The Current Value of the Provincial Football Championships

Posted on June 28, 2015 Updated on August 21, 2016

This weekend saw the semi-finals of the provincial championships in Gaelic Football played in front of mediocre attendances with one group of happy sponsors and another group of sponsors that were probably not as happy as they had hoped.

• Many of the games were predictably one-sided affairs, with predictable scorelines
• Westmeath    3-19      Meath           2-18
• Dublin            5-18      Kildare          0-14
• Donegal         1-9        Derry            0-10
• Monaghan      1-20     Fermanagh   0-13

Last weekend, Cork and Kerry (deliberately kept apart in the Munster Championship draw) predictably eased past their opponents, Clare and Tipperary, respectively.

• Yet another Cork v Kerry Munster Final – no surprises there either !
• And yet another “sell out” crowd expected

Meanwhile, in Connacht, the two best teams in their provincial championship met in one semi-final (Mayo from NFL, Div. 1 predictably beat Galway) and in the weaker of the two semi-finals, Sligo (from the third tier of the NFL) caused a minor upset by beating Roscommon (from NFL, Div. 2).

• But what does all of this mean?
• Have we learned anything about the top teams?

Yes, and no !

• Cork and Kerry will have played a competitive Munster Final
• Donegal and Monaghan will have played in very competitive Ulster Championship
• All four of these NFL, Div. 1 sides are genuine All-Ireland contenders

• Mayo will probably emerge as provincial champions – for the 5th year in a row !
• Dublin will probably emerge as provincial champions – also for the 5th year in a row !
• Neither will have encountered a NFL, Division 1 side on their way
• We simply will not know how good they are until they play a top tier team
  • Assuming they win their provincial championship, the All-ireland Quarter-Final will be their first genuinely competitive game
  • They will both be short of match practice compared to their opponents
  • Their opponents will have played a NFL Div. 1 side in the Championship
• And, if their supporters are honest, they have no clue as to how competitive they will be
• Joe Brolly thinks Dublin “are good to watch” but he hasn’t seen them play a Div. 1 side yet

If we were to analyse the National Football League tables and assign a value, we would perhaps be in a better position to judge how far apart the counties in the lower leagues are from the top tier. Now I know people always say … wait ’til the championship to see the real deal … but the provincial championships are, in my opinion ‘not fit for purpose’ anymore.

The fans know this, the sponsors know this and the GAA knows this.

If we ‘invert’ the finishing place in the NFL with a score out of 32, we see Cork with a score of  32, Dublin with a score of 31, Monaghan with a score of 30, etc. … right down to London (who finished 32nd) with a score of 1. Then multiply these scores by 10 to get a rating.

This gives us the following table.

National Football League, Div. 1
Rank	County	Rating
1	CORK	320
2	DUBLIN	310
3	MONAGHAN	300
4	DONEGAL	290
5	MAYO	280
6	KERRY	270
7	TYRONE	260
8	DERRY	250
National Football League, Div. 2
Rank	County	Rating
9	DOWN	240
10	ROSCOMMON	230
11	MEATH	220
12	GALWAY	210
13	CAVAN	200
14	LAOIS	190
15	WESTMEATH	180
16	KILDARE	170
National Football League, Div. 3
Rank	County	Rating
17	FERMANAGH	160
18	ARMAGH	150
19	TIPPERARY	140
20	SLIGO	130
21	CLARE	120
22	LIMERICK	110
23	LOUTH	100
24	WEXFORD	90
National Football League, Div. 4
Rank	County	Rating
25	LONGFORD	80
26	OFFALY	70
27	ANTRIM	60
28	LEITRIM	50
29	CARLOW	40
30	WATERFORD	30
31	WICKLOW	20
32	LONDON	10

If we sort this table by province, and average the ratings, we see which provincial championship is strongest … and by how much. The results are quite revealing.

Province Rank	Football Rating
Ulster	212
Munster	165
Connacht	152
Leinster	134

I believe the only way to break this mould is to scrap the un-balanced provincial championships and run an All-Ireland Championships based on an open, seeded draw with 8 groups of 4 counties.

• The seedings would be based on National Football League finishing places
• The ‘Top 8’ in the NFL would be kept apart (like Cork and Kerry already are in Munster)
• All teams are guaranteed a minimum of 7 games per summer
• This will appeal to the fans, the sponsors and local businesses in all 32 counties
• Playing 2 games against Div.1 side + 2 games against a Div. 2 side will benefit the Div. 3 & 4 sides
• This is the only way Div. 3 & 4 squads will improve at ALL-Ireland Championship level
• Playing on muddy pitches in front of small crowds in cold, wet weather in the NFL is not what players aspire to. They are, no doubt, proud to wear their county jersey no matter when or where they play, but they deserve more from the GAA.
  • Their fans deserve more
  • And their sponsors deserve more

And there are now more than enough TV channels to televise all of the games at all of the venues throughout May, June and July.

• I’d also recommend playing the Junior and Intermediate competitions as a ‘curtain raiser’ for each senior game – these teams deserve an audience and the same venue on the same day as the SF teams.

Last week I read an article from a leading newspaper complaining that Wicklow football fans only got 6½ minutes of highlights on RTE and how unfair this was.

• It did not reflect the 7 months of hard training put in by the Wicklow players and mentors
• It seems crazy that after 1 game in Leinster and 1 qualifier, Wicklow’s season is over
• It doesn’t give Wicklow GAA players, fans or sponsors much hope for the future
• And, most importantly, it does little for the juvenile players

Other articles supporting the idea of an open, seeded draw for the All-Ireland Championships:

• How the GAA can help itself, local communities and Ireland
• The sponsorship divide at GAA county level can only be fixed via an open draw
• Re-vamp the All-Ireland Championships and National League Competitions
• Economic benefits of re-vamping the National League & All-Ireland Championship ?

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For those of you who are interested, I include my provincial ratings and how I calculated my average rating for each provincial championship. It makes grim reading for Dubs fans and illustrates how weak the Leinster Senior Football Championship really is.

• Provincial finalists are shown in red text
  • Would it benefit Dublin and Mayo to lose their provincial finals and get a ‘competitive match’ before a potential quarter-final game?

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Ulster SF Championship

Rank	County	Rating	Province
3	MONAGHAN	300	U
4	DONEGAL	290	U
7	TYRONE	260	U
8	DERRY	250	U
9	DOWN	240	U
13	CAVAN	200	U
17	FERMANAGH	160	U
18	ARMAGH	150	U
27	ANTRIM	60	U
	Average =	212

Munster SF Championship

Rank	County	Rating	Province
1	CORK	320	M
6	KERRY	270	M
19	TIPPERARY	140	M
21	CLARE	120	M
22	LIMERICK	110	M
30	WATERFORD	30	M
	Average =	165

Connacht SF Championship

Rank	County	Rating	Province
5	MAYO	280	C
10	ROSCOMMON	230	C
12	GALWAY	210	C
20	SLIGO	130	C
28	LEITRIM	50	C
32	LONDON	10	C
	Average =	152

Leinster SF Championship

Rank	County	Rating	Province
2	DUBLIN	310	L
11	MEATH	220	L
14	LAOIS	190	L
15	WESTMEATH	180	L
16	KILDARE	170	L
23	LOUTH	100	L
24	WEXFORD	90	L
25	LONGFORD	80	L
26	OFFALY	70	L
29	CARLOW	40	L
31	WICKLOW	20	L
	Average =	134