Details of revised GAA calendar revealed

THE Tyrone Senior Footballers will make their long-awaited return to action in the middle of May, while their hurling counterparts will get going a week earlier.

It was confirmed today that the national football leagues will begin on the weekend of May 15-16,  while the hurling leagues will get underway on May 8.

The GAA confirmed its masterplan for the season ahead at a virtual meeting this afternoon, and it’s been decided that the All-Ireland seniopr football championship will be played on a knock-out basis for the second year running due to an increasingly restricted time-frame.

The Ulster Championship will start on June 26th, the final will be played on August 1, while the All-Ireland final will be played a fortnight later.

As expected the National Football Leagues will be run on a regional basis with four teams per group. Those games will begin on the weekend of May 15/16 with potential finals scheduled for June 19/20.

League finals will only take place if the counties involved are not playing in the championship on the following weekend. London will not be taking part in the National League.

The National Hurling Leagues Division One and Two will begin on the weekend on May 8/9 and all teams will be guaranteed five games. Division Three will start the following weekend. British-based teams will not be involved.

There is good news for ambitious club teams with the provincial competitions reinstated, with a late November window anticipated. All-Ireland Club finals have provisionally been fixed for the weekend of February 12/13, 2022.

Club competitions with county players involved can take place as soon as their county team is knocked out of the championship (in football, teams start exiting from the end of June; in hurling, it’s a month later).