Ulster Secretary backs All-Ireland group format

THE new All-Ireland Senior Football Championship format, adopted in 2023, was a success despite prompting much debate, the Ulster GAA secretary has maintained.

In his report to this Friday’s annual Ulster Council convention Brian McAvoy gives his backing to the revamped but controversial four groups of four round robin pool in both the Sam Maguire Cup and Tailteann Cup which had its first airing last season having replaced the old straight knockout format.

The Down official said that he appreciated the arguments of those with misgivings about the change but argued that it had proved a positive initiative for the most part.

“ The new format of the All-Ireland Championship generated large amounts of debate, with the reality of playing 24 games to eliminate just

four teams in the round-robin series generating most of the discussion.

“ The logic of eliminating just one of the four teams from the round-robin pool was to minimise the risk of ‘dead-rubbers’ in the final game. To that extend the format worked in that there was only one such game where neither team had anything ‘to play for.

“ A second argument was that there was a clear difference between wanting to win and needing to win. While this line of thought has some merit, the statistics clearly indicate that the most straightforward route is also the best route. In the All-Ireland series, three of the four group winners won their All-Ireland quarter-finals, with the other group winner (Armagh) only losing following a penalty shoot-out.

“ It is undoubtedly arguable that the best route to a semi-final is to have a guaranteed quarter-final tie through winning your group and the statistics show this to be the case.

“ Across both the All-Ireland series and the Tailteann Cup only one county (Limerick) went into the final series of round-robin games having already won their group, a statistic that vindicates the chosen format. While ongoing review is important, this is not a format that I would be re-visiting in the near future.”

Elsewhere in his report McAvoy accepted that changes to other competitions hadn’t proved equally as positive, citing the number of one-sided hammerings in the altered Ulster Minor Football Championship as a worrying development.

“ The 2023 Ulster Minor Football Championship was organised in the same timeframe and included a round robin format followed by quarter finals. This format was introduced on a one-year trial basis but it wasn’t the success we would have hoped for with too many uncompetitive fixtures.

“ Following new proposals adopted at the GAA Special Congress on 30th September, a tiered competition will follow the provincial championships in 2024.”

The Ulster Secretary applauded Derry on winning the Senior and Minor Ulster Championship competition but felt that the manner of their victory in the deciders (on penalties) was far from ideal.

“ The fact that the game was decided on penalties generated much debate on the airwaves and occupied many column inches in the days and weeks that followed.

“ Given the condensed nature of the Championship that currently exists due to the split season, it is accepted that replays cannot be accommodated in all knock-out games. Although, perhaps, not the best preparation for the All- Ireland qualifier games that follow, there is however an argument that, as a final, the deciding game in the provincial championships should, like an All-Ireland Final, go to a replay if the teams are still level after extratime, with a penalty shoot-out only being used if a replay was to finish level after-extra-time.”

Mr Avoy also spoke of problems with the Ulster Under-20 Football Championship overlapping with the Ulster Senior Championship in terms of the conflicted pressures that placed on certain players.

“ The Ulster Under 20 Football Championship returned to its traditional Wednesday night slot in the springtime. However, it must be added that the competition was played at the same time as the Ulster Senior Football Championship and this resulted in some counties having to make tough decisions in relation to which team a player played for, as if a player played Senior Championship he was excluded from playing at U20 level.

“ Thankfully, this matter has now been addressed ahead of the 2024 season but there is an onus on all counties to first and foremost bear in mind the welfare of the player and ensure that he is not put in an impossible situation. This will require dialogue and understanding on all sides.”