NFL promotion/relegation for dummies?

gaa_fan_au

Hey all,

I'm from Melbourne Australia, and I recently got into gaelic football. So I've been reading up about how it all works and I'm confused about NFL's promotion/relegation (Aussie rules footy doesn't have that). Can anyone explain it to me?

This is what I think it is:
* Bottom 2 teams from Division 1A get relegated to 1B
* Bottom 2 teams from Division 1B get relegated to 2A
* Bottom 2 teams from Division 2A get relegated to 2B
* Top 2 teams from 2B get promoted to 2A
* Top 2 teams from 2A get promoted to 1B
* Top 2 teams from 1B get promoted to 1A

And there isn't relegation finals, like in hurling? So you are automatically relegated if you're at the bottom of the division group? And top teams in the groups have semi-finals and finals, but even if they lose those matches they still get promoted anyway?

Any help would be great!

AthAnRi

gaa_fan_au wrote:

Hey all,

I'm from Melbourne Australia, and I recently got into gaelic football. So I've been reading up about how it all works and I'm confused about NFL's promotion/relegation (Aussie rules footy doesn't have that). Can anyone explain it to me?

This is what I think it is:
* Bottom 2 teams from Division 1A get relegated to 1B
* Bottom 2 teams from Division 1B get relegated to 2A
* Bottom 2 teams from Division 2A get relegated to 2B
* Top 2 teams from 2B get promoted to 2A
* Top 2 teams from 2A get promoted to 1B
* Top 2 teams from 1B get promoted to 1A

And there isn't relegation finals, like in hurling? So you are automatically relegated if you're at the bottom of the division group? And top teams in the groups have semi-finals and finals, but even if they lose those matches they still get promoted anyway?

Any help would be great!

I don't know what it is myselft bud. It keeps changing. Either way I wouldn't worry about it cause the League counts for very little. GAA is all about the Championship

Kojak

AthAnRi wrote:

I don't know what it is myselft bud. It keeps changing. Either way I wouldn't worry about it cause the League counts for very little. GAA is all about the Championship

I thought they were reverting to a four division thing where there would be Division 1, 2, 3, 4 with 8 teams in each. Bottom 2 from each division would be relegated down to the next division and the top 2 from the lower division would be promoted.

OP, what you have described there, AFAIK, is the set-up for this year (2006) but that will change to what I have just wrote for next year (2007) AthAnRi is right, though, in GAA its all about the championship - the league is just to get you started for the year.

UnitedIrishman

Pretty sure it's:
Bottom two from 1A and 1B drop down to 2A and 2B respectively.

But I'm not entirely sure.

Nalced_irl

gaa_fan_au wrote:

Hey all,

I'm from Melbourne Australia

Hey there, im currently in Melbourne myself (St Kilda). Was in the Richmond Oval for the AFL Final. Great match and atmosphere. Cool city you got here also. As said before, The Championship is far more important than the league in GAA. The rules do tend to change quite often also which means any answer you get for 06 will be different for 07 and probably then also for 08.

kevmy

At the moment its the bottom two in 1A get demoted to 2A and the bottom two in 1B get demoted to 2B.
The top two in 2A get promoted to 1A and the top two in 2B get promoted to 1B.
There is then semi finals and a final in both divisions to determine winner of the league. ie. top of 1A plays 2nd in 1B and top of 1B plays 2nd in 1A. The winners of these semis then play in league final.
The same is done in 2A and 2B.

As mentioned before all this is changing soon but i think for the coming league it will stay as is. I think 2008 they are changing to 4 divisons of 8 teams each.

I won't even start on the hurling it changes every second year.

gaa_fan_au

Thanks all for the responses. Seeing how everyone's confused, why aren't the rules listed on the GAA website?

Indeed, why even have a NFL if the All-Ireland Championship is way better? Don't you already have enough games when you count the Club Championships too??

squire1

gaa_fan_au wrote:

Indeed, why even have a NFL if the All-Ireland Championship is way better? Don't you already have enough games when you count the Club Championships too??

The league is there as a self contained competition but is really used to blood new players (or managers:D ) for the Championship or to try out new tactical systems. Vary few would even remember who won the league by the time the Championship starts.

Enough games? Don't get me started. The Club game is being undermined and ruined by the intercounty competitions. The Provincial Club Championship is increasing in popularity in recent years but unfortunately it is being played in the depths of Winter which normally turns potentially decent games into mud baths. If we had the Aussie weather, things might be different;)

kevmy

Really for intercounty though there is only a small number of games. 8-10 league games for everybody then maybe 3 on average in the championship. Kerry played 7 this year Mayo 7 as well.
IMO its the number of inconsequential club games ie. not league or championship that clog the schedule. Combine this with incompetence in fixture making at all levels and the lack of regulations regarding when intercounty players should and should not play coming up to championship games. You then get the present disaster.

Blackjack

kevmy wrote:

Really for intercounty though there is only a small number of games. 8-10 league games for everybody then maybe 3 on average in the championship. Kerry played 7 this year Mayo 7 as well.
IMO its the number of inconsequential club games ie. not league or championship that clog the schedule. Combine this with incompetence in fixture making at all levels and the lack of regulations regarding when intercounty players should and should not play coming up to championship games. You then get the present disaster.

Well, in all honesty, without Club games, you don't get a chance to see the players in action with a view to select the team for the inter-county championship.
Some players will be able to play certain fixtures and others will not - I don't believe it's down to incompetence or anything else. The Amateur nature of the game and players having commitments outside of the game has it's impact on this. As the players have other things to do, it's impossible to ensure they are available to play at all times.

That said, I would not change that, the fact that the players who give as much as they do, do if for nothing is one of the allures of the GAA.

kevmy

The point i'm making is that by getting rid of uninterseting games frees up the players to do other stuff ie. get rid of FDB, O Brien cup etc. and let the league do that job. Maybe the railway cup as well. I mean there was 4 Ballina players playing Railway during the week then having to play a county semi on Sunday isn't fair to them or their clubmates

Blackjack

kevmy wrote:

The point i'm making is that by getting rid of uninterseting games frees up the players to do other stuff ie. get rid of FDB, O Brien cup etc. and let the league do that job. Maybe the railway cup as well. I mean there was 4 Ballina players playing Railway during the week then having to play a county semi on Sunday isn't fair to them or their clubmates

Ok, I just misunderstood when you mentioned that it was Club games clogging the schedule.