Hurling Relegation play off

[Plain of the Herbs]

Confirmed t'was in Dundaaawwk.

Did Antrim play Kilkenny in Drogheda or Dundalk in 1987?

[kinnittyman]

To be perfectly honest my interest in this relegation saga has more to do with wanting to know when the SHC in Offaly will resume rather than our fight against the drop to Div2. But seemingly the latest is that the Offaly Antrim game is to go ahead saturday week which means the round of fixtures fixed for next week are to bite the dust. However if Antrim appeal the decision made today the round of fixtures may go ahead. To be perfectly honest i find it unacceptable that senior club hurlers in Offaly doesnt know if they are playing championship 5 days before the fixtures are to go ahead. Jesus wept.

[Bord na Mona man]

Confirmed for Parnell Park at 3pm this Saturday.

GAA Weekly Fixtures

25.07.2009 (Sat)
GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship
Qualifier Round 3

Páirc Tailteann 7.00pm An Mhí v Ros Comáin
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship
Qualifier Round 4

Portlaoise 7.00pm Cill Dara v Cill Mhantáin TV3
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

Markievicz PK 5.00pm Gaillimh v Dún na nGall RTE2
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship
Relegation Round 1

Parnell PK 3.00pm Aontroim v Uíbh Fhailí
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

Portlaoise 5.00pm An Clár v Loch Garman
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

ESB GAA Hurling All Ireland Minor Championship
Quarter Final

Parnell PK 1.15pm Aontroim v Gaillimh
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

Portlaoise 3.00pm Loch Garman v Tiobraid Árann
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

26.07.2009 (Sun)
GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship
Qualifier Round 4

Tullamore 3.00pm Aontroim v Ciarraí
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship
Quarter Final

Thurles 2.00pm Áth Cliath v Luimneach RTE2
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

Thurles 4.00pm Port Láirge v Gaillimh RTE2
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary)

[Heshs Umpire]

T'will be an achievement if them lads finish the game with 15.

Be more to see if the Joe show can notch up another 2-12 rather than seeing if Laois can manage to leave more than 12 players on the field!!!!

Begod, we did it.

[Lone Shark]

Tullamore 3.00pm Aontroim v Ciarraí

I won't lie, I miss the grass hill, but in fairness we have got plenty of games since the other side of the ground was redone. I'll concede that I may have been wrong on this one.

Be a pleasant and ironic change for Nordies to be spending some money down here also....

[bracknaghboy]

Be a pleasant and ironic change for Nordies to be spending some money down here also....

Those nordie boys wouldn't spend Christmas

I always thought the hill was great and somewhat unique but in fairness with health and safety way over the top the way it is we had little choice. But its paying off.......This will be the 4th big game in a few weeks........Cats V Galway, Lillies V Leix, ourselves and Cork and now Antrim and Kerry. Portlaois officials must be wondering what has happened as they normally mop up all them type fixtures

[Lone Shark]

In fairness, Portlaoise has still got a few games as well, and they'll sell out for Kildare and Wicklow too, or as near as makes little difference.

[the bare biffo]

What has happened with this relegation issue ? Does the Antrim guarantee not hold water or are they hoping Offaly might lose out to them.

[naasmanxrhode]

The 4 relegation teams (Clare, Wexford, Offaly & Antrim) should not turn up.

[red exile]

nothing will be added to the all ireland hurling championship by relegating any one of these 4 teams and certainly nothing will added to it by the promotion of any one of the second tier teams

[joe bloggs]

nothing will be added to the all ireland hurling championship by relegating any one of these 4 teams and certainly nothing will added to it by the promotion of any one of the second tier teams

in fariness to Carlow they won the Christy Ring and they should be much more entitled to play in the Leinster championshp than Antrim. If you take the view that the promoted team will add nothing to the championship sure you may aswell get rid of everyone else outside the top 4 or 5 because no more than carlow, offaly, wexford, laois, clare and limerick havent a hope of winning an AI any time soon. Not every team can win their championship ( e.g. look at the scottish football league, premier league etc) but that should not be a barrier to Carlow giving it a go for the year

[turk]

I think tiered competitions can be a good idea so that developing hurling counties have a competive platform to play on and there is a means of progression for them. I don't think it works well though by forcing developed counties down into the lower tiers through relegation.

[Doon Massive]

Simple solution, allow every county that wishes to enter compete.
Split each province into a group or two if needed, with the top team(s) qualifying to go further (as well as taking the provincal trophy), just like the club championship. Then even the poor teams get a chance to play a number of matches against teams of different skill levels, therefore hopefully improving the standard all round.
Trying to exclude teams doesn't make any sense.
Same goes for football.

[the bare biffo]

Disconnect the provincial championships from the Liam McCarthy Cup.
If the Munster Championship is so attractive it will have no problem standing on its own merits.
Likewise for Leinster.

All 33 counties enter the Liam Mccarthy Cup which is played on a stright knockout basis.
Teams are graded into 3 groups determined by final league placings.
Level 1 = Top 8 Level 2 = 2nd 8 Level 3 = Remainder

Liam McCarthy cup will have 7 rounds.
Preliminary, 2 teams drawn randomly from Level 3 group
1st Round, Winner of Preliminary plus 15 remaining level 3 teams play off in open draw.
2nd Round, 1st Round winners drawn to play against Level 2 Teams
3rd Round, 2nd round winners drawn to play against Level 1 Teams
Q/Finals, 3rd Round winners
S/Finals and Finals

Nicky Rackard Cup will have 4 rounds
1st Round, teams that dont make it past Round 2 of the Liam McCarthy Cup in open draw
Q/Finals, S/Finals, Final

Christy Ring Cup will have 3 rounds
Q/Finals, teams that go out of Liam McCarthy Cup at Round 3 in open draw
S/Finals, Final

Every team gets at least 2 championship games.
All championships can be run off between May and September with 4 weeks between each championship round.
The leagues can be played from March through to August in conjunction with the championship.
Every county has the opportunity to contest for the Liam McCarthy but can also compete in a championship they have a real chance of winning.

The same format can be used for football.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Disconnect the provincial championships from the Liam McCarthy Cup.
If the Munster Championship is so attractive it will have no problem standing on its own merits.
Likewise for Leinster.

Don't see why this hasn't happened already. Effectively it is out on it's own because it makes no real difference if you're knocked out of it.

As for your other comments I don't know if I'd go that far. I'd probably suggest something like a champions league format with round robin and then knockout. Eight groups of three. Seeded if needs be. Every team guaranteed to get two matches. Groups are small enough so as not to interrupt the club championships and the winners head into a quarter-final.

Obviously there would have to be some tinkering around the edges but for me that makes most sense.