Latest news with #AllianzFootballLeague
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Kerry and Cork to be seeded for Munster SFC
Seeding in the Munster SFC will come into place for a three-year period with All-Ireland champions Kerry and Cork to be on opposite sides of the semi-final draw for the 2026 provincial championship. The Munster Council have accepted a proposal that the top two teams from the province in the previous year's Allianz Football League will be seeded. Kerry were crowned Division 1 champions back in March with Cork finishing fifth in Division 2. Clare, third in Division 3, were next best placed. Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner has reported that the 2026 Munster SHC will start with a repeat of the recent All-Ireland final with champions Tipperary welcoming Cork to Thurles.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cork and Kerry will be seeded in separate semi-finals for 2026 Munster SFC
Cork and Kerry will be seeded in separate semi-finals in this autumn's 2026 Munster senior football championship draw. The decision was made by the provincial council at a meeting on Thursday evening. Cork and Kerry will be drawn in opposite semi-finals by virtue of their league positions this season. Despite strong opposition in the likes of Clare who have contested the last three Munster finals and Tailteann Cup runners-up Limerick, Cork, because of their Division 2 status ahead of Clare and Limerick in Division 3 from 2026, have been given a bye to the last-four along with All-Ireland champions Kerry. A statement from Munster GAA read: 'At tonight's Munster Council meeting, a proposal that the highest two ranking teams from the Allianz Football League are placed on opposite sides of the Semi Final Draw for the following year's Munster Senior Football Championship draw was ratified for a 3 year period beginning in 2026. 'For the 2026 Munster Senior Football Championship, Kerry and Cork as the two highest ranking Munster teams in the 2025 Allianz Football League will be placed on opposite sides of the Semi-Final draw.' How the squads from the other four counties will react to the move will be interesting. Eleven years ago, the Gaelic Players Association were integral in their squads protesting against what they perceived as the preferential treatment shown to Cork and Kerry. At the end of 2013 and into '14, Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford threatened to pull out of the 2015 Munster SFC if Cork and Kerry's seeded status continued. They refused to play in that year's McGrath Cup leaving Cork and Kerry to compete in the pre-season competition along with the likes of UCC, UL, Cork IT, IT Tralee and LIT. From 2015, the counties and the council compromised on the previous year's finalists earning semi-final byes in the following year's championship but no guarantee they would avoid each other in the last four. That criteria has been operative ever since and in 11 seasons Cork and Kerry have met in five finals. In 2007, Limerick players selected to line out for Munster in the interprovincial series after the province chose to seed Cork and Kerry for the following year's championship. Between 2009 and '13, the draw was open. In his Munster final match programme notes, provincial chairman Tim Murphy said they had to look at ways of reviving interest in the competition. This year's total attendances (five games) amounted to 33,491. In 2024, it was 36,264 and 28,158 in '23. Murphy wrote: 'It is incumbent on us as a provincial council to review and consider what we can do better to further enhance Gaelic football as a spectacle within Munster and create the conditions and structures necessary to improve and enhance the game for players and spectators alike. 'We will be discussing this and working on what we can do to achieve the best possible outcome over the coming weeks and months.'
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Just two straight red cards recorded in entire senior football championship
The Football Review Committee's (FRC) rule changes and the GAA's recent tightening up of its disciplinary measures are considered primary reasons behind a significant decline in sendings-off in this year's championship. Just four players were dismissed in the 2025 competition comprising 99 games – two straight dismissals and two for second yellow card offences. That's compared to 12 red cards in the 2024 championship and one investigation, which led to a retrospective suspension. The two straight dismissals came in the same game between Cork and Kerry in the Munster semi-final in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in April when Paudie Clifford and Seán Brady were sent to the line by referee Barry Tiernan. The 17 red cards (six double yellows) in this year's Allianz Football League was down from 19 (five double yellows) last year with direct dismissals reduced from 14 to 10. In hurling, it was a different story. Thirteen players were sent off in this year's hurling championship, 10 of them straight red cards including Darragh McCarthy, Chris Crummey, Shane Barrett, Jack O'Connor (Wexford) and Daithí Burke. That was up on 2024 when there were seven reds (five straight). In this year's Allianz Hurling League, there were 27 red cards, 19 of them double yellow cards. Two players had their proposed suspensions overturned on hearing, one of them being Cork defender Cormac O'Brien against Clare. However, that was well down on last year when there were 46 (29 straight) in the league. Under the FRC's changes, referees have been administering a zero tolerance approach to head-high challenges, while getting involved in a melee other than removing a team-mate from a row is a black card offence. Showing dissent to a referee also results in a free-kick being brought forward 50m. In 2023, the Central Competitions Control Committee along with the Central Hearings and Appeals bodies put forward a suite of rule amendments to tighten up the disciplinary process especially around team officials. Among their motions passed were penalties for infractions by management or backroom figures previously on a match-ban basis being altered to a combination of a time-based suspension and match bans. 'The GAA disciplinary system is going well,' said the GAA's national games administration manager Bernard Smith. 'There is a marked difference between the football and the hurling. 'There have been changes made in the disciplinary system that have led to improvements at all levels. We believe we're in a good spot at the moment in terms of how the system is working for everybody.'
Irish Examiner
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Work on open terrace end of Austin Stack Park will increase capacity to 14,000
WORK on the revamp of the Horan's End of Tralee's Austin Stack Park will begin in the coming weeks and increase the capacity at Kerry GAA's second home to 14,000. Castleisland contractors Griffin Brothers have been appointed to the project and are expected to begin work in early August, and finish early next year in time for the beginning of the Allianz Football League. The terrace works - behind the goal to the right of the main stand as one looks out onto the pitch - involves the development of a facility similar to that on the Mitchel's end of the ground, but without a roof - as well as the construction of a new toilets block for patrons. As the development begins, access to Austin Stack Park from the Horan end will be restricted, but supporters will enter the facility from the current access points closer to the Mitchels, while plans are also in place to create further access points. According to Kerry GAA vice-chair Liam Lynch - who is the chairman of the Austin Stack Park Development Committee - the upcoming works will ensure that Tralee can continue to host major club and National League games. He said the Development Committee, formed almost ten years ago, continues to receive significant support from local businesses. 'The scheme has approximately 150 members. Everyone pays €1,000, and we have other people that pay higher, and we're hugely thankful to every one of those,' Liam said. Recent years have seen the development of the playing pitch, improved floodlights and the development of the Mitchel's end of Austin Stack Park. "Anybody who has been here for the Dublin National League game will know, that's where the Hill 16 on tour goes, and it's been a fantastic addition to the grounds," Liam said. 'The next part of the jigsaw always was to replicate that without the roof in the Horan's End. 'Covid intervened, but now we're in a position to start the Horan's End development,' Lynch explained. 'Austin Park will now be able to cater for 14,000 people, which is fantastic." "It's quite a unique concept," he said. "The businesses of the town and some also from North Kerry, west Kerry and Castleisland areas, have come together to support us. It's their support only, that has enabled us to go out, to borrow the money, and to pay off bank loans over time."
Belfast Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Mickey Harte makes decision on his future as Offaly boss after a strong campaign
Harte joined the set-up last August and since then he has helped to make a significant impact on the county's fortunes. The team won Division Three of the Allianz Football League before losing to All-Ireland Semi-Finalists Meath in the Leinster Championship. The Offaly side showed greater composure and commitment this year and Harte is hopeful that they can offer greater resistance and staying power next year although he acknowledges that they may find the going tougher in Division Two. Harte's impact, though, has been felt both on and off the field in Offaly. The midland county won their first two group matches in the Tailteann Cup against Oisin McConville's Wicklow side and Waterford before a defeat to Justin McNulty's Laois sent Offaly into a Preliminary Quarter-Final against New York. They eventually lost to Kildare in the Tailteann Cup at the Quarter-Final stage with the Lilywhites proceeding into Saturday's Final against Limerick at Croke Park (2.30pm). Meanwhile, the two former Armagh players who have been holding down managerial posts in Leinster will continue in their current roles. McNulty and McConville were in the Armagh team that won the 2002 All-Ireland title but right now McNulty has indicated that he will remain as manager of Laois while it is understood that McConville will continue as the Wicklow team boss. Both McNulty and McConville have made an impact with their respective counties and are particularly keen to chart significant progress next year. McConville has helped to assemble a Wicklow side that has been improving of late and he is particularly keen to take the team further next year.
