The GAA have announced details of new proposals for the NHL and NFL and the All-Ireland hurling and football championships.
The draft proposals are the result of a wide consultation process by the Games Administration Committee, which included the contributions of the Competitions Task Force, the Hurling Development Committee and the Football Task Force among others.
The draft proposals have been circulated to all counties for their observations and a final document in respect of the National Leagues will be placed before Central Council at their next meeting.
A final proposal in respect of the Hurling and football championships will be before Special Congress on October 14 next.
The main points of the proposals are:
NHL: These would have four divisions – Division 1 (9 counties), Division 2 (9 counties), Division 3 (8 counties) and Division 4 (7 counties) – and would commence in 2007. The play off stages in all divisions would include semi-finals and a final with promotion and relegation between divisions. It is also proposed that a bonus point be awarded to teams who score two or more goals from open play in a league game. It is suggested that a South Dublin team would be included in Division 3 from 2008 onwards.
NFL: These would have four divisions of 8 (Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4) and would commence in 2008, although there is an option to commence in 2007. Options to play the leagues without any final (i.e. the top placed team in each Division are named the League champions) or a final between the top two teams in each Division have been included. The bottom two teams in each division would be relegated with the sixth placed team in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 playing the third placed team in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 respectively to decide a final promotion/relegation place. It is also proposed that in Championship, the Division 4 counties would participate in the Tommy Murphy Cup only.
All-Ireland SHC: It is proposed that there would be 12 teams in the Liam McCarthy Cup, 10 in the Christy Ring Cup and 12 in the Nicky Rackard Cup for 2007. The Liam McCarthy Cup would include the Leinster and Munster Provincial championships, in addition to a qualifier group with two pre-ordained groups of four teams. The Christy Ring Cup would have two groups of five, and the Nicky Rackard Cup four groups of three. There would be no promotion to or relegation from the Liam McCarthy Cup. It is also proposed to include a South Dublin team in the Christy Ring competition from 2008 onwards and a North Dublin team in the Nicky Rackard Cup.
All-Ireland SFC: It is proposed that teams in Division 4 of the National Football league would only participate in the Tommy Murphy Cup once eliminated from their provincial championships. This would have the effect of reducing the current qualifier structure by one round. An open, unrestricted draw would be made for rounds 1, 2 and 3. It is also proposed to discontinue the pre-ordained quarter and semi-finals roster.
Other recommendations designed to facilitate the club fixtures programme include the playing of football and hurling qualifier rounds on the same dates, two defined scheduling windows for club fixtures and the playing of extra time rather than replays in a greater number of games.
