Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

Relhcstirt

BG will have to put forward a panel 0f 18 for the A team.

That leaves the rest eligible for the B team. Once they play up then they can't play for the B team.

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166061#Comment_124166061

Could get a little messy

breezy1985

Thats an absolutely nonsense decision. You can't have a tournament open to disrepute like that. Even the corrupt as fuk UEFA have rules against it.

Ian OB

That could be lemonade & great sport altogether

Montys return

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166191#Comment_124166191

What's the issue?

Relhcstirt

Any conflicts with match's being on same day/time, say Fraher 2pm Walsh Park 4pm. Then obviously the B team will give a walkover.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166197#Comment_124166197

2 teams being run by the same people with the same goals who will potentially have a chance to help each other. Various ways one team could throw a game or get up to something dodgy to help the other.

Montys return

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166207#Comment_124166207

True, they've looked like they need a lot of help the last 11 years.

DiscoStew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166203#Comment_124166203

There has never been a fixture clash with the senior and premier intermediate team in championship to my knowledge, I wouldn’t envisage it happening now either.

Ballygunner certainly won’t be giving walkovers, that’s for sure.

PTH2009

Ballygunner A vs Ballygunner B knockout game would be something else

Relhcstirt

Double trouble for rivals as All-Ireland champions Ballygunner press ahead with second team in Waterford SHC

The All-Ireland senior hurling club champions have not discussed the matter with the Waterford County Board since before Christmas as the club wanted to focus on their All-Ireland pursuit.

COMING AT YA: All-Ireland club hurling champions Ballygunner are set to enter two teams in the 2026 Waterford SHC. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Tue, 20 Jan, 2026 - 15:54John Fogarty

ALL-IRELAND club champions Ballygunner will have a second team in this year’s Waterford senior hurling championship.

Although there is some reluctance in the club, well-placed sources have confirmed they will have two representative teams in the competition.

The All-Ireland senior hurling club champions have not discussed the matter with the Waterford County Board since before Christmas as the club wanted to focus on their All-Ireland pursuit.

Ballygunner’s second team won the premier intermediate championship last year and as a result are obliged to compete for top hurling honours in the country against the club’s first team.

Learn more

The board had informed Ballygunner they had to be treated the same as any other club and therefore their teams couldn’t be kept apart at the group stages while the sides could also play at the same time or day.

In November, a proposal to prohibit two teams from the same club playing at the same level was debated at Central Council but deferred to the rules advisory committee.

It was felt by some delegates that this was a Waterford-specific motion and in this situation a hard case could make bad law. That body are expected to come back with an alternative that could be discussed at this weekend’s Central Council meeting.

It is believed Ballygunner could be afforded some fluidity between the two teams but not to the extent that had been the case previously when the second side was premier intermediate.

Meanwhile, Patrick Fitzgerald could be unavailable to Waterford for a number of months. Fitzgerald is understood to be carrying a leg injury and was replaced eight minutes into the second half of Sunday’s All-Ireland final win over Loughrea.

There is a fear the starlet may require an operation. Already, Peter Queally is without Paudie Fitzgerald who is recovering from a shoulder operation, while Stephen Bennett will be weaned back because of his hip issues. The rest of the Ballygunner contingent could be available from Round 4 of Division 1A.

Elsewhere, Wexford and Antrim are without several players ahead of their Division 1B, Round 1 game in Chadwicks Wexford Park this Saturday.

While Keith Rossiter is planning to not have the likes of Rory O’Connor, Liam Ryan, Charlie McGuckian and Conor McDonald and possibly for the entire season, Antrim are themselves down key players.

Ryan Elliot, Eoghan Campbell, Niall O’Connor (suspended), Conal Bohill, Nigel Elliot and Keelan Molloy are missing from the team that played the final round Leinster SHC game against Offaly last May. Seán Duffin and Joe McLaughlin could also be out for the trip south.

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166207#Comment_124166207

Nonsense . You think players on the second team will be happy to drift along and lose games to make sure it’s plane sailing for the first team?

Teebor15

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166191#Comment_124166191

How is it a nonsense decision?

Lets look at the alternative, they remain a Premier Intermediate. How is that fair on the other teams in that championship? Last year Ballygunner won that competition relatively comfortably, and with the array of talent coming on stream it's hard not to see them not doing it again and again over the next few years. So your just putting off the inevitable.

Also as I mentioned before the players who won that Premier Intermediate have earned the right to play senior. It's not fair on them to artificially hold them back. Not for their enjoyment or their development. People are crying that Ballygunner being so strong is hampering the county team when here we have a group of talented young players who are chomping at the bit to progress and ye want to keep them down. That's talking out of both sides of your mouth!

I've heard it said that maybe they should transfer to other clubs if they want to play senior. Why should they have to leave the club they have being playing with since they were 5 or 6, leave their friends and community, when there is a solution there in just putting in a second team.

Of course its not an ideal situation. In a perfect world every club would be the same size and have the same culture, resources and organisation but we don't live in a perfect world. It is what it is.

And the idea that the second team throwing matches, giving walkovers or just being there to pander to the first team is complete nonsense. If anything it will be the opposite as players on the "B" team will be determined to prove themselves.

Out of interest, what is your solution?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166636#Comment_124166636

Why does everyone think I meant the B team would throw a match. Maybe the A team would to get both qualified. What if a draw in the final round of the group qualifies both teams for the QF.

As for "the alternative" the system of banning second teams from promotion is already in place in other counties and in UEFA competitions and for a good reason.

This is sport we are talking about and it's an absolute guarantee a situation will arise where rival clubs will be able to call for a conflict of interest because of this.

seananigans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166636#Comment_124166636

I wish we could do away with this premier intermediate nonsense. AFAIK Kerry have 8 senior football teams, then intermediate, then junior. and they won all 3 club titles this year as a result.

inflating the ranks with overly large divisions and makey uppy names for teams to pretend they're not intermediate. no matter what name you're in the top division or you're not .stripping it back will give a bigger shop window for other teams in the county to have the big days out

dk1982

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124163176#Comment_124163176

Tramore has to be the worst GAA town in Ireland. Absolutely brutal.

seananigans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166863#Comment_124166863

number of reasons why, but a big one is the club is an extension of the riverstown area and theres a snobbishness with allowing your kids to go down that part of the town.

would benefit massively from a club at the top of the town even get a bit of a rivalry going

Marsher555

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166061#Comment_124166061

I'd go with that no problem

Marsher555

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166203#Comment_124166203

The problem there is playing hurling matches in Fraher Field at all. Just about fit for football these days. All senior hurling fixtures should be fixed for Walsh Park and everyone's a winner.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124166979#Comment_124166979

Its the 'T4' attitude……….😏Tennis, hockey, surfing/water sports, golf and rugby takes over once you enter the elevated sections of the town………and better not forget the most popular sport of all i.e. 'posing' in places like the Ritz etc

DiscoStew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124167408#Comment_124167408

Bar this year, when drainage works were completed late after U20 and minor county teams finished their home games, Fraher Field is a pretty decent pitch IMO. There’s been more money put into the Walsh Park pitch since the redevelopment began (naturally enough) so that is definitely our best pitch now. I actually think Fraher Field is overused during the summer months and it can’t take the level of traffic as the summer goes on. Walsh Park is definitely the more protected of the two.

HikingBeatsSport

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124168102#Comment_124168102

Protected for Hurling....

PTH2009

If Ballygunner B lost a game in the Championship would that mean the 'record of consecutive wins in the Waterford Championship' for Ballygunner would be then gone ?

KevIRL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124168645#Comment_124168645

Of course not

royrogers

What happens when they meet in the County Final,maybe not this year or next but looks very likely with the dominance at under age level, gets kinda farcical then dont you think!

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124168947#Comment_124168947

Its still 'Ballygunner'

jimbob955

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124162529#Comment_124162529

Ah that's a shame for those clubs. Housing location has a huge impact for clubs and player pipeline. Tramore is a good comparison. Ballygunner has the population but is well organised, culture etc. Similar up here in Cork the future of Cork housing developments will be from Glanmire east to Midleton. The future champs will more and more come from Sars, Erins Own, Carrig, Midleton and the Barrs (a lot of building going on in their wider catchment area). Rockies, Glen, NaP will struggle to keep up.

As for Ballygunner A v B. I think its mad. Doesn't help anyone, will it only make BallyG stronger, have more players playing Senior.

Montys return

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124168982#Comment_124168982

Surely it would be even worse if the second best team in the County is playing intermediate?

Don't think it's that much of a certainty either.

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124168982#Comment_124168982

Its a possibility but the age profile of the Ballygunner senior team isn’t young. Particularly the spine of the team that been there the past 10/15 years. You take Soky, Pauric Philip, Ian Kenny, Dessie is going to be 30 this year. for all the depth in the club and conveyor belt of young talent coming through every year, you dont just manufacture and replace a team as good as the current one. People assumed the great Kilkenny team would last for ever, the great Limerick team even. Also how long can you sustain a high performing second team at senior level. They had been eyeing that intermediate championship with a number of years but will players maintain the same level of interest as a lower ranked senior side. I think we’ll see a levelling off of sorts with this in 2/3 years

emergingstar

I presume players wont be allowed move between squads like they do between Inter and Senior