Burns open to discussion around a third tier in the football championship

WHILE the Tailteann Cup has been a successful bridge for previous winners Meath and Down, this season’s results are pointing towards the need for a deeper dig into the championship structures.

GAA President Jarlath Burns, speaking after making the Tailteann Cup quarter-final draw on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland radio show, said a third-tier competition would be considered if there was “an appetite” for it.

Westmeath were Tailteann Cup winners in the competition’s first season but have yet to win a championship game since.

They lost to Louth, Wicklow and Kildare in Leinster with a draw with Tyrone their only point since.

Cavan lost to Westmeath in the 2022 Tailteann decider and have since beaten Mayo in the championship in recent weeks. There was an Ulster win over Monaghan and they took Tyrone to extra time.

Meath were winners in 2023 and have pushed on to reach a Leinster final after ending Dublin’s dominance in the semi-final. Down lost to the Royals before bouncing back to win it.

Conor Laverty’s Down side are a beacon for the competition. On the back of their u-20 success in Ulster, they’ve pushed Donegal and particularly Armagh to the pin of their collar in Ulster semi-finals.

They lock horns with Monaghan this weekend with a shot at securing an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final spot. At worst, they’re in the last 12 regardless.

Westmeath are back in the Tailteann competition this weekend but there is a starker story below the counties stuck in the middle.

The average winning margin from the 28 Tailteann Cup games this season is nine points.

Carlow and Wexford drew. Carlow beat Fermanagh by three. Limerick beat Westmeath by a point. Two points separated Laois and Offaly.

The rest of the games were decided by more than the kick of a ball. There were nine double digit winning margins. Kildare, promoted to Division Two, were 25-point winners over Leitrim who will begin 2026 in Division Four.

To put it in context, in 16 Sam Maguire Group games, the average winning margin was six points, including two draws.

That’s in a season when there are two-pointers to potentially skew winning margins. The outliers are Down’s 17-point win over Clare and Donegal beating Cavan by 19.

The Breffni County were in the Tailteann Cup two years ago while Division Three Clare benefited from a Munster Championship that pitted Kerry and Cork together before the final.

It brings into play any discussion regarding the need for three tiers.

In a recent Gaelic Life feature, Paul Quinn outlined a radical proposal to knit league and championship together in a three-tier structure.

GAA President Jarlath Burns was speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland, after making the Tailteann Cup draw, hailed the impact Down and Meath have made on the competition as they build their way back into the Sam Maguire race. He also said a third-tier would be an option for consideration.

“We’d always say, that if there was an appetite around the country for that, in those counties, we could certainly consider that,” he said, also indicating it was something talked about in consultation between counties.

“There was an appetite in Munster for it but not in Leinster so we are not just ready for that yet,” he outlined, but highlighted how it could become a “glorified” version of NFL Division Four.