The 2023 All Ireland Senior Football Championship (Sam Maguire Cup)

I'm from Limerick I don't see the Tailteann Cup as a pat on the head.

I see it as a way for dedicated but not top class players to get to actually aim for something achievable.

Same as every junior and intermediate club footballer in the country.

Have any division 3 or 4 counties won an All Ireland any time recently ?

You're right, DOH!!

There is probably a lot of mixed messaging that I don't want to wade through, but when you look at what the all-ireland actually now is you get a lot of wording like this from the GAA website

and

"The remaining teams who don't advance to the AI SFC", I don't know of any reasonable way to read that except that we currently aren't in the AI SFC.

The provincials are no longer the all-ireland and it will absolutely kill them within a few years, I don't think there is anybody would disagree with that. And the more they die the more likely those automatic entries to the AI quietly disappear as well. First the losers spot, then the winners.

Again, this is not some crazy one in a million scenario, it is the more likely outcome.

Get to a provincial final and you make the AI series. Every county has the opportunity to do that so therefore they're all in the All Ireland. Previously 8 teams made the quarter finals/AI series and were seeded so its the same thing in a different format.

If anything so called "lesser" teams have more opportunities to reach the AI series than before.

• League ranking
• Make provincial final
• Win the Tailteann cup

Don't get your logic tbh. They are all in the FA Cup at some point. Only two teams can make it to the FA Cup final.

In an overall sense I do think the format will need tweaking for a few reasons but again most of them would be to plamas a few counties and plamasing a few is the reason the format needs to be tweaked in the first instance.

Current format is already consigning the provincials to the bin and I fully agree with you there. But the provincials have been going that direction in Leinster and Munster the past while now while the other two provinces have been genuinely competitive.

Lets just leave the goal posts where they started, thanks.

Isn't that consistent with the way it has always been referred to though? I think you are reading way too much into the name of any round of the compeition.

Like even back in the 1990s (pre-backdoor) the only part of the competition with the name 'All-Ireland' was the semi-finals and finals. Everything else was Ulster prelim round, Munster Semi, Leinster Final etc. So only 4 teams were in the competition that had All-Ireland in the title, but no-one would have said the other 28 were being excluded from anything.

There is senior intermediate and junior in every competition on the GAA (hurling has McCarty, McDonagh, Ring and Meagher cups) but Football the most popular of them cannot be tiered.

Every team needs a theoretical chance to win it. The last time a team outside D1 won it was in 2002 when Armagh won beating Kerry. Actually neither were D2 technically they were D3 as at the time there was D1A&B, with the rest in D2A&B.

Last time ( ignoring 2021 and COVID) had a decent run it was Clare in 1992, before that probably Sligo in 1975.

On every GAA competition except football there are tiers. Hurling has four. Every one of these is strengthening and improving except for the most popular Football.

The present tiered system is deeply flawed. If this year Westmeath or Clare/Limerick made the AI SF they will probably not qualify for the Sam competition next year.

There is no jeopardy in the group system no relegation and it's unlikely any D1 team will not make the QF unless we have a group of death with all D1 teams. The only reward is if you finish top of the group you go straight to a SF.

Mad to think some people want to go back to those simple times.

You would wonder how the game is in the healthy state it's in after 100 years of that nonsense.

What I think will kill the provinces is that big teams won't go for it anymore with a group stage to come after.

Maybe your right and teams will want the seeding.

All Ireland (Sam) outright odds for the top 10

Kerry 7/4 - Should come into form come the group stage, Starting 15 among the best with one of the best managers

Dublin 5/2 - odds a little short IMO, it's 2002 since a team playing in Div 2 won the AI. They don't have the strength in depth of before

Galway 4/1 - confidence from reaching last years final, well organised side, 2020 AI U20s making impact.

Mayo 5/1 - lacking the leaders/warriors they had 2013/2017 when at their best. Can the rookies in defence hold their own in the business end?

Derry 14/1 - Exceeded expectations last year could be the opposite for them this summer

Tyrone 14/1 - coming under the radar somewhat, started to find their form at the end of the league.

Armagh 22/1 - Poor in Ulster will be no surprise if Cavan beat them and then go on to reach and lose another AI quarter final

Roscommon 40/1 - 3rd in Div1 when favourites to get relegated if they reach the AI quarter final and competitive in that game it will be a good first year under Davy Burke

Monaghan 50/1 - Once again pulled off the great escape in Div 1, hard to know how they'll fare in the championship should reach a Prem QF anyway.

Donegal 66/1 - things are bad on and off the field hard to see them making any impact in the championship

In the qualifier era there has been a safety net as well. Provincial champions avoid provincial champions. More competitive games before the group stage. Players wanted more games. There are good reasons to still win the provinces. If a county has already qualified through the league, it might be sensible not to risk injury for some players. That's managing the squad. It might create an opportunity for provincial shocks.

To get through the group though with the intention of winning for a quarter-final spot or at least as runner-up for a home preliminary quarter-final, winning the province is the best route. At home to Seed 3 and away to Seed 4 is the best possibility of at least 2 wins that will go along way to securing second in the group at least. I don't think many counties will fancy travelling away to Croke Park, Castlebar, Galway, Killarney to name a few at the preliminary quarter-final stage.

Agreed. Especially when it was clear that there should be a two week gap between league finals and the provincial championships. The provincial championships should be played over 5 weekends. Only 2 games this weekend proves that.

-1. League finals.

0. Weekend off.

1. Leinster and Ulster preliminary rounds. Connacht and Munster quarter-finals.

2. Leinster and Ulster quarter-finals.

3. Connacht and Munster semi-finals.

4. Leinster and Ulster semi-finals.

5. Connacht, Munster, Leinster and Ulster finals.

It's crazy, was busy during the week so wanst paying much attention to media etc and was looking forward to watching a few games this wekend, couldn't believe it when i saw the fixtures