This weekend’s meeting of the GAA’s Central Council will debate extending the intercounty season into August from 2027. A high-powered subcommittee (hereafter, committee), chaired by former director general Páraic Duffy, has reported on the matter and it will be decided on Saturday whether or not to refer the proposal to next year’s annual congress.
The extension of the season comes with a series of counterbalancing measures, unanimously backed by the committee as compulsory accompaniments to the provision of additional weeks.
• Clubs from All-Ireland finalists in both hurling and football be granted byes to the provincial club semi-finals in Munster and Connacht, and to the quarter-finals in Ulster and Leinster.
• That the proposal to abolish extra time in All-Ireland finals is paused.
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• The first competitive games in which intercounty teams participate annually are the Allianz Leagues and not preseason competitions, reinstated after last year’s suspension.
“It is the unanimous view of the committee that if Central Council and annual Congress wish to extend the intercounty season, even by the proposed two weeks, it must mitigate the effects on both the club and intercounty playing seasons by also adopting the provisions above. If these latter proposals are accepted, they will also take effect in 2027.”
Despite this insistence, there is every possibility that some delegates will try to cherry-pick the expansion into August and avoid the mitigations, especially the continued suspension of preseason provincial competitions.
A further mitigating measure sees a proposal for a five-year moratorium on further discussion of dates for All-Ireland finals.
“The committee further recommends that, to facilitate long-term planning in both club and intercounty games and to allow adequate time for the proposed changes to take effect and bed in, Congress agree to a five-year moratorium on further discussion on the dates of the All-Ireland finals, and rely instead, in the event of any unforeseen situations, on the ‘exceptional circumstances’ provision included in Rule 6.15.”
Stadium bookings for 2026 mean that the expanded calendar footprint cannot be introduced immediately but if successful, will be implemented for the following season.
Likely progress on this matter as well as the renewed push to scrap the All-Ireland hurling preliminary quarter-finals reflect views already expressed by GAA president Jarlath Burns, who is now close to getting both long-running issues decided on by next February’s annual congress.
The impact of stretching the All-Ireland championship would be to have the football final a week after the August bank holiday and the hurling final the last weekend in July. This would mean the football taking place two weeks later than the current date and everything else extended by just one week.
This year’s All-Irelands fell on the last two Sundays in July, 20th and 27th.
There have been complaints that having just a week between the finals has impacted on the promotion of both. No sooner is the hurling final over than it must make way in the media for the build-up to the football.
The new calendar footprint has been robustly defended by Croke Park, big dual counties, notably Cork and most vigorously by the Gaelic Players Association but there is an emerging sense that whereas not “thrilled” about the extension, even those stakeholders may be able to live with the additional fortnight.
The GPA and Croke Park were the main influences in suspending the preseason competitions at the start of this year despite complaints they would have been ideal to trial the Football Review Committee’s “rule enhancements”.
Both the president and the GPA strongly backed the measure, drawing attention to the findings of the ESRI report on player welfare “that highlighted the urgent need to reduce the time commitment for intercounty players (ie, the split season reduced the length of time a player annually committed to an intercounty panel by over a month.)
Player welfare has not traditionally been a big driver for Central Council, many of whom wanted to reverse the secondary competitions’ suspension nearly as soon as it had been introduced.
There are those in the GAA, however, who see the constant rolling back of restrictions on intercounty players’ involvement as the high road to undermining amateur status.
One point made is that the misgivings about an abbreviated season are incorrect. The calendar footprint is much the same as it was 20 years ago but with the proliferation of round-robin formats since 2018, there are far more matches being played within the season.
Whereas the committee “strongly endorses” the split season model, it also acknowledges the drawbacks, including insufficient time between All-Ireland hurling and football finals and the consequent, negative impact on promoting both games.
That issue is addressed by providing two clear weeks between the finals so that the aftermath of the hurling isn’t crashing into the football.
Otherwise, the calendar isn’t shifting much. Provincial finals will be a week later but one Central Council delegate argues that more needs to be done in June in order to maximise promotion among children in what is their final month in school given that the autumn window in schools is now closed.
There is also the burden on volunteers, which has at times made it difficult to find matchday stewards.
One person welcoming the move is Irish Times hurling analyst Nicky English, who has long argued for a stretch in the schedule.
“By playing off the hurling and football final a week after one another, it didn’t give either in my view sufficient time to breathe. The hurling winners or the hurling final coverage only started really on the Wednesday before because of the All-Ireland football semi-finals the previous weekend and ended on the Tuesday after because of the upcoming football final.”
He is not as convinced by the continuing insistence on extra-time in finals.
“I think ultimately from a revenue perspective but also from an interest perspective, not having replays of Munster finals is an own goal. Replays of Munster and Leinster finals and All-Ireland finals over the years have generated huge interest outside even the typical GAA audience.”
Ultimately, though, the new season format is about providing certainty for club players and players in general and the report references data showing widespread support among that cohort.
“A survey of over 800 players in Cork in 2024 found that 86.5% of players favoured the current split-season calendar model, while successive surveys carried out by the Gaelic Players Association found a similar level of support among inter-county players.”
It was also offered in evidence to the committee that previously sharp tensions between club and county over player availability are completely gone, now. They don’t exist.
The report outlines its approach within a ringing endorsement of the current structure.
“It needs to be acknowledged that the broad ‘split-season’ [or dedicated club and county windows] model is here to stay, enjoys the overwhelming support of our players and, whatever its imperfections, is immeasurably preferable to the situation that pertained pre-Covid.
“Reduced national media coverage and sponsors’ exposure are overwhelmingly offset by the improved playing experience of both club and county players, and by the greater prominence now afforded to the club game.
“Nonetheless, the question as to whether the current split-season calendar could be improved was at the heart of the committee’s discussions.”
