Should the All Ireland championship be restructured? Well that is the question on everyone`s lips but does the championship really need an overhaul?
I believe that it does need a shakeup. Out of all the four provinces championships, there are only two provinces championships that are competitive and are exciting to watch. These are the Munster and Ulster championships. With the likes of Kerry, Cork in Munster and the likes of Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal in the Ulster championship. These two championships are very unpredictable for example nobody gave Monaghan a hope of beating Donegal in the Ulster final.
But when it comes to the Leinster and Connaught football championships. You could easily predict who would win those championships as those two championships are so weak. Dublin walk the Leinster championship every year they haven`t had a worthy challenger for a few years.
Likewise, with Mayo they easily won the Connacht championship embarrassing Sligo in the final by winning by 26 points.
As strong as the two teams that Dublin and Mayo are. They have been caught out in the past struggling against the better teams due to the fact they don`t face a real test until they reach the semi-finals at the very least.
While on the other hand the traditionally smaller counties championship summer is limited to the all-Ireland qualifiers getting knocked out in the provincial stage, and when they come up a big county they get embarrassed.
So I recommend the GAA seed the teams so in the later championships the best teams play each other and the smaller teams who beat the other small teams have a better chance against a strong team than they would if they were just drawn against them. As it would make the football championship more exciting for sure.
The GPA (the GAA player’s union). Have put forward their proposal for a restructure to the GAA. Surely if the 2016 provincial championship is as predictable as last few championships. Surely the GAA will have to breathe new life into the championship.
Image Courtsey of http://www.crokepark.ie/events/upcoming-events/all-ireland-football-finals
And it`s over the bar 