Cork GAA County Leagues 2018
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Cork GAA County Leagues 2018 Background Rebalancing the Hurling Leagues League Regulations 2018 Appendix 1. Senior Hurling League Format 2018 Background With new inter-county championship formats introduced in both football (Super 8s) and hurling (provincial group stage) for 2018, the changing inter-county scene will have a significant impact on club programmes within Cork. While the intense inter-county programme for the first half of the year (with the exception of the ‘April window’ for club fixtures) may restrict significant progression of club championships beyond round 1, it also presents an ideal opportunity to present to players a definite league programme across the spring and summer months and to finish all league programmes earlier. With this in mind, significant time has been spent in reviewing all aspects of the senior and intermediate leagues in Cork for 2018 and beyond. In line with the wishes of clubs to finish leagues earlier and play regularly throughout the summer, a complete programme of games with ratified times and dates is included. Cognisance is also taken of providing an equal number of weekends for football and hurling, as well as of the inter-county programme in terms of both league and championship and of course the club championship window in April / May. A league ‘masterplan’ is included in the table below. The following points are worth noting. • 12 league weekends are listed for both football and hurling, respectively, across 6 months, from February to July. The final round of league fixtures is on Sunday, July 29th. No league group will have more than 12 regular rounds and most will have less, therefore finishing earlier than the above date. • A further 4-week period, running to Sunday August 26th has been designated as a ‘catch-up’ period for unplayed games. This date is the final cut-off point for all league fixtures. If Cork senior teams exit in late June / early July, then the recommencement of club championships might affect the league dates set for July. Therefore, August also allows some room for ‘catching up’ in this regard also. • Not all league groups have 12 rounds of fixtures, therefore some groups will start later / finish earlier than others. • Where clubs are fixed to play games against second teams, they are asked to allow flexibility in the re-fixing of such games due to the obvious clash. • The calendar is adapted to avoid direct clashes with Cork senior championship games. Thus, games in May, June and July alternate between Saturdays and Sundays based on current information. Later rounds may be switched depending on the progress of Cork teams. • If clubs require additional fixtures, the board would consider the reintroduction of various tournaments such as the Tadhg Crowley Cup or the hurling equivalent in late summer for those who neared completion of their league programmes. • With regard to the availability of county senior footballers, three dates have been listed on which all such players will be available for club league games: Sunday Feb 18th, Sunday March 11th and Sunday April 15th. An additional date may be added depending on progress in the National league. This has been agreed with the senior football management. In addition it has been proposed by the same management that they carry reduced panels to national league fixtures. • With regard to the availability of county senior hurlers, two dates have been listed on which all such players will be available for club league games Sunday April 8th and Sunday, April 22nd. Given the condensed nature of the National hurling league there are no other dates available at present, pending Cork’s progression to the later stages of the leagues. This has been agreed with the senior hurling management. Finally, while the ‘masterplan’ gives the overall start and finish dates for leagues, the actual dates for first and last rounds dates for each division are as follows, notwithstanding the period running until August 26th for catching up on unplayed games. Football Leagues First round Last round Teams Rounds Football - Division 1 Sun, Feb 4th Sun, July 8th 11 11 (incl. bye) Football - Division 2 Sun, Feb 4th Sun, July 8th 11 11 (incl. bye) Football - Division 3 Sun, Feb 4th Sun, July 8th 11 11 (incl. bye) Football - Division 4 Sun, Feb 4th Sun, July 8th 11 11 (incl. bye) Football - Division 5 Sun, Feb 18th Sun, July 8th 10 9 Hurling Leagues First round Last round Senior Hurling League Sun, Feb 25th Sun, July 29th 18 12 Hurling - Division 1 Sun, Feb 25th Sun, July 15th 12 11 Hurling - Division 2 Sun, March 4th Sat, June 30th 9 9 (incl. bye) Hurling - Division 3 Sun, March 4th Sat, June 30th 10 9 Hurling - Division 4 Sun, Feb 25th Sun, July 15th 12 11 League Football Hurling Month w/e Club Inter-county Football League & Cship Inter-county Hurling League & Cship Rounds Rounds Code January 28th Sat 27th v Tipperary in PUC @5pm Sat 27th v Kilkenny in PUC @7pm 4th Football Rnd 1 - Sun Sun 4th v Down in Newry @1.30pm Sun 4th v Wexford in Wexford @2pm 11th Football Rnd 2 - Sun Sun 11th v Louth in PUR @2pm February 18th Football Rnd 3 - Sun** **County players available on Sun 18th** Sun 18th v Clare in Ennis @2pm 25th Hurling Rnd 1 - Sun Sun 25th v Cavan in PUC @1pm Sun 25th v Waterford in PUC @3pm 4th Hurling Rnd 2 - Sun Sun 4th v Meath in Navan @3pm Sun 4th v Tipperary in Thurles @2.30pm 11th Football Rnd 4 - Sun** **County players available on Sun 11th** Sun 11th NHL 1/4 finals March 18th Hurling Rnd 3 - Sun Sat 17th v Clare in PUR @7pm Sun 18th NHL 1/2 finals 25th Hurling Rnd 4 - Sun Sun 25th v Rosscommon away @3pm Sat 24th NHL Final 1st Football Rnd 5 - Sun Sun 1st NFL Final Club Championship Window 8th Hurling Rnd 5 - Sun** Club Championship Window Club Championship Window April 15th Football Rnd 6 - Sun** Club Championship Window Club Championship Window 22nd Hurling Rnd 6 - Sun** Club Championship Window Club Championship Window 29th - Club Championship Window Club Championship Window 6th - Club Championship Window Club Championship Window 13th Football Rnd 7 - Sun Club Championship Window Inter-county window May 20th Hurling Rnd 7 - Sat Club Championship Window Sun 20th Cship v Clare in PUC 27th Football Rnd 8 - Sat Inter-county window Sun 27th Cship v Tipperary in Thurles 3rd Hurling Rnd 8 - Sun Sat 2nd Cship v Tipp (Thurles) or W'ford (Cork) Sat 2nd Cship v Limerick in PUC 10th Football Rnd 9 - Sun June 17th Hurling Rnd 9 - Sat Sun 17th Cship v Waterford away 24th Football Rnd 10 - Sun Sat 23rd Munster Football Final (or Rnd 2 Qual) 1st Hurling Rnd 10 - Sat Sat 30th Football Qualifiers Rnd 3 Sun 1st Munster Hurling Final 8th Football Rnd 11 - Sun Sat 7th / Sun 8th Football Qualifiers Rnd 4 Sat 7th / Sun 8th Preliminary 1/4 Finals July 15th Hurling Rnd 11 - Sun Sat 14th / Sun 15th All Ire. Football 1/4 Finals Sun 15th All Ire. Hurling 1/4 Finals 22nd Football Rnd 12 - Sun Sat 22nd / Sun 23rd All Ire Football 1/4 Finals 29th Hurling Rnd 12 - Sun Sat 28th / Sun 29th All Ire. Hurling 1/2 Finals August 5th Sat 4th / Sun 5th All Ire. Football 1/4 Finals Start Dates Football Div 1-4 = Feb 4th; Div 5 = Feb 18th Start Dates Hurling SHL, Div 1 & 4 = Feb 25th; Div 2 & 3 = March 4th Rebalancing the Hurling Leagues The integrity of all league groups as they finished in 2017 has been maintained, with promotion and relegation completed as agreed at the start of 2017. This means, however, that some groups have more teams than others. With 18 teams in the senior hurling league it has now been agreed that all teams in this league will play 12 group games against a balanced sample taken from the 18 teams (Appendix 1) with their championship first round game representing a 13th fixture. Unlike other groups, the top 8 in the senior hurling league will proceed to a quarter final play-off stage, thus giving 8 teams a 14th game. Meanwhile, the smallest group is the 9 teams in division 2 of the hurling leagues. This has been caused by the winners of the Premier Intermediate championship coming from this division in the last two years. It is planned to address such imbalances through promotion and relegation over the next three years. At the end of each of the next three seasons (2018, 2019 and 2020), there will be two teams relegated from the Senior Hurling League with one team promoted from Division 1. There will be no link between promotion / relegation in league and championship. Therefore the teams in the senior hurling leagues will be reduced from 18 to 15 over the same period. In an effort to balance the other league groups, relegation and promotion for the next three years is set out below. Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 SHL #Teams 18 17 16 15 End of Year Relegation / 2 down 1 up 2 down 1 up 2 down 1 up Promotion SHL to D1 Division 1 #Teams 12 12 12 12 End of Year Relegation / 2 down 1 up 2 down 1 up 2 down 1 up Promotion D1 to D2 Division 2 #Teams 9 10 11 12 End of Year Relegation / 2 down 2 up 2 down 2 up 2 down 2 up Promotion D2 to D3 Division 3 #Teams 10 11 12 12 End of Year Relegation / 1 down 2 up 1 down 2 up 2 down 2 up Promotion D3 to D4 Division 4 #Teams 12 12? 12? 12? End of Year Relegation / 1 up 1 up 1 down? 1 up Promotion D4 to Junior* Total # Teams 61 62? 63? 63? * End of Year Relegation / Promotion from Division 4 to Junior is based on championship promotion / relegation Where one team is promoted from a division, it will be the winners of the league final who move up.