Challenges aplenty as Galway GAA plans for return of action
GALWAY GAA is looking to restructure its club championships – both hurling and football – into groups of four teams across all grades as it begins to plan a return to competitive action on the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Although this is just one of several options they are looking at – and these options have to be brought before the clubs – this is understood to be the favoured format as it fits into the timeframe allowed for club activity and it gives clubs more games than they would receive on a straight-knockout basis, which has also been mooted.
The options will be put before GAA clubs in the county in the coming week or so and, when there is a consensus, it is expected new draws for the restructured competitions will then take place – no earlier, though, than the week of June 29.
This would not apply to the Galway intermediate or junior club football championships, however, as these are already set up to be run off in groups of four. With the Galway senior football championship boasting 18 teams, this would be broke down to three groups of four and two groups of three, meaning some teams would play a game less than others.
In the senior hurling championship, three groups of four would replace the two groups of six at Senior ‘A’ – and the same at Senior ‘B’ – and the preference is that there would be no dilution of ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams in the group stages as the Hurling Committee wish to preserve the integrity of the competition.
Ideally, Galway GAA would like to adopt the same groups of four format unilaterally across all the grades in both codes as this would also facilitate promotion and relegation.
Given Galway is a dual county, boasting two of the best club championships in hurling and football in the country, the question then becomes about giving each code enough time to run off their competitions, particularly with only a limited number of weekends available before the proposed commencement of inter-county action in mid-October.
What could potentially happen is that both the senior and intermediate hurling and football championships could begin on the August Bank Holiday weekend, with a festival of games taking place on that Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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