Changes to new season will see Ulster super groups

ARMAGH, Donegal, Monaghan and Tyrone are set to form a new Ulster super group as the GAA’s plans for the 2021 season become clearer.

While some details are still to be confirmed, counties have been gathering information on what their new season will look like – and it will be county teams who are first up to bat.

The new split-season template had been presented to the GAA Management Committee before being approved at a Central Council meeting last Friday. With the GAA finally landing on a county first, club second split-season for 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ulster derbies are going to dominate the early part of the season.

In what will be the Division One North division, the top two from that Ulster quartet group will progress to the league semi-finals with the bottom two moving into relegation semi-finals against the bottom two from Division One South – Dublin, Kerry, Galway and Roscommon. The losers of those two semi-finals will be relegated.

Down will feature in Division Two North, and their group looks hard as it’s made up of losing All-Ireland finalists Mayo, Meath and Westmeath.

Division Three North also had a very Ulster feel to it with provincial champions Cavan, Fermanagh and Derry being joined by Longford.

In Division Four North, Enda McGinley’s Antrim will meet Mickey Harte’s Louth, as well as Sligo and Leitrim.

The National Leagues will begin on the weekend on February 27-28 and run through until April 3-4 with the McKenna Cup scrapped for the season. There is an option to allow the league season to be extended by a week if required.

The All-Ireland Championship will also start at a much earlier date with the inter-county season set to be wrapped up in July with club action taking over exclusively from July 25 to October 24.

Straight knock-out is off the table though with a Qualifier system set to be in place, however there will be no ‘Super Eights.’

The Tailteann Cup will be played but, crucially, the participants will be decided after the promotion/relegation process meaning that Ulster’s three third-tier teams can yet escape if they earn promotion (or reach the Ulster final), while Down could yet be dragged into it.

The National Hurling League will also begin on February 27-28, but they will run to April 10-11. Again, an extra week is there if required.

The format will be identical for almost every team with the exception of Antrim. There will be no Division One quarter-finals and semi-finals with the top team in 1A and 1B instead meeting in the final.

The Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup competitions are set for two three-team groups with the top two in both advancing to the semi-finals. If Warwickshire (Rackard) and Lancashire (Meagher) are unable to travel, new competitions structures will be announced in January.

There will be no u-20 league with the championship set to take place between March 27-28 and May 1-2.

The minor championship will be held between March 20-21 and May 22-23. It will be decoupled from the senior championship.

The provincial club championships in football and hurling are set to return with the All-Ireland semi-finals pencilled in for December and the finals in January.

Meanwhile, the Ulster Minor Football Championship semi-finals scheduled for early January will be dependent on the restrictions in place in the North at that time.

Tyrone and Derry and Fermanagh and Monaghan are due to meet on Sunday, January 3. Sport in the North is facing a six-week lockdown though although elite sport is set to resume on January 2, so there could yet be developments.

By Niall McCoy