GAA unveils its new look calendar

By Shane Brophy

In the final days of the 2020, which includes Tipperary playing in a Munster Under 20 Hurling final against Cork this evening (Wednesday), a vision for how the new-look GAA season going forward was presented this week.

On Monday, Croke Park published details of its playing calendar for 2021, which for the first time will see the club and inter-county seasons split, with inter-county played in the first half of the year with club championships kicking in after that.

With Covid-19 restrictions likely to be in place for much of 2021, inter-county leagues and championships will be paired back to ensure all inter-county competitions are completed by 17-18 July with the All-Ireland Football final, with club championships to start the weekend after, although they can start earlier depending on when a counties inter-county season ends in both hurling and football.

Implications for Tipperary

The Tipperary senior hurlers and footballers can return to collective training after January 15th with the National Hurling & Football Leagues beginning on the weekend of 27-28 February.

For Liam Sheedy’s senior hurlers, they will play five games in their league group on consecutive weekends with just the group winner progressing to the final on 10-11 April. Tipperary will be in the same group as 2020 and based on the reversal of fixtures will have home games against Cork and Galway, with trips to Waterford, Westmeath and All-Ireland champions Limerick.

The National Football League will work slightly differently with division 3 split into two regions based on geography due to Covid restrictions, and it certainly looks to have benefitted Tipperary who are grouped with Offaly, whom they beat in the league this year, along with Limerick and Wicklow who were promoted from division 4.

Tipp will fancy their chances of finishing in the top two of that region, and progress to the league semi-finals against the top two teams from the northern region which is much tougher on paper as it includes Ulster champions Cavan, Fermanagh, Derry and Longford. From there, the winners of the semi-finals will progress to the final (3-4 April), as well as being promoted to division 2 which will be a key aim of David Power in 2021.

However, following on from their Munster Final success this year, it has been confirmed that Tipperary will play in the All-Ireland qualifiers next year, even if they fail to gain promotion from division 3 or lose their Munster semi-final. It means they will not play in the new Tailteann Cup for division 3 & 4 teams that fail to reach their provincial finals.

Championship

The formats will remain the same as 2020 due to time constraints with knockout/qualifiers, although there will be a second chance element in senior football which there wasn’t in 2020.

For the Tipperary senior hurlers, if they are drawn in a Munster quarter final, they will be in action on 24-25 April, with the semi-finals split over the weekends of 1-2 & 8-9 May with the Munster final on 22-23 May. The All-Ireland quarter finals are scheduled for 12-13 June, with the semi-finals two weeks after that, a the All Ireland Final on Sunday 11th July.

In terms of Gaelic football, by virtue of winning the Munster Championship, Tipperary will have a bye to the semi-finals which are scheduled for 1-2 May, with the provincial final down for Saturday, 29th May.

From there, the four provincial winners progress to the All-Ireland quarter finals on 19-20 June, to be joined by four qualifier survivors, with the Super 8’s again suspended. The All-Ireland Football final will round-off the inter-county season on Sunday 18th July.

Underage

Next years minor championships will be compacted into a ten-week window, beginning on 20-21 March, with the All-Ireland finals in both hurling and football down for the weekend of 22-23 May, before the Leaving Cert exams start. The format for both championships has yet to be confirmed.

The under 20 football championship will be played on a straight knockout basis with the Munster quarter finals beginning on 3-4 April and will be played weekly, with the All-Ireland Final on 1-2 May.

The under 20 hurling championship will be run similarly, starting on 22-23 May, with room for pause for the state exams, culminating in the All-Ireland Final on 11 July, which will be the curtain-raiser to the All-Ireland senior final at Croke Park. If the same county are involved in both games, there will be no impact as under 20 players on a senior panel will excluded from playing under 20 grade.

Club Window

Club competitions such as the county leagues in Tipperary, largely without county players, can take place in the spring and early summer months, Covid regulations permitting.

An uninterrupted main club championship window begins from July 24/25 to October 23/24, but it can start earlier depending on when a counties inter-county campaign is at an end.

The Provincial Club Championship window will be primarily from 16/17 October to November 27/28 and Croke Park has suggested that provincial draws are not made until after All Ireland quarter final participants in the senior inter-county championships are known so as county champions from the counties involved are not be involved in round 1/quarter finals in provincial club championships, where possible, to provide extra time to get their club championship programme completed.

The All-Ireland Club Championship semi-finals will return after a one-year hiatus in December with the 2021 All Ireland Club Finals to take place in January 2022.

They say 2020 is has been a year of change, 2021 will see plenty too!