This week the GAA announced a new inter-county fixtures plan for 2020, and yesterday Kerry Co Board sent a revised fixtures calendar to clubs, with games starting on July 18th/19th.
There have been some changes to procedures, venue planning, timeline for notification, result on the day etc to best proceed with competitions under the ‘new normal’ for the remainder of the year.
The revised fixtures schedule is available here and important information for each competition is outlined below. The main points for Spa in the Intermediate Championship is that Round 1 has been brought forward to July 25th/26th and this year only there will be 2 teams qualifying in each group instead of one. Details of date, venue etc will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The draw for this year’s Senior County Championship will be made on Terrace Talk on Radio Kerry this Monday night June 29th.
2020 Club Competitions - changes to note:
Senior Football Championship
16 teams – 4 Rds - Straight knock-out – Open Draw - Result on the Day unless otherwise decided by the CCC. Venues as decided by the CCC.
For all games in the Championship, the CCC may and without requiring the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games
Senior Hurling Championship
8 teams – 3 Rds - Straight knock-out – Open Draw - Result on the day unless otherwise decided by the CCC. Venues as decided by the CCC.
For all games in the Championship, the CCC may and without requiring the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games
Senior Club Championship
(No major changes from previous years)
8 teams – 2 Groups of four with top team in each Group playing in the final. Relegation as per previous years. Date for Final may be brought forward by the CCC. Draws for the Group stages already made.
Venues for Group stages as per previous years i.e. one home, one away & one neutral. Except where the CCC agrees to make an exception, a club that refuses to host a neutral club championship game will automatically lose their home game.
For all games in the Senior Club Championship, the CCC may and without the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
Intermediate Football & Junior Premier Football Club Championships
16 teams – 4 Groups of four with top two teams in each Group qualifying for the Qtr. Finals. Promotion/Relegation as per previous years. Date for Quarter, Semis & Final may be brought forward by the CCC. Draws for the Group stages already made.
Venues for Group stages as per previous years i.e. one home, one away & one neutral. Except where the CCC agrees to make an exception, a club that refuses to host a neutral club championship game will automatically lose their home game.
For all games in the Intermediate & Junior Premier Club Championship, the CCC may and without the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
Please note the change to allowing two teams qualify from each Group is only applicable for this year’s championship. The rules & regulations for next year’s club championship would revert back to previous years unless changed by County Committee.
Junior Football Championship
16 teams – 4 Groups of four with top two teams in each Group qualifying for the Qtr. Finals. Promotion/Relegation as per previous years. Date for Quarter, Semis & Final may be brought forward by the CCC. Draws for Preliminary Rd and Group stages already made.
A preliminary Rd game (Cromane v Ballylongford) will be fixed for July 18/19 with winners progressing to Rd 1 which commences the following week.
Venues for Group stages as per previous years i.e. one home, one away & one neutral. Except where the CCC agrees to make an exception, a club that refuses to host a neutral club championship game will automatically lose their home game.
For all games in the Junior Club Championship, the CCC may and without the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
Please note the change to allowing two teams qualify from each Group is only applicable for this year’s championship. The rules & regulations for next year’s club championship would revert back to previous years unless changed by County Committee.
Novice Championship
No changes - as per previous years
For all games in the Novice Championship, the CCC may and without the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
District Championships (Football)
The Committee in Charge of the District Championships remain the respective District Boards with the following exceptional conditions only in place for this year’s championships and only there if required to support the local Board. All disciplinary issues, referee appointments, notification of fixtures, etc remain the responsibility of the District Boards.
· All District Boards to co-ordinate their Championship Draws & Fixtures with the County Board CCC.
· District Boards only allowed to organise Senior District Championships. Any requests to organise Senior Leagues, Juvenile competitions including tournaments or blitzes would need the prior approval of the County Board CCC.
· The CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of the respective District Board or teams involved bring forward or postpone a District Championship fixture – note exception: unless agreed by both the respective District Board and the County Board CCC, no team will be fixed to play in the district championship while still having players involved in Senior Football County Championship,
· For all games in the various District Championships, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved or the respective District Board, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
· Note: There is no compulsion on District Boards to complete their championships within the designated Club Window Period. The objective is to try where possible, to progress the competitions down to the closing stages i.e. S/Finals or Finals before the inter-county season kicks in, in more cases it may be possible to finish the competition.
Junior Football Leagues
Groups of 4 with each team playing 3 games. The relative strength of teams participating plus geographical considerations will be taken into account when deciding the makeup of each group.
Participation will be by invitation, with all teams both ‘B’ & ‘C’ facilitated.
For all games in the Junior Leagues, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved or the respective District Board, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
For the initial games programme their will be no Junior Cups but these will be considered during a mid Sept review of all competitions by the CCC.
Minor Football Leagues (U18)
Groups of 4 with each team playing 3 games. The relative strength of teams participating plus geographical considerations will be taken into account when deciding the makeup of each group.
For all games in the Minor Football Leagues, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved or the respective District Board, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
U17 Championship
Similar to previous years Minor Championship – Straight knockout. Max number of teams = 16, made up of traditional District/Group teams plus Club teams.
Please note from 2021 onwards the Age Grades for Club Competitions to change to U17, U15, U13 following Congress decision earlier this year.
For all games in the U17 Football Championship, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved or the respective District Board, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
Senior County League
The Senior County League will not be played during the present Club Window Period. The CCC when reviewing all games activity in Mid-Sept will re-visit the situation pertaining to the league and may consider a ‘slimmed down’ county league while the inter-county games are being played.
Juvenile Fixtures
Note: All Juvenile fixtures in the County will be organised by the County Coiste na nÓg. Senior District Boards are asked to make sure their Juvenile Section is aware of this.
For all games organised by Coiste na nÓG, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
Other Hurling Competitions:
North Kerry District Hurling Championship
The Committee in Charge remain the North Kerry District Hurling Board with the following exceptional conditions only in place for this year’s championship and only there if required to support the Board. All disciplinary issues, referee appointments, notification of fixtures, etc remain the responsibility of the North Kerry Hurling Board.
The NKHB to co-ordinate their Championship Draws & Fixtures with the County Board CCC.
NKHB only allowed to organise Senior District Championship. Any requests to organise Senor Leagues, Juvenile competitions including tournaments or blitzes would need the prior approval of the County Board CCC.
The CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of the respective District Board or teams involved bring forward or postpone a District Championship fixture.
For all games in the Championship, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved or the respective District Board, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
South Kerry District Hurling Championship
The Committee in Charge remain the South Kerry District Hurling Board with the following exceptional conditions only in place for this year’s championship and only there if required to support the Board. All disciplinary issues, referee appointments, notification of fixtures, etc remain the responsibility of the South Kerry Hurling Board.
The SKHB to co-ordinate their Championship Format, Draws & Fixtures with the County Board CCC.
SKHB only allowed to organise Senior District Championship. Any requests to organise Senor Leagues, Juvenile competitions including tournaments or blitzes would need the prior approval of the County Board CCC.
The CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of the respective District Board or teams involved bring forward or postpone a District Championship fixture.
For all games in the Championship, the CCC of the County Board may and without the agreement of either team involved or the respective District Board, change venue at short notice and play midweek games regardless of any ‘entitlements’ to home venue or weekend games.
County Intermediate Hurling Championship
Format as per previous years – straight knock-out - Result on the Day.
Preliminary Rd byes may in the first instance be given to dual clubs to lessen the load on dual players during the round robin stages of the club football championships.
The CCC may for the purpose of Grading include a player’s participation in this year’s North Kerry Hurling Championship.
For all games in the Championship, the CCC may and without requiring the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games
Minor Hurling Championship – (U18)
Format – Straight knock-out. Result on the Day
For all games in the Championship, the CCC may and without requiring the agreement of either team involved, change venue at short notice and play midweek games