Two tier football championship

Felexicon

Just wondering what people would think of having a seperate competition in football for the "weaker" teams.
It seems to have worked for hurling as one or two teams seem to be getting better thanks to more competitive games every year.

Also would you base which competition you qualified for based on what league the team is in. I think this might make the early league games in lower divisions more competitive

bruschi

Felexicon wrote: »

Just wondering what people would think of having a seperate competition in football for the "weaker" teams.
It seems to have worked for hurling as one or two teams seem to be getting better thanks to more competitive games every year.

Also would you base which competition you qualified for based on what league the team is in. I think this might make the early league games in lower divisions more competitive

so how do you split it? Div 3 and 4? or just division 4? You have Limerick in Div 4 who got to the 1/4 finals last year. And your own Meath is in Div 3 now. This thing crops up a lot in the Kilkenny hurling/football debate, and the gap between top and bottom in football is not nearly as wide as it is in hurling.

Personally, I dont think it would work. It was tried already and failed miserably.

Felexicon

bruschi wrote: »

so how do you split it? Div 3 and 4? or just division 4? You have Limerick in Div 4 who got to the 1/4 finals last year. And your own Meath is in Div 3 now. This thing crops up a lot in the Kilkenny hurling/football debate, and the gap between top and bottom in football is not nearly as wide as it is in hurling.

Personally, I dont think it would work. It was tried already and failed miserably.

It would probably have to be div 3 and 4 to have a decent number(might be Meaths best chance of an AI )
While I know the gulf in class isn't as great as that in hurling being realistic there are only 3 maybe 4 teams with a chance to win the AI

rossie1977

define weaker team, even someone like leitrim have one good game a season in them, teams like dublin and donegal have come out of carrick by the skin of their teeth in the last 5-6 years

longford and sligo are both in division 3 last year and sligo were the width of a post from knocking kerry out down in killarney and kerry went on to win the a-i that year

Felexicon

rossie1977 wrote: »

define weaker team, even someone like leitrim have one good game a season in them, teams like dublin and donegal have come out of carrick by the skin of their teeth in the last 5-6 years

longford and sligo are both in division 3 last year and sligo were the width of a post from knocking kerry out down in killarney and kerry went on to win the a-i that year

Yeah but thats the point. They have one good game a year. Most times when the underdog comes through one of these games they lose in the next round. My point being if a team don't have a realistic chance of winning a provincial title why bother having them in the competition

Kerrydude1981

Didnt they try something like this for teams knocked out of the Championship "The Tommy Murphy Cup" it only lasted 3 or 4 years

Rastapitts

8 groups of 4 teams so everyone gets 3 games. have it seeded based on how you perform in Provincial Championships which could be played Feb/March thru to April

bruschi

Felexicon wrote: »

Yeah but thats the point. They have one good game a year. Most times when the underdog comes through one of these games they lose in the next round. My point being if a team don't have a realistic chance of winning a provincial title why bother having them in the competition

sure why have a world cup or European championships. Why have the premiership, la liga or any other competition. Why have formula 1, American Football or indeed any sport in the world if it is only defined by teams who have a "realistic" chance of winning it.

mooonpie

Felexicon wrote: »

My point being if a team don't have a realistic chance of winning a provincial title why bother having them in the competition

Because they still have a chance of winning a provincial title, realistic or not.

I strongly believe bringing in a tier 2 competition for weaker counties, and not allowing them a chance to play at the highest level, will cripple the underage structures. No youngster is going to be running around the garden commentating on themselves scoring the winning point in Croke Park and going up the Hogan Stand to receive ... the Tommy Murphy cup (or whatever it gets called). If they have a choice, they'll pick a different sport that allows them a chance at success.

I'm from Athlone, so let's take that as an example. I think most of us would agree that Westmeath aren't a team that have a realistic chance of winning titles (miracle we're division 2). Inside the Athlone town boundaries there are:

• 2 senior football clubs
• 1 junior hurling club
• 1 AIL rugby club
• 1 League of Ireland soccer club

A young fella that's choosing which sport to concentrate on will pick the one they have the best chance of success with. Now you're telling them that if they choose GAA over soccer or rugby that they've no chance of getting paid, no chance of pulling on an international jersey (2 games every 2 years doesn't count) and they've to play for Tommmy Murphy, not Sam Maguire?!

I can some arguments for a tier 2 competition, but in reality players want to play the best and be the best. The 1994 Connacht champions (Leitrim) are heroes in their county. The 2004 Leinster champions (Westmeath) are heroes in their county. Bring in a tier 2 competition and the chance of that happening for Wicklow or Fermanagh goes out the window.

Fireball07

I'm completely against it.

No no no no no no no.


People complain but the Championship is actually pretty well-formatted atm.

lala88

They had the Tommy Murphy cup but they wouldn't play in it. Then i think is was last year maybe 2 years ago the Waterford manager said it should be brought back! They had there chance but didnt take it!