Would GAA (football) solve a lot of its problem if it had a single, proper championship?

It's probably reached a stage where something like this is warranted. The Leinster Championship in particular is an absolute shambles. Zero interest or competitiveness in that province. It's a shame to see that once great competition has been reduced to this joke but this is what the GAA wants it would appears. Fans in Leinster want something else there though, they're voting with their feet and attendances are way down.

But even amending the Championship structure to put an end to the ridiculous situation in Leinster probably wouldn't be enough to respark interest- the rules have to change to prevent the continued use of the dour, negative style that has become so popular in recent years.

Simple. Change the basis of the league/Championship.

Have the National League based on the provinces;

• Munster - 6 Team Round Robin format. Top two in Munster Final.
• Connaught - 6 Team Round Robin format (New York are 6th team). Top two in Munster Final.
• Leinster - 2 groups of 6 (London are 12th team). Top two to SF's, and then Final.
• Ulster - A bit tricky. One group of 5, and one group of 4. Crossover league, so team in one group play the teams in the other group. Top two to SF's, and then final.
• Provincial finalists (8 teams) into National League QF's, with provincial winners given home advantage.
• Teams ranked 3 & 4 (8 teams) in each province into National Cup.
• All other teams in National Shield competition (as they're knocked out earlier, it can be started the same weekend as the provincial finals).
• All games are finish on the day, so 10 rounds max until finals. Two rest weeks per team.
• All three finals played on the same day in festival of football.

The Championship format will be;

• 3 tiers of Championship. It's needed at this stage. 12 Team Senior, 10 team Intermediate, 10 team Tailteann Cup. If New York participate in Championship, then Intermediate has one group of 6 and one group of 5.

• All-Ireland Senior Championship. Two groups of 6. Top team of each group into AISF, team 2 of each group plays teams 3 of other group in QF's. Bottom of each group relegated to Intermediate Championship for the following year. The final groups would look like this.

• All-Ireland Intermediate Championship. Two groups of 5 (or one group of 6 and one group of 5 if New York are in the Championship). Top team of each group into AISF, team 2 of each group plays teams 3 of other group in QF's. Both finalists are promoted to Senior for the following year. Bottom of each group relegated to Tailteann Cup for the following year. The final groups would look like this.

• Tailteann Cup - Top team of each group into Tailteann Cup SF, team 2 of each group plays teams 3 of other group in QF's. Both finalists are promoted to Intermediate Championship for the following year. The final group would look like the Intermediate above, but with no relegation.

Going by that format;

If you had the Round Robin and the SF’s/finals in the provinces, then you’d have max 7 games in the province. A rest week is to be given after week 3, then four more weeks to finish the province is recommended, but leeway would be given to the provincial councils to run their competition as long as they meet the provincial final deadline. Another week off, then the QF’s of the three National League competitions start, and run for 3 weeks. So 12 weeks in total to run it off.

In each tier of the championship, it would require six weekends to run off each round robin, with one team receiving at least one rest week during the round robin phase. The QF’s are two weeks after the end of the round robin, and the AISF’s are two weeks after that, and the final two weeks after that. In total 12 weeks to run it off.

In that format, if the All-Ireland final was set for the last Sunday in July, the whole shebang would start around the start of February, and there would be at least three weeks after the league finals until the Championship.

The calendar would look something like this (going by 2025).

Worth a shot at least.

We should have an american style system i.e just one competition league phase followed by playoffs.

For football you could have 2 divisions of 16 (only the top 16 can win the all ireland) , and play say 10 league phase games followed by QF,SF and Finals.

All teams don't necessarily have to play the exact same schedule (like american sports) and the top 6/8 teams qualify for the quarter finals, and bottom 3 are relegated and the 4th bottom plays a playoff against 4th place in the second tier.

Same sort of scenario for hurling except maybe have 3 divisions and again top 4/5 qualify for knockout round and only bottom 2 relegated.

I think people actually enjoy having regular flow of games on constantly I think it becomes a habit for people both attending and watching on TV.

You could run the championship season from St Patricks day to early August and that would give plenty of time and would also allow time for the clubs.

I’d love to see an open championship , and Dublin split into 2 , at least for a year or two . Playing teams that would rarely meet might add a bit of excitement

Playing teams that would rarely meet might add a bit of excitement

Since the arrival of the 2001 back door there is very little of this playing teams you would rearly anymore.

Mayo have meet Tipp at least three times since then, and two were All Ireland semi finals.

Mayo didn't play Tipp for decades before that.

Kerry have played Longford twice.

It's really all over the map since 2001

Agree with most of this.

Amazingly and as per your previous form you completely refuse to mention the shambles that is Munster football !! People don't want that anymore , it's also beyond a joke .

There's a surprise 😏

The Allianz League is a balanced and consistent format. Hard to move away from that.

Personally I think that provincial championship draws should use league placing for balanced draws.

Regards the All-Ireland championship, we'll most likely have to wait until 2026 to see if the double elimination old styled Christy Ring cup format is the long-term solution.

The GAA's favoured format is as follows...

Round 1: 8 Provincial finalists drawn against 8 qualifiers (7 league qualifiers and Tailteann winner).

Round 2A: 8 Round 1 winners.

Round 2B: 8 Round 1 losers.

Round 3: 4 Round 2A losers drawn against 4 Round 2B winners.

Quarter-finals: 4 Round 2A winners drawn against 4 Round 3 winners.

Get rid of counties and roughly make new areas the same . No surprise that big counties win al Irelands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_counties_by_population

The League is good in terms of low numbers of mismatches but people enjoy knockout competitions too, and like it or not, the Championship has been the more prestigious competition historically. Most sports have a mix of knockout and league competitions also. While your proposal has merit, I think that as it doesn't get rid of the Provincials, it won't address some of the big issues with the format.

Population is definitely a big, big factor but we'll have to have a good format that engages players and supporters no matter what. The current Championship structure just doesn't do that.

Seeding will stop Clare only having to beat Tipperary or Waterford to qualify for the All Ireland series.