The GAA's Fixtures Task Force will this month bring forward proposals as to how the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship might be restructured, with the provincial championships being retained under all the various templates.
Following feedback received as part of a workshop held at GAA Congress in February 2020, the task force have streamlined a number of options.
These include the formation of an eight-team provincial football championship and a League-Championship style format.
The initial calendar review envisaged a provincial structure that had eight teams in each province but the question of how to "re-balance" the provinces was left open.
"You are trying to balance that idea of holding onto the provinces with what you’re touching on there," GAA Director of Player, Club and Games Administration, Feargal McGill told RTÉ Sport.
"But it won’t necessarily mean all four provinces will be equal.
"There will be an equal number of teams but not necessarily equal standards - but that’s what comes with provincial championships.
"Going back to the original reasons the provincial championships are still in all of the proposals in some way shape or form, that was because when we went out to people, the feedback we got, the feeling was still there strongly that the provincial championships should be retained in some context."
The task force is now recommending a number of options for discussion.
Under the eight-team provincial championship suggestion, the bottom three teams in Leinster and bottom one from Ulster would moving to Connacht/Munster, with the rankings either based on finishing Allianz Football League positions or a preliminary round in Leinster and Ulster.
Leinster would feature the bottom six teams as per league finishing positions playing against each other in a preliminary round with the three winners continuing in the Leinster Championship.
Meanwhile, the three losers would be moved to Munster (two teams) and Connacht (one team).
In Ulster, the bottom two teams would play off against each other in the preliminary round. The winners would continue in the Ulster Championship, with the losing team participating in the round-robin Connacht Championship
The other key features of this proposal are:
- The football league would retain its current timing and structure. Finishing positions could be used to determine seedings in the provincial championships.
- Each provincial championship would consist of eight teams.
- Each province would have two seeded groups of four teams, who would play each other in a round-robin system that guaranteed a minimum of three group stage games for each team.
- The winner of each group would progress to the provincial final, the second and third-placed teams (16 in total) would progress to the qualifiers,
- The fourth-placed team in each group would participate in a knock-out Tailteann Cup (if they are a Division 3 or 4 team only)
- Another change to the original report is that New York would play in the Tailteann Cup under this proposal.
The second option, a league structure for championship, would see the repositioning of the football league to the summer months as a basis for the football championship while playing provincial competitions in the February/March period.
The changes suggested for the All-Ireland championships are:
- The fifth placed team in Division 1 rather than the fourth placed team in Division 2 would qualify for the preliminary All-Ireland Quarter Finals (Sam Maguire Cup). This would ensure greater reward for teams who have qualified for Division 1 on merit.
- The Tailteann Cup would be expanded to include all Division 3 and 4 teams, with the exception of the top-placed teams in Division 3 and 4 (who automatically qualify for the preliminary quarter finals of the Sam Maguire championship)
- This would ensure all Division 3 and 4 teams (except the Division winners) get a chance to participate in the Tailteann Cup
- The top team only in Division 3 will be promoted automatically to Division 2 for the following year along with the Tailteann Cup Winners (presuming they are a Division 3 team). If a Division 4 team wins the Tailteann Cup, the second placed team in Division 3 will be the team promoted to Division 2 for the following year.
- The bottom two teams in Division 3 will be relegated (Exception: if one of the bottom two teams wins the Tailteann Cup; in those circumstances, the team that finished third from bottom will be the relegated team)
- The top team in Division 4 will be promoted automatically to Division 3. The second-placed team will also be promoted (Exception: if a Division 4 team other than the top two wins the Tailteann Cup, they will be promoted to Division 3 along with the Division 4 winners). This would mean greater reward for Division 3 or 4 teams in winning the Tailteann Cup.
