Agreed and if the final was a draw .
Half of the 32 club football championships are behind where they were in 2017, despite the new look inter-county season which was designed in part to condense the club season.
RTĂ Sport contacted every county board in the country and found that only one county, Waterford, are ahead of where they were this weekend 12 months ago.
Fifteen counties are at the same stage in the football championship, while exactly half are at least one round behind, when compared to the 2017 season.
Looking at the 10 hurling counties that competed in the Leinster and Munster hurling championships this season, again only Waterford are ahead of last yearâs schedule.
Four counties are at the same stage, while Galway, Cork, Limerick and Offaly are behind where they were 12 months ago.
A master fixture list for the 2018 season was announced at Congress last year, with one of the changes seeing April freed up for club action, with the Allianz Football League Division 1 and 2 finals the only inter-county games taking place that month.
There were immediate words of caution, even right from the top, about how it would play out.
âPersonally, I think youâll find that not many counties will play club championship matches in April,â the then GAA Director General PĂĄraic Duffy said at the time. By 8 July, there will be eight teams left [football championship] so I think youâre going to see championships being played in July, August and September."
Crucially, he added the GAA couldnât enforce the changes, suggesting wisely it would âprobably be an issueâ.
A report in The Irish Time s earlier this year found that the GAAâs club-only month of April had not been used by over half of county boards for their respective championships.
Some counties have tweaked their structures and reported better scheduling and more competitive leagues, but RTĂ Sport has found that half of the club football championship seasons are behind where they were 12 months ago.
Indeed the Waterford SFC is the only one ahead of last yearâs schedule. The Deiseâs run to the All-Ireland hurling final in 2017 impacted on last yearâs scheduling, while they have also rejigged the format. April has been a contributing factor.
âWe got two hurling and two football games played in April. Last year it was two hurling and one football and that would have been in May,â says county secretary Pat Flynn.
âThere are only three weekends left to finish out the football season, including this weekend.â
In the first year of the new GAA inter-county structure, it should be noted that two-thirds of the counties behind last yearâs schedule are just one round worse off.
As long as the provincial club championships remain scheduled for October-December, there is little incentive for counties to finish their championships any earlier.
Also, a number of counties have tinkered with their structures. Derry are three rounds behind 2017, but they have overhauled their previous structure and only begin their football championship this weekend.
Kerry have adopted a new approach where they didnât play any games until the Kingdom exited the All-Ireland race, which came earlier than most anticipated.
Wicklow, after consultation with the Leinster Council, decided to complete fully their league fixtures before commencing their championship. They may be one round behind, but wonât face issues post-championship such as inability to fulfil remaining fixtures.
Limerick have been forced to push back their games due to the hurlersâ All-Ireland success, while the Donegal club championship begins five weeks after Declan Bonnerâs men exited the Super 8s.
Donegal CCC has said the fixtures were formatted as requested by the clubs at the beginning of the year and that the Championship has stuck to these dates.
A significant development in the inter-county calendar is that it has made the possibility of spending the summer - or at least a portion of it - abroad a much more realistic prospect.
Philip Mahony, Darragh Fives and Tadhg de Burca all departed for Australia the day after Waterfordâs disappointing Munster campaign came to a conclusion, while Tipperary hurlers Patrick Maher, Cathal Barrett and Ronan Maher pitched up in New York. All six players were finished their inter-county duties by mid-June.
Diarmuid Connolly was the most high profile departure this summer once he decided to take a year out with Dublin, while Mayoâs Diarmuid OâConnor and Conor Loftus made Chicago their temporary home when their quest for Sam Maguire came to an earlier than expected end.
> "Club players are in the main more disillusioned than they were in 2017"
The month of April has been a divisive issue, with the Club Players Association telling RTĂ Sport that âthe month of April as a club month was only capable of been put into good use by counties who were not playing provincial openers in May.â
Roscommon â one round behind their 2017 schedule - played two rounds of championship in April for the first time ever and the CPA contends that the players involved were unhappy over the long break between round 2 and 3 which effectively meant two pre-seasons.
âThe effect on the club season has been largely negative and club players are in the main more disillusioned than they were in 2017.â
The findings in hurling are similar. Of the 10 teams that competed in the Munster and Leinster championships, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Offaly are behind where they were a year ago.
Only Waterford are ahead of last yearâs club scheduling.
Kilkennyâs championship remains at the same juncture, though the CPA highlights the Cats as further proof of disjointed system and says there has been âsignificant unrestâ in the county.
When Brian Codyâs side were dominating the hurling landscape, a round of games was put on after each championship outing.
This year the Cats bowed out in mid July, but didnât play a single game over the months of May, June and July, with the round-robin impacting the early stages of the summer scheduling.
A spokesperson for the GAA confirmed they are âmonitoringâ the situation. There may be further tweaking to be done, but the feeling is that clubs have a better run at tackling their respective championships.
âWe are finished our inter-county season two weeks earlier than 2017 so this should assist counties in getting their club championships played in better weather and in time for onwards advancement to the provincial championships.â
Fair point but why the need for all Ireland finals in September? Inter county season should be over by August bank holiday. All Ireland club finished in calendar year.
The seasons should be completely separate and the intercounty should be over by the end of July
Agreed but will the gaa take the money hit? No chance.
Thatâs very poorly written. The 2018 Derry SFC follows the exact same format as the 2017 edition.
It started four weeks later in 2018 than in 2017.
It must be one of very few senior championships that is straight knockout.
When was the last time a team won a real All Ireland? You know, went unbeaten in the year, the championship this year was like an U10s camogie blitz everyone gets a chance and the coaches decide in the back room who gets the biggest medals.
Dublin 2018
Dublin 2017
Dublin 2016
Dublin 2015
Dublin 2013
Dublin 2011
Did you read the thread title ?
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You said âa real All-Irelandâ.
First of all, that doesnât specify which All-Ireland youâre talking about.
But secondly, âa real All-Irelandâ has to refer to the senior football All-Ireland championship, as it is a genuine all Ireland competition, whereas only 10 counties compete in the hurling version, which is not all Ireland, but 5/16ths of the counties of Ireland, ie., less than a third.
Did you read the thread title ?
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Was it Tipperary in 1964? They were unbeaten in both league and championship. Iâve heard Babs Keating mention it a few times.
Galway went close in 2017 but Wexford won in Salthill.
I donât think even the most biased Limerick supporter thinks theyâre the best team in the country. Fair play to them for winning it, but theyâre the Graeme Dott of this yearâs hurling championship. Very doughty competitors, hard to shake off and have now claimed the ultimate prize in a year where their superiors werenât at the races for one reason or another. I still think Ronnie OâSullivan, John Higgins and a few others were better players than Dott the year he won it.
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John Higgins lost 10-4 in the first round of the 2006 World Championship to unseeded Crucible debutant Mark Selby.
Tipp did it in 2001. Kilkenny probably did one of the years in the 2000s?
No need to ladybird my point, mate.
Ah lovely 
An asterisk did it in 2001
Was just looking it up there. Youâre actually on to something. Lot of similarities between Graeme Dott and Limerick. Graeme had to beat 5 players, 4 of them world champions - John Parrott, Neil Robertson, Ronnie OâSullivan and Peter Ebdon, the fifth Nigel Bond a beaten world finalist. Graeme Dott won the greatest World Snooker Championship ever won just like Limerick this year won the greatest All Ireland Hurling Championship ever won.
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Ooooofffftt for cinema head
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