The Connacht final in Salthill last Sunday was indeed a treat to watch. With its vigorous atmosphere, repetitious turnovers, stellar scores, notable personalities stepping up during crucial moments, and individual struggles that constantly kept viewers on their toes, this game was nothing short of fantastic.
However, what the game, gripping as it was, did not provide was a convincing reason for sceptics of the provincial championships. An examination of why the game was this exhilarating would be quite revealing nonetheless.
The All-Ireland championship group stages took place prior to the four finals which resulted in the benefits of the Connacht final’s schedule, whether won or lost, being rather minimal at best. Yet for two teams, whose performance, though engaging was likely less than top-tier standards, this was a tangible goal to pursue and a victory to be cherished.
During summer, a total of five cups are presented with the restriction that only two can be won by a single county. The first of these was intensely contested between Galway and Mayo, a defeat to the other would have stung less and victory tasted sweeter.
This upcoming weekend, Donegal and Armagh, both well-acquainted rivals, face off. Donegal’s victories over Derry and Tyrone this year are significant not just due to championship progression, but due also to personal animosities and rivalries that only provincial competition can stir up.
The matches between Galway and Mayo matter because they’ve been competitors dating back to 1902. Moreover, their histories are tightly entwined, with generations intermarrying and working together longer than their sporting rivalry. This holds true for all local rivalries, whether active or dormant.
Despite the inequities in the four provinces’ standards rendering the competition unfairly balanced, it would be a shame to discard such long-standing traditions. Shuffling the provincial championships to January and February is yet another discreet method of gradually doing away with them.
I’m convinced there’s an alternative. The All-Ireland group stages should kick off along with the inaugural weekend of the football championship. Particular attention must be given to ensure that Kerry and Dublin do not gradually gain momentum during the initial months of the championship, leveraging the softer competition in their local areas.
It should be of utmost importance that if Derry or Mayo are required to be prepared immediately after the league termination, the same must apply to Dublin and Kerry. Maintain a rolling pace for the four championships across the season, interspersing fixtures every few weeks, in a manner akin to the FA Cup’s operation in England.
Host the provincial quarter-finals on May Bank Holiday, move the semi-finals to the June Bank Holiday weekend, and schedule the finals for the first week of July. Push the boundaries by organising games on Friday nights, introducing staggered throw-in times and implementing competitive ticket pricing. Avoid organising games at Croke Park.
This methodology may also afford the advantage of extra weekends. Rather than utilising six weeks to wrap things up, it could be compressed into four weeks. This calculation incorporates the pre-requisite of playing the four preliminary games in Ulster and Leinster before the 1st of May.
Are we entirely dismissing the potential for midweek games? Those who routinely indulge in U-20 content on platforms like TG4, its YouTube channel, or other streaming platforms, can identify the opportunities lying therein, provided the counties are persuadable.
The provision could be made that winning your provincial championship gives you the number one seeding for the subsequent year’s All-Ireland championship. Meanwhile, their influence on the race for Sam Maguire remains null. The concluding league rounds become a fierce battle to rank in the highest slot feasible, with full knowledge of what they’re competing for. The previous year’s four victors assure Pot 1 status.
This prevents uncertainties such as Down, Westmeath and others experienced during this year, enduring long waits for results before discerning which competition they’ve entered – the Tailteann or the Sam Maguire.
If the more prominent counties wish to alter team selections in their province to provide rest periods for players ahead of the All-Ireland championship, this should be supported – it would provide a reasonable explanation for maintaining 40-man panels.
If your performance plunges in the All-Ireland championship, you have the opportunity to shift your focus and strive for victory in your provincial championship. It’s far from insignificant. Kieran McGeeney, having managed Armagh for a significant period, is well aware that winning the Ulster title alone, devoid of any other context, remains a significant achievement worth the exertion.
If the re-organising of provincial championships in such a manner in the schedule is inadequate to sustain spectators’ enthusiasm, then so be it. After all, these championships represent an inherent inequity that no other sports association has to contend with.
We could persist in attributing everything we perceive as faulty with GAA to the divided season. However, I believe it merits a trial. The concept of a summer’s day face-off between Galway and Mayo in Salthill, fighting for a trophy and local supremacy, is one we shouldn’t abandon. I believe we all hold numerous joyful memories of such occasions – instances resembling the previous Sunday.