Galway footballers set for return to league action ahead of championship
GALWAY senior footballers may be about to receive a timely boost as the GAA is considering playing the outstanding two rounds of National League group ties before they commence the inter-county championship later this year.
Given Padraic Joyce’s charges were top of the Division 1 table before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the Tribesmen would no doubt welcome the opportunity to resurrect their league campaign and, in the process, gain some invaulable match practice ahead of the championship kicking off in late October or early November.
The GAA is considering this move in order to sort out promotion and relegation ahead of the 2021 National Leagues, but there are no plans to play the knock-out stages of the National Hurling League, with the Division 2A promotion play-off between Kerry and Antrim the only game likely to go ahead – Carlow having already been relegated from Division 1.
All of this, however, is dependent on a favourable outlook when the Government publishes Phase 3 of its road map to recovery later this month. “There are considerations being given to playing outstanding league games before the championship, but we are still talking about starting on October 17,” confirmed Galway GAA Secretary Seamus O’Grady.