SATURDAY 25 January
Division 1
Galway v Armagh, Pearse Stadium, 5.15pm (RTÉ2)
Tyrone v Derry, Healy Park, 6pm (BBC iPlayer + GAAGO)
Dublin v Mayo, Croke Park, 7.30pm (TG4)
Division 2
Cork v Meath, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 5pm
Cavan v Monaghan, Kingspan Breffni, 6pm
Division 3
Kildare v Fermanagh, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 5pm
Division 4
Carlow v Tipperary, Netwatch Dr Cullen Park, 6pm
Wexford v London, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 7pm
SUNDAY 26 January
Division 1
Kerry v Donegal, Fitzgerald Stadium, 1.45pm (TG4) - POSTPONED
Division 2
Roscommon v Down, Hyde Park, 2pm
Westmeath v Louth, Cusack Park, 2pm
Division 3
Antrim v Clare, Corrigan Park, 1pm
Offaly v Sligo, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 2pm
Leitrim v Laois, Ballinamore, 2pm - POSTPONED
Division 4
Longford v Limerick, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm
Wicklow v Waterford, Echelon Park, 2pm
ONLINE
Live blogs each day on RTÉ Sport Online and RTÉ News app.
RADIO
Live commentaries and updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport.
TV
Live coverage of Galway v Armagh on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 4.45pm on Saturday afternoon. Tyrone v Derry will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and GAAGO (6pm throw-in).
TG4 will have live coverage of Dublin-Mayo on Saturday evening (7.30pm throw-in) and Kerry-Donegal on Sunday afternoon (1.45pm throw-in).
Highlights and reaction to all the weekend's action on Allianz League Sunday, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 9.30pm.
WEATHER
Saturday: Early sunshine will be replaced by cloudier skies, as showery rain move in from the Atlantic during the afternoon and early evening. Some hail is expected with isolated thunderstorms. A rather cold day with highest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees. Southerly winds will freshen through the day too.
Sunday: Wet and windy, with a band of rain gradually spreading north-eastwards through the morning and afternoon, some of it heavy and possibly thundery. Scattered showers will follow. Highest temperatures of 6 to 10 degrees. For more, visit met.ie.
Div 1: Galway and Armagh meet yet again
Galway's west coast set a new national record for wind speed in the early hours of Friday morning. All indications are at the time of writing that things will have long calmed down by late Saturday afternoon. However, Salthill is notorious for providing a healthy gale even when the rest of the country is becalmed.
One other thing that Salthill is providing is a set of floodlights, allowing Galway supporters to avail of a home Saturday evening league game for the first time. It's not the first floodlit game at the venue, temporary lights having been installed for the first test of the 2006 Compromised Rules series - which was, ahem, slightly overshadowed by the second test.
It's the sixth time the 2024 All-Ireland finalists have met in competitive action since the spectacularly controversial 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final. Only one of those has occurred in the league, with Matthew Tierney's late goal giving Galway victory in the Athletic Grounds in 2023.
Padraic Joyce hasn't made much effort to sugarcoat the impact of his last summer's All-Ireland defeat, remarking in October that "we will regret it until our last breath".
For the opening league game, the Galway manager has picked an experimental forward line, with Cillian Ó Curraoin and St James' Sam O'Neill starting in the corner-forward spots. Damien Comer and Rob Finnerty are not in the squad, with Shane Walsh, John Maher, Liam Silke and Jack Glynn on the bench.
Kieran McGeeney, meanwhile, has named 10 of his All-Ireland final winning team, with Paddy Burns, Aaron McKay, Joe McElroy and Rian O'Neill left off the matchday squad, while Conor Turbitt is on the bench.
Their beloved super-sub Stefan Campbell will get game-time from the start for a change. It's only Armagh's fourth attempt at Division 1 over the course of McGeeney's long reign, the county having languished in the second tier, and occasionally the third tier, for most of the 2010s. They were relegated with five points in 2023, largely thanks to Monaghan beating an under-strength Mayo on the final day in Castlebar.
Two new management teams take their opening bow in Omagh for the 6pm throw-in at Omagh. Tyrone have installed an outside manager for the first time in their history, albeit one who has heavy involvement in the county over the years. Malachy O'Rourke won a couple of titles at wing-back with Errigal Ciarán back in the 1990s, when he lived in Ballygawley.
Derry finally found their man after a particularly arduous search, when the word was that the players were hankering for the return of Rory Gallagher. Eventually, Paddy Tally, former Sigerson Cup winning manager who was an influential coach in Kerry's 2022 All-Ireland victory, agreed to take on the role.
Both sides endured frustrating summers in 2024. It seems a long time since Mickey Harte guided Derry to the Division 1 title in dramatic fashion. In the championship, they achieved the unique distinction of losing to all four All-Ireland semi-finalists at some stage.
Tyrone have drastically under-performed since the 2021 All-Ireland win, with Roscommon ending their season at the last-12. O'Rourke has spoken of his desire to build a "hard-working and disciplined team."
"They understand that this new game is going to demand a lot of change to the way they played previously," Tally said of the new rules, in conversation with Derry GAA this week. "They're open to that... We really don't know until we've played a few games in this league. But the signs are good so far."
Dublin and Mayo meet in Croke Park in the final game on a busy Saturday. The off-season was taken to mark the end of an era in Dublin, with James McCarthy and Brian Fenton retiring.
A relatively chipper Dessie Farrell said this week that they have no fewer than 16 new players in the squad. The returning Davy Byrne, ex-hurler Eoghan O'Donnell being drafted in and former AFL recruit James Madden are the highest profile of the intake.
Their opponents also had a turbulent winter, with the championship's leading all-time scorer Cillian O'Connor taking a year off at 32, with Ballina defender Padraig O'Hora opting to sit out 2025. Neither player was a regular starter in the 2024 season. The assumption is that Dublin and Mayo - the Stephen Hendry/Jimmy White of the 2010s - are in a rebuilding phase at the same time.
The only top-tier game fixed for Sunday was Kerry-Donegal at Fitzgerald Stadium, but the weather has taken care of that.
Div 2: Brennan era commences in Cork
Two years ago, Colm O'Rourke reign in charge of Meath began in giddy fashion down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The visitors hit Cork for three goals to win by four points.
Unfortunately, this couldn't be sustained and O'Rourke's stint in charge ended in slightly acrimonious circumstances last autumn. Kilmacud's Robbie Brennan will be hoping for a similar start and possibly a better finish, whenever that might be.
The hosts have been gutted by retirements, opt-outs and injuries, which threatens to upset any sense of momentum that John Cleary would hoped to have built.
Aside from the eight players gone for 2025 - a number which includes Kevin Flahive and Steven Sherlock - they have another cohort absent for the league, including Luke Fahy, Sean Meehan and Kevin O'Donovan, while Ian Maguire is out for the early rounds.
On the Meath sideline, Brennan is flanked by Martin Corey, previously involved with Cavan and Monaghan, and former Tyrone star Joe McMahon. The form of Jordan Morris and Cian McBride in the Sigerson indicated there is raw talent in their ranks, while Seamus Lavin, Padraig Harnan and the previously injured Shane Walsh are back in the squad.
Monaghan are away to their neighbours Cavan in their first league game outside Division 1 since 2014. At the beginning of the post-Conor McManus era, it could be a bumpy transitional era for the incoming manager Gabriel Bannigan, who has a high profile coach with Andy Moran alongside him.
Cavan finished third in the league in Raymond Galligan's first season in charge, but failed to win a home game all year, their victories invariably coming on the road. Gearóid McKiernan and Paddy Lynch are back available though neither are part of the matchday squad this weekend.
Two divisions separated Roscommon and Down last year and now they meet in Hyde Park.
The Rossies are full of beans and raging favourites to return to the top tier, with Ciaran Murtagh and Ben O'Carroll back to join an already formidable forward line. Davy Burke has labelled the best squad of players he's ever presided over.
Down won the Tailteann Cup and have been on an upward curve under Conor Laverty, however there are concerns over how they'll adapt to the rule changes, given their style until now.
On Sunday, a Westmeath team gutted with absentees and recent retirements host the 'second best team in Leinster' in Louth. Ger Brennan has selected 11 of the side that beat Cork in last year's championship, with only Conor Grimes absent from the panel.
Division 3: Kildare begin the road back
New Kildare manager Brian Flanagan is coming into the job at a good time in the wake of their annus horribilis in 2024. Flanagan guided Kildare to the All-Ireland Under-20 title in 2023 and is naturally well acquainted with the younger players in the squad.
Boasting a reasonable attack on paper, Kildare infamously went 14 out of 17 games without scoring a goal from the beginning of 2023 until Round 4 of the 2024 league. Having surely hit rock bottom, the new era commences on the weekend at home to Fermanagh in a shiny Newbridge.
Their opponents will also have designs on promotion, Fermanagh having slipped out of the second tier, despite beating Cavan on the final day last season.
The Peter Keane reign in Clare begins in the fortress that is Corrigan Park. The cavalry is also returning, with Keelan Sexton and Eoin Cleary back on board. Their opponents will also have designs on promotion in Andy McEntee's third season in charge. McEntee should have a stronger hand to play with
Mickey Harte's post-Tyrone nomadic years continue as the Offaly team he co-manages their campaign at home to Sligo. They've already jettisoned leading forward Anton Sullivan from last season. Their 2024 Tailteann Cup showing was little short of dreadful, their motivation levels obviously called into question.
Sligo, by contrast, have been on an upward curve under Tony McEntee, pushing Galway to the brink in Connacht and then reaching the Tailteann semi-final. They did suffer a setback with Sean Carrabine down in Australia for the year.
The Armagh influence in their management team was deepened, with McEntee drafting in Aaron Kernan over the off-season.
Leitrim's clash with Laois has been postponed.
Division 4: The south-east to make its case
Wexford may still be sore that they remain residents of the bottom tier.
Never mind the questionable rule whereby head-to-head results take precedence over score-difference - Wexford's was +37 as against Leitrim's +21 - there was also the matter of the final minute penalty awarded to Leitrim which cost them two points in Carrick, a decision which baffled everyone, not least the beneficiaries of the call.
Based on last year's form, John Hegarty's side should feel bullish about making amends/ righting that wrong this term. They begin at home to London, with native Londoner Michael Maher in his sixth year in charge, with Cahir Healy joining as a selector.
Two new managers on the sideline in Dr Cullen Park, Shane Curran's Carlow reign beginning at home to Philly Ryan's Tipperary, the latter having endured an appalling season in 2024.
Longford also have a new manager in Mayo's Mike Solan, who guided his own county to the U21 All-Ireland title in 2016. However, they are hit by the absence of key midfielder Darren Gallagher, while Mickey Quinn has retired.
They're at home to Limerick on Sunday, whose string of absentees is even more extensive. There was little doubt that Jimmy Lee's side were going to get relegated from Division 3 last season, with seven losses from seven, although their Tailteann Cup showing was better with a quarter-final appearance.
On Sunday, a south-east derby in Aughrim. Oisín McConville playfully tried to coax Brian Fenton into defecting to Wicklow, while the pair appeared on the Second Captains live show, citing the example of Lionel Messi travelling to USA in the twilight of his playing career.
"I think if we target promotion and we get promotion, that's a successful season. We don’t want to just do that, but that has to be our main goal, to get out of Division Four," McConville told the Wicklow People this week.
They begin their quest to return to the third tier at home to Waterford, who achieved a rare and landmark Munster championship win over Tipperary last summer.
