Saturday’s provincial football draw set to be the most significant in recent years

The draws for next year’s GAA provincial championships will take place live on Saturday afternoon on RTÉ Radio 1′s Saturday Sport. The football draw, which is the principal event as hurling is played on a round-robin basis, promises to be the most significant of its kind in recent years given the splitting of championship teams between Tier 1, the Sam Maguire, and Tier 2, the Tailteann Cup.

That distribution will be made partly on the basis of provincial championships, as the eight finalists will be seeded into the four groups to contest the Tier 1 competition and partly on league position at the end of the 2023 season, with the next eight highest-placed league teams completing the field.

The remaining 16 counties will be drawn into the four Tier 2 groups.

Draws will be overseen by Bernard Smith, the GAA’s games administration manager, and conducted by representatives of the provincial councils. Former Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Tyrone All-Ireland winner Seán Cavanagh will provide analysis.

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It is expected that the business will commence just after 4pm on the programme, which runs from 3-6pm in the afternoon.

This summer the football championship ran along similar lines with the eight provincial finalists evenly divided between Division One (Galway, Roscommon, Donegal and Kerry) and Division Two counties (Derry, Dublin, Kildare and Limerick) in the 2023 National League.

Accordingly there was no need for Division Two counties to make way for those from the lower two divisions, who had qualified for the provincial finals.

In any event, Croke Park handed down a derogation, stating that the Sam Maguire would be open to taking more than 16 counties. In other words no Division Two teams would have to make way, regardless of how many Division Three and Four teams qualified for provincial finals.

That escape clause won’t be available this year, which means that if any teams from the lower half of the league qualify for provincial finals, a corresponding number of Division Two teams will have to drop to the Tailteann Cup.

There is an added complication in that Westmeath, who won the Tailteann Cup in July, are now guaranteed entry to the Sam Maguire. The county, which will play in Division Three of next year’s league will be a guaranteed addition to the field even if they fail to secure promotion.

The first county to make way will be the beaten Division Three finalists – regardless of who finishes first or second in the regulation season – followed by the divisional winners and the teams that finish sixth and up in Division Two (the seventh- and eighth-placed teams are relegated and will play in the Tailteann Cup).

If Westmeath have to be accommodated that will be clear from the end of the league, but any surprise provincial finalists may not be in evidence until later in the summer.

Saturday’s draws will, however, indicate if there is an easier path for counties in the lower divisions, which may cause anxieties in what will be a very competitive Division Two.