Streamlined Football Championships should lead to greater competitiveness
GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Football Championship Preview
By Anthony Shelly
The 2026 County Senior Football Championship throws in next weekend with 12 teams battling it out for the inaugural Philly Ryan Cup.
Philly won four county championship medals as a player with Clonmel Commercials and won a county title as manager in 2012.
Following his untimely death on October 18th last year when in the role of Tipperary Senior Football manager, Clonmel Commercials approached the county board with a proposal to present a new senior football trophy in his memory and earlier this year the county board unanimously backed the proposal. Whether by coincidence or synchronicity, this year’s county senior football final will be played on 18th October 2026, the first anniversary of Philly’s passing.
After a period of restructuring over the last numbers of years, we have finally arrived at the destination of a 12-team championship and a format that may or may not take revisiting in the future.
Three groups of four teams will play a round robin series with the top two from each group progressing. However, the two best placed group winners will progress straight to the semi-finals while the third best group winner will join the three second placed teams in the quarter-finals.
A similar format applies the relegation. The worst placed bottom team goes straight to a relegation final while the other two bottom teams will play off in a relegation semi-final. The winner of that relegation semi-final will not only retain their senior football status but will also join the three third placed group teams in the Tom Cusack Cup.
Group 1: Aherlow, Ardfinnan, Ballina, Clonmel Commercials
Having progressed to the top of the role of honour by winning their 22nd title in 2025, Clonmel Commercials will be many peoples favourites to retain their title.
They are not without their vulnerabilities though. Michael Quinlivan who has being living in Dundalk for a number of years has transferred to Dundalk Gaels and won’t be easily replaced. However, I suspect despite the loss of Quinlivan, they still possess probably the most balanced squad in the championship with a mixture of experienced heads like Seamus Kennedy and Kevin Fahey along with exciting young players like Cian Smith, Joe Higgins and Darragh O’Connor. In addition, they will be driven to get their hands on their new senior football trophy.
The battle for second place is fascinating and if all things were equal, there won’t be a kick-of a ball between Ballina, Aherlow and Ardfinnan.
Since their promotion to the senior ranks in 2022, Ballina have reached the quarter-final stage every year since. However, word on the street is that they are concentrating more on hurling this year and the transfer of Teddy Doyle back to his home club Templenoe in Kerry is an obvious blow.
Anything less than reaching the last eight would represent a disappointment but they still have quality players to put in a performance on any given day. Their chances of progressing from the group this year may well depend on the fitness of Steven O’Brien.
The grapevine also has it that Aherlow were late getting themselves organised this year so it remains to be seen if that will affect their performances but as teams discovered over the years, you’d want to be at home eating the dinner after the game before you could say for certain you had the Glen boys beaten.
They were many people’s favourites for relegation in 2025 but a few spirited performances saw them reach the quarter-final. Over the past few years, they have been a team in transition as they tried to replace some older club legends with some exciting young talent and they have managed that transition brilliantly. Still, this year feels like a massive championship for them as they will be keen to build on the progress made last year.
Ardfinnan surprised everyone but themselves when they avoided the relegation drop last year and have had a couple of good results in the league earlier this year. Yet they remain one of the competition's great enigmas. They can play some outstanding football and possess some naturally gifted players but they are plagued by inconsistency. If they can address their consistency issues and pull the trigger more often when the opportunity arises in front of goal, then they are more than capable of progressing to the business end of the championship.
To Qualify: Clonmel Commercials & Ardfinnan
Group 2: Grangemockler/Ballyneale, Loughmore/Castleiney, Moyle Rovers, Upperchurch/Drombane
In what has been labelled the group of death, Loughmore-Castleiney are impossible to ignore.
Over the past ten years they have played 52 championship games, winning 41 and drawing 5. In that timeframe they have also won three county titles. It is a remarkable level of consistency that can only be achieved when you have talented footballers in your ranks. Having already qualified for a preliminary county quarter final in hurling, they will be strong favourites to emerge from the group.
The local Turf Accountants have Moyle Rovers as third favourites and while the bookies seldom take chances, they have got this one wrong and Moyle Rovers should be second favourites.
With the perfect blend of youth and experience in their squad, they will be determined to make up for last year where they were within seconds of beating Clonmel Commercials in the county quarterfinals.
Upperchurch/Drombane certainly have the raw materials to win a county title but their focus remains very much on hurling. While it would be the height of folly to write them off, their lack of attention to football may just catch up with them in this group.
Grangemockler-Ballyneale’s run to the South Final where they only went down to Clonmel Commercials, after extra time, would suggest that Paul Cahill and Charlie McGeever’s charges are in rude health.
In any other group that form might be good enough to see them progress but, in this group, you would have to think that avoiding the wooden spoon will be their main objective
To Qualify: Moyle Rovers & Loughmore-Castleiney
Group 3: Ballyporeen, JK Brackens, Kilsheelan-Kilcash, Thurles Sarsfields
Last year’s beaten finalists, Kilsheelan-Kilcash, will fancy themselves to go deep once again and they certainly have the talent to do so.
When they go out and play front foot attacking football, they are one of the best teams in the county to watch. However, sometimes they tend to overthink things, especially in the big games against the big teams. That’s an issue they will need to address later in the championship but at this stage it’s hard to see anything other than Kilsheelan-Kilcash topping this group.
J.K. Brackens are concentrating almost exclusively on hurling this year and despite the talent at their disposal that makes them very vulnerable. Even if they were only on nodding terms with football, you would fancy them to progress deep into the championship.
It seems like an odd decision to abandon the tradition of the club and turn noses up at the football, especially in a year where the championship is wide open and with normal preparation Brackens would be amongst the favourites to win a county title.
Ballyporeen perhaps frustrate more than any other side because the ingredients are clearly there. Inconsistency has prevented them fulfilling their potential. They possess tremendous physicality along with genuine scoring threats but yet they often struggle to negotiate the group stages. Their first round clash with Thurles Sarsfields should reveal plenty about where they stand.
Thurles Sarsfields return to senior football was one of last year's best stories. After spending almost half a century in the lower ranks, they captured the Intermediate Championship by defeating Rockwell Rovers.
It was a remarkable achievement which was no doubt driven by their county star and captain Kieran Costello but they will need to improve again this year just to maintain their senior status. However, there are enough good footballers in Thurles to suggest that progress is possible.
To Qualify: Kilsheelan-Kilcash & J.K. Brackens
The 2026 Senior Football Championship looks about as open a championship that has been produced in years and predicting the outcome is bordering on guesswork. If pushed, though, Clonmel Commercials get the nod but it’s a very tentative nod because the only certainty this year is there will be many twists and turns in the race for the Philly Ryan Cup
Intermediate Football Championship
Following the same format as the senior football, the 2026 Intermediate Football Championship is every bit as open this year and, in many ways, harder to predict a winner as a good case could be made for all 12 teams.
Group 1: Cahir, Eire Og Annacarty/Donohill, Fethard, Rockwell Rovers
Last year’s beaten finalists, Rockwell Rovers will hope to go one better this year and should qualify out of this group. The second qualifying spot is harder to call but I’ll play it safe by going with Cahir who were relegated from senior football last year but should be very competitive at this grade.
Group 2: Clonmel Commercials, Clonmel Og, Killenaule, Moyne-Templetuohy
Clonmel Og are just up from Premier Junior and may need a couple of years to once again find their feet at this level. Commercials second team is normally competitive in the group stages but will be a very young team this year. Therefore, the nod to progress out of this group goes to Killenaule and Moyne-Templetuohy
Group 3: Arravale Rovers, Galtee Rovers, Golden Kilfeacle, Moycarkey/Borris
This is the group of death and on any giving day any of these four teams could win a county final. Yet two of them will be out of the championship at the end of the group stages.
However, with a double prediction of Arravale Rovers and Golden Kilfeacle to progress from the group. and to meet again in the county final in October.