The FA Cup could provide a model for provincial GAA championships to thrive – The Irish Times

The Connacht final in Salthill last Sunday was a joy. It was a raucous atmosphere, a game with tons of turnovers, big scores, big personalities showing up at key moments, and individual battles that swung back and forth.

Which was not a complete answer to the skeptics surrounding the provincial championships. But it would be instructive to ask why he was so good.

Conducting the All-Ireland Championship group stage draw before the four finals were played ensured that the actual scheduling benefits of winning or losing the Connacht final were negligible when taken at face value.

But for two teams who, for all the entertainment they provided, are probably not among the top three county teams favored to win the All-Ireland, it was a piece of silverware they could aim for, aim for and celebrate. victorious.

Five cups are handed out each summer, each county can only win two of them, and Galway and Mayo fought to the death for the first of them. And it goes without saying that the defeat would have hurt much less and the victory would have tasted much less sweet if it had been against other rivals.

Similarly, this weekend, Donegal and Armagh know each other intimately. Donegal’s victories over Derry and Tyrone already this year are important not only for the progression in the championship, but for the years of personal feuds and rivalries that only the provincial competition can create.

Galway/Mayo means something because they have been playing against each other since 1902 and, more importantly, because they have been marrying and working together for even longer. The same goes for all local rivalries, whether currently latent or still active.

It seems a shame to throw all that away, even if the inequalities at the level of the four provinces make it competitively unfair in the context of an All-Ireland championship that is still structured around them. Scheduling the provincial elections for January and February is just another way to end them by stealth.

I think there is another way. The first weekend of the football championship should also be the first round of the Irish group stage. Make sure that Kerry and Dublin are not allowed to build slowly during the first few months of the championship due to the weakness of their local rivals.

If Derry or Mayo have to be ready to leave immediately after the end of the league, so should Dublin and Kerry. Then, play in the four championships throughout the season, such as the FA Cup in England, which are included in the schedule every two weeks.

The provincial quarterfinals can be on the May holiday, the semifinals on the June holiday weekend and the finals in the first week of July. Experiment with Friday night games, stagger kickoff times, and set competitive prices for games. Keep them out of Croke Park at all costs.

It would also have the advantage of getting some extra weekends: instead of spending six weeks playing, you would finish them in four (taking into account the four preliminary games in Ulster and Leinster that you would have to play at some point). stage prior to May 1st).

Are midweek games out of the question? Those of us who spend an uncomfortable amount of time watching under-20 action on TG4, or TG4’s YouTube channel, or other streaming services, see opportunities there if the counties can be convinced.

If you win the provincial championship, you will be the number one seed for the following year’s All-Ireland championship. Other than that, they have no impact on the race for Sam Maguire. The final rounds of the league become a fierce fight to finish in the highest possible pot, and you’ll know exactly why you’re playing, because the four winners from the previous year have already secured Pot 1 status.

There’s none of that what Down, Westmeath and more had to go through this year, waiting and waiting for results before knowing which competition they were going to play in: Tailteann or Sam Maguire.

If the big counties want to rotate team selections in their province to rest players for the All-Ireland championship, let them do so (at least it would give them a reason to carry 40-man panels).

If your season fails in the All-Ireland championship then you can refocus and try to win your provincial title. It’s no big deal. Kieran McGeeney has been managing Armagh long enough to know that an Ulster title, stripped of all other meaning, remains a tangible reward for all that effort.

If provincial championships repositioned this way on the calendar aren’t strong enough to keep people interested, so be it. After all, they are something deeply unfair that no other sports organization has to endure.

We could continue to blame the split season for everything we think is wrong in the GAA. But I think it’s worth a try. We shouldn’t give up on the idea of ​​seeing Galway and Mayo in Salthill on a summer’s day, with a trophy and local bragging rights on the line. I think we all have too many happy memories of days like that, days like last Sunday.