge)
Squad news: Down are hit by the loss of Liam Kerr, the Burren attacker joining the contingent heading down under.
On the flipside, they have an All-Ireland medallist joining their ranks. Hugh Pat McGeary, a squad member on Tyrone's 2021 side, transferred to Rostrevor last year and has been drafted into the Down set-up.
Prospects: Relegated from Division 2 after a poor showing in 2022, when they mustered just one point. This time, they look the better equipped of the two promoted teams to survive in Division 2, based on their narrow loss to Armagh and Tailteann Cup triumph.
Their squad is also considerably more intact than Westmeath's, despite Kerr's absence. However, it could still be a struggle, with the game against Meath crucial, having lost the 2023 Tailteann Cup to the same opposition.
League prediction: Seventh
Louth
2024 league: Sixth in Division 2
2024 championship: Leinster final loss to Dublin; All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Donegal
Manager: Ger Brennan (second year in charge)
Squad news: Back to the future from Brennan as he seeks to build on last year's progress. The Louth manager has recalled Andy McDonnell - so venerable that he played and scored in the infamous 2010 Leinster decider - four years after his last appearance for the county.
McDonnell spent last summer as a columnist with the Drogheda Independent and the Argus but Brennan was sufficiently impressed with the 34-year old's form for Newtown Blues and he's been recalled to the squad for pre-season.
LMFM have reported that Emmet Carolan and James Stewart are also back involved.
Prospects: Performed better in the league last year than their sixth place finish suggested, with narrow losses to Armagh, Donegal and Cavan. The subsequent championship vindicated this assessment.
They have just the three home games, one of which they're playing in Inniskeen in Monaghan. Predicting the second promoted team is a crap-shoot but they get the nod if they can maintain last year's momentum.
League prediction: Second
Meath
2024 league: Fifth in Division 2
2024 championship: Leinster quarter-final loss to Dublin; Bottom of Sam Maguire round robin group
Manager: Robbie Brennan (first year in charge)
Squad news: The squad is fairly intact from last year, with Brennan confirming that Bryan Menton and Padraig Harnan have committed for the coming year.
With the likes of Eoghan Frayne and Cian McBride impressing in Sigerson this month, it is also hoped a few of the Under-20 Leinster winning side from last year may step up to senior, notably the Dunshaughlin duo of Conor Duke and Charlie O'Connor.
However, they did suffer a major blow, with the news that their superb wing-back Eamonn Armstrong, the most eye-catching prospect from last year's U20 team, had been signed by St Kilda in the AFL.
Prospects: Perhaps an unknown quantity under new management. Could be re-invigorated with Brennan's arrival or could flatline again.
There are green shoots following the U20 Leinster win, and the Sigerson highlighted that there is talent in the squad, with Eoghan Frayne, Jordan Morris and Cian McBride all looking impressive.
In truth, were lucky to stay up last year, their only wins coming at home to an impotent Kildare side and after a rousing, backs-to-the-wall second half against Louth.
Hard on evidence thus far to predict a promotion push and could be in a dogfight again.
League prediction: Sixth
Monaghan
2024 league: Eighth in Division 1
2024 championship: Ulster preliminary round loss to Cavan; preliminary quarter-final defeat to Galway
Manager: Gabriel Bannigan (first year in charge)
Squad news: The McManus retirement had been expected - indeed, was prematurely reported - immediately after the loss in Salthill last year. It was finally confirmed last week, with the league almost upon us, so Bannigan won't have the experience of Monaghan's greatest ever player to draw upon, though those of Nudie Hughes' generation may be still inclined to plump for him.
Kieran Hughes was also forced into retirement last year, though veteran players Darren Hughes and Karl O'Connell are still plugging away for 2025, though will likely miss the early rounds of the league.
In better news, Rory Beggan, who spent the early part of last year chasing the gridiron dream, will be around for the entirety of the league this time.
Prospects: Barack Obama was still US President and Britain was still in the European Union the last Monaghan were outside the top tier. There was a sense of devastation following their relegation last year, that a proud run had come to an end.
With all the talk being of a team in transition, it could be challenging for them to bounce back. Bannigan, with Andy Moran coming in as a selector, still has some potential to work with, the likes of Jason Irwin, Michael Hamill and Joel Wilson breaking through the ranks.
League prediction: Fifth
Roscommon
2024 league: Seventh in Division 1
2024 championship: Connacht semi-final loss to Mayo; All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Armagh
Manager: Davy Burke (third year in charge)
Squad news: Roscommon's attack is hugely augmented by the return of Ciaran Murtagh, the 32-year old St Faithleach's star opting out in 2024. An early sign that he was back came with his involvement in the inter-provincial trial games in November and now he's in for 2025.
Ben O'Carroll, after an injury-afflicted 2024 campaign, was an influential impact sub for UCD as they came back to pip DCU last week. Between himself and Daire Cregg, Roscommon players accounted for 0-07 of UCD's 1-11 winning total.
Cian McKeon, Shane Killoran and Eddie Nolan have all returned to the squad, with Tadhg O'Rourke and Cian Connolly among the group who have stepped away.
Prospects: Since the mid-2010s, Roscommon have zinged between the top two tiers more often than Norwich City. On paper, boast far more scoring power than anyone else in the division, with several match-winners in attack, whether it be the Murtaghs, the Smiths, Cregg or O'Carroll.
Davy Burke, now entering his third campaign, spent last year lamenting their string of absentees but doesn't have the same excuse this time.
Anything other than promotion back to the top flight will be an underachievement.
League prediction: First
Westmeath
2024 league: Second in Division 3 (winners)
2024 championship: Leinster preliminary round loss to Wicklow; Bottom of Sam Maguire round robin group
Manager: Dermot McCabe (first year in charge)
Squad news: Any optimism over their return to Division 2 may have curdled somewhat following the departure of John Heslin, their only household name in attack over the past decade.
That came hot on the heels of the retirements of defenders James Dolan and Kevin Maguire, with David Lynch and Andy McCormack having emigrated.
It also emerged today that 2023 All-Star forward nominee Ronan O'Toole is taking a season out to go travelling.
Prospects: The exodus of players may have made it feel like a hospital pass for incoming manager Dermot McCabe. Struggled to score freely in 2024 and the loss of Heslin won't make it easier. On balance, they look the likeliest candidates for relegation.
League prediction: Eighth
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