Tedious group games beckon before real football action begins

By Kevin Egan

Last week we heralded the start of the Offaly hurling championships with enthusiasm and excitement for the action that was to come, but sadly it’s impossible to do the same for the opening contests in the race for football honours this weekend.

A format that has more or less rendered all group games meaningless simply will not catch the imagination of supporters; it will not bring about real championship intensity in the latter stages of games; and it’s a sure fire guarantee that if teams have any tactical or personnel surprises up their sleeves, they’ll keep their powder dry until the quarter-final rounds, when there will actually be something at stake.

This is even more demoralising for football enthusiasts in the county, because at the top level in particular, Offaly club football has not made for good viewing for some time now. Just three clubs have reached a county senior final in the last six years, and just five clubs have played the top grade final in the last 16 years. It’s not as if the standard has been exceptional either – 2018 was the last time the Offaly senior champions won their first round game in Leinster, and if there isn’t a huge surprise in the next two campaigns, the 40-year anniversary of the last provincial champions from the county will roll around.

If the yardstick is competitiveness at intermediate and junior level, then the decision to reduce all championships to eight teams has worked out, but the idea that standards are raised by this structure is highly debatable at best. Indeed, there is a strong case to suggest that just like at senior inter-county level, where the teams that consistently compete at Division One level have moved well clear of the rest due to consistently playing each other, the same thing applies in Offaly club football. Even with just eight teams at senior 'A' level, there are still two or three that would be massive outsiders against Tullamore in a knockout game, and they’d have a lot to do to stay close to Ferbane or Rhode as well.

The saddest aspect of it all is that at senior B and intermediate level, the group games were actually quite competitive in recent years, and this will be lost now, all because so many of the clubs of the county didn’t think through their decision to vote in this new format.

Possible solutions

Another knock-on effect of the new system is that while it’s pretty clear that things will be changed next year, no one knows right now what the change will be. That creates a fundamental problem, which is that clubs don’t exactly know what they’re competing for. Perhaps the solution is to expand to ten senior teams next year, or maybe 12? Could a return to the ‘weak group’ concept be considered? Ideally the system would be consistent down the grades, but that makes it even more difficult to determine who will play at each level.

That creates a fundamental unfairness, in that it might make no difference in 2025 if you finish this year ranked 10th as opposed to 13th, or it might make all the difference in the world. But in the absence of time to devise new structures, circulate and explain them to clubs, and to allow clubs to discuss with members and then come back with preferences, the 2024 championships have to proceed.

One step that could help here would be to agree now that all championships will be “played out” to create a final ranking of teams, so that every team, including second teams, will know where they stand when the final whistle sounds on Dowling Cup final day. Then, when new systems are being discussed, there will be no ambiguity about who would fall into what level.

Sure, it’s unlikely that there would be any reason why it would make a difference as to who is ranked 5th and who is ranked 6th, but it might, and for that reason, a play-off between the teams that win their relegation semi-finals should be played. If one team decides not to field, so be it – but they can have no complaints then if it turns out that in 2025, the preferred system is a ten-team senior championship with a strong group and a weak group, for example.

As for what this column would suggest? Replicating the hurling, essentially. Two equal groups of five, winner into semi-finals, second plays third across the groups in quarter-finals, bottom-placed teams contest relegation finals. Also with ten teams at intermediate, and then either ten or 12 at junior. Ending the charade of calling the second tier championship the ‘senior B’ would be an added bonus.

There’s not much point in going down the prognostication route just yet, considering how the real action won’t begin until September, but for the record it’s hard to see Tullamore dethroned at senior and if there is a springer to come from the pack, it can only be Durrow.

At senior B level, it surely must be time for Clara to pull themselves together and start producing consistently decent performances, while the intermediate championship could potentially be the most watchable of them all, when the geographical split of the groups is considered. Raheen should be favourites, but it’s not difficult to pick out reasons why both Ballinagar and Tullamore should be in the mix, with Erin Rovers also capable of beating anyone on their day.