The pre-season matches will face a year’s hiatus while replays make a comeback for the All-Ireland finals, as agreed upon in a recent meeting of the GAA’s Central Council. The Council cast their vote after the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) advocated the proposed changes, influenced by feedback given by multiple stakeholders.
The matter gained popularity when Clare emerged victorious against Cork following extra-time at the All-Ireland Hurling final in July of this year. Despite Clare’s single-point victory, the public sentiment indicated a preference for extending the final game to a second day.
A recommendation will be put forth at next year’s congress suggesting that immediate extra-time after the initial 70 minutes during the All-Ireland final should be eradicated.
Given the anticipated approval of the new football championship format at the forthcoming annual congress, the calendar could potentially have room to allow provincial finals to feature replays post extra-time, instead of following the ‘result on the day’ procedures. If more gaps appear due to further decisions, they will be debated amongst the delegates.
Pre-season contests like the O’Byrne Cup for Leinster football, the McKenna Cup in Ulster and the Munster Hurling league have faced challenges, especially from the Gaelic Players’ Association in recent times. GAA president Jarlath Burns, alongside GPA chief executive Tom Parsons, co-proposed the suspension for the upcoming year.
A commencement of intercounty training at a later period than currently scheduled is also being considered, likely to be deferred to mid-December. In February, on assuming office, Burns established the Amateur Status committee to address the matter concerning the trimming of the training schedule.
There has been no conclusive decision regarding the exact date for county panels to recommence their collective activities.
The Central Council held a meeting where they deliberated over several items, including the CCCC’s suggestion to maintain the status quo for the 2025 football championship over the upcoming two sessions. There is a general agreement that the All-Ireland configuration should shift from a round-robin to a knock-out system, however, the transition won’t occur until 2026.
The proposal on format modifications to the football championship received approval and will be discussed in the congress scheduled for next February.
Concerns were raised about the premature creation of the master fixtures list. The 2025 calendar, accepted this Saturday, doesn’t support expanding the championship’s calendar footprint in the following year due to the original plan for implementing the new format over a three-year duration.
The Central Council dismissed revisiting Cork’s proposal from this year’s congress to shorten the duration between under-20 and senior matches to 60 hours for players competing at both levels. This could potentially lead to the All-Ireland under-20 football final being conducted during the week, however an official decision on this matter hasn’t been made yet.
The decision regarding the scheduling of the All-Ireland hurling quarter-final or Tailteann Cup semi-finals on a Sunday will be at the CCCC’s discretion. A previous attempt to relocate the Tailteann games from their slotted Sunday to make room for hurling quarter-finals caused a stir this summer, but narrowly failed.
There was no verdict on the idea of a Tier 3 football championship to accompany the existing Sam Maguire (Tier 1) and the newly included Tailteann Cup (Tier 2).
Jim Gavin, Chair of the Football Review Committee, presented an update on their ongoing efforts to propose improvements to the game. He stressed that nothing had been finalised and further discussions and trial matches at Croke Park on October 19th will contribute to the proposed modifications witnessing official scrutiny by the Central Council delegates.
To deliberate over regulation alterations, a special congress event is planned for November 30th.
To note, the discontinuation of the pre-season matches in January eliminates the chance to informally implement any fresh rules approved by congress. Nonetheless, Gavin has been firm in expressing that any adjustments will be applied in the following year’s national league and championship.
Finally, the following members were approved for the Disputes Resolution Authority panel:
Legal Team (First Group): We have solicitors Hilary Delahunty, Carl O’Mahony, and David Nohilly, with SC Bairbre O’Neill and BLs Michael O’Sullivan, June Stapleton Burke, Frank Crean, and Pat Purcell.
Gaelic Athletic Association Squad (Second Group): Participating are Joe Edwards from Antrim and Shane Galligan from Cavan.