What do posters think of the below potential format for the All Ireland Hurling Championship. Not my own but one of my housemates came up with it. If it went Open Draw Id prefer to have Munster and Leinster teams mixed but the likes of Frank Murphy are dead set on keeping some sort of Munster Championship so the below format would suit those people:
This here system is simple, practical and it could be run off in 3-4 months, leaving room for the club hurling to breath in August, September and October.
All-Ireland Hurling Championship System:
Two Groups:
Group A: Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford.
Group B: Kilkenny, Wexford, Offaly, Galway, ANOTHER.
The above groups should stay the same each year, whereby you hold on to your Munster Championship and your “Leinster” Championship. I think everyone is in agreement that the Munster Championship remain, so this is a chance to run the Munster Champiosnhip alongside the All-Ireland Championship. The ANOTHER team can be the winners of the Christy Ring Cup from the previous year. They would replace the team who finished last in Group B.
Each team in each group play one another once. This will give each county a minimum of four championship matches. It will enhance the Munster Championship and will make the Leinster Championship competitive again. I think what we want is two competitive groups. Rivalries are important and with the teams playing each other year in, year out, these rivalries will develop and prosper. In 3-4 years, the Leinster Championship could be on a par with the Munster Championship. In truth, you will also find out who the best team is in each Provence. The top two in each group will contest the Provential Final. They will also proceed to the All-Ireland semi-finals where they will play the other two provential finalists.
Here is a quick prototype of how the Championship might be run.
May 1st: Tipperary vs Cork, Limerick vs Waterford. BYE Clare.
May 8th: Kilkenny vs Wexford, Offaly vs Galway. BYE Antrim.
May 15th: Cork vs Limerick, Waterford vs Clare. BYE Tipperary.
May 22nd: Wexford vs Offaly, Galway vs Antrim. BYE Kilkenny.
May 29th: Tipperary vs Limerick, Clare vs Cork. BYE Waterford.
June 5th: Offaly vs Antrim, Kilkenny vs Galway. BYE Wexford.
June 12th: Tipperary vs Clare, Limerick vs Waterford. BYE Cork.
June 19th: Kilkenny vs Offaly, Wexford vs Antrim. BYE Galway.
June 26th: Tipperary vs Waterford, Clare vs Cork. BYE Limerick.
July 3rd: Kilkenny vs Antrim, Galway vs Wexford, BYE Offaly.
July 10th: Munster Final.
July 17th: Leinster Final.
July 31st: Semi Final 1. Munster Winners vs Leinster Losers.
August 7th: Semi Final 2. Leinster Winners vs Munster Losers.
August 28th: All-Ireland Final.