The draws for the group stages of the All-Ireland senior football championship will take place on Wednesday afternoon at 1.30pm as the race for Sam Maguire comes into focus.
Despite some head-turning results in the provincial championships last weekend, not to mention the Munster and Connacht finals coming up this Sunday, the most significant storyline of the week could yet come from Wednesday’s draw.
Because, given the seedings, we are very likely to end up with a proverbial Group of Death.
The draws for both the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup competitions will take place live on the GAA YouTube channel. The Irish Times will also be live blogging the draw at irishtimes.com.
So, what are the seedings for All-Ireland SFC?
The four pots are nearly sorted. All that remains is for the eight provincial finalists to be divided between first and second seeds – the four provincial winners will end up as top seeds, the losers will be in pot two.
First/second seeds: Kerry/Clare; Galway/Mayo; Armagh/Donegal; Louth/Meath.
Third seeds: Dublin, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tyrone.
Fourth seeds: Cavan, Cork, Derry, Down.
How did those seedings come about?
The pots are broken up as follows: Seed 1 – provincial champions; Seed 2 – beaten provincial finalists; Seed 3 – the next four highest ranked teams at the conclusion of the National League; Seed 4 – the next four highest ranked teams at the conclusion of the National League.
The previous year’s Tailteann Cup winners, if not already qualified within the above metrics, will be eligible instead of the team with the lowest National League ranking. Down won last year’s Tailteann Cup and were relegated from Division Two in this year’s league so they gain entry via last year’s Tailteann Cup triumph. Meath’s victory over Dublin last Sunday sent a ripple through the seedings for this draw as it pushed Derry down to pot four.
Teams who meet in the provincial finals cannot be drawn in the same group but outside of that there are no stipulations – meaning Dublin and Meath, Kerry and Cork or Tyrone and Armagh could still end up in the same group.
Are games played home or away?
Each team will play one home game and one away game with the third-round matches taking place at neutral venues.
Who gets a home game in the first round?
The order of the game is predetermined. The provincial finalists will all have home advantage for their opening fixture.
Round One: Seed 1 v Seed 3; Seed 2 v Seed 4
Round Two: Seed 3 v Seed 2; Seed 4 v Seed 1
Round Three (neutral venues): Seed 1 v Seed 2; Seed 3 v Seed 4
When will these games be played?
Round One fixtures will take place over two weekends.
The games involving the Munster and Connacht finalists will be played on the weekend of May 17th-18th. The games involving the Leinster and Ulster finalists will be played on the weekend of May 24th-25th.
Round Two fixtures will be played on the weekend of May 31st-June 1st.
Round Three fixtures will be played on the weekend of June 14th-15th.
So, the top two qualify?
No. Top three from each of the four groups.
Three?
Yes, stick with us.
Go on
The four table-topping teams advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. They await the winners of four preliminary quarter-finals – which will see the four second-placed teams drawn to play the four third-placed teams.
What about the Tailteann Cup seedings?
First seeds: Fermanagh, Kildare, Offaly, Westmeath.
Second seeds: Laois, Limerick, Sligo, Wexford.
Third seeds: Antrim, Carlow, Leitrim, Wicklow.
Fourth seeds: Longford, London, Tipperary, Waterford.
