Our senior inter county hurling and football teams will be managed in 2020 by Davy Fitzgerald and Paul Galvin respectively.
Hurling Fixtures
League, Division 1B:
Round 1 - Laois v Wexford, Saturday Jan 25, 7pm
Round 2 - Wexford v Clare, Sunday Feb 2, 2pm
Round 3 - Wexford v Kilkenny, Sunday Feb 16, 2pm
Round 4 - Dublin v Wexford, Saturday Feb 22, 5pm
Round 5 - Wexford v Carlow, Sunday Mar 1, 2pm
League QFs - Mar 7-8
League SFs - Mar 14-15
League Final - Sunday Mar 22.
Leinster Championship:
Round 1 - Bye
Round 2 - Wexford v Dublin, Sunday May 17
Round 3A - Wexford v Galway, Saturday May 23
Round 4 - Laois v Wexford, Saturday Jun 6
Round 5 - Kilkenny v Wexford, Saturday or Sunday Jun 13 or 14
Leinster Final - Sunday June 28
All Ireland Preliminary QFs - Jul 4 or 5
All Ireland QFs - Jul 11 or 12
All Ireland SFs - Jul 25 & 26
All Ireland Final - Sunday Aug 16
Which is more convenient for a Saturday evening in Wexford and then attending the match in Wexford Park on the Sunday - the Ferrycarrig or the Riverbank House Hotel?
Relieved that the All Ireland Final is on August 16th. I’ve got a wedding in the tri-state area on August 22nd and could not have attended both events had the AIF been scheduled for August 22nd.
League, Division 4:
Round 1 - Antrim v Wexford, Sunday Jan 26, 2pm
Round 2 - Wexford v Carlow, Saturday Feb 1, 2pm
Round 3 - Waterford v Wexford, Saturday Feb 8, 7pm
Round 4 - Wexford v London, Sunday Feb 23, 12pm
Round 5 - Wexford v Sligo, Saturday Feb 29, 2pm
Round 6 - Limerick v Wexford, Sunday Mar 15, 2pm
Round 7 - Wexford v Wicklow, Sunday Mar 22, 1pm
League Final - Saturday Mar 28
Leinster Championship
Round 1 - Wexford v Wicklow, May 9-10
QF - Wexford/Wicklow v Meath, May 23-24
SF - Sunday Jun 7
Final - Saturday Jun 20.
I haven’t bothered listing out the tier 2 dates.
Paul Galvin thinks the O’Byrne Cup’s new December start date is a hindrance and our fixtures are going to be fulfilled by Brendan Kehoe’s U20 team. I understand Galvin feels we placed too much emphasis on the OBC in the past and then the league, and the championship was somewhat of an afterthought. He wants to build/train to be more league and then championship ready rather than playing these OBC games.
The Riverbank House Hotel is more convenient than The Ferrycarrig. It’s on the far side of Wexford Bridge, which was once the longest bridge in Ireland, so a stroll across and you’re immediately in town. The Ferrycarrig overlooks the Slaney but it’s on the approach to the town and a few kms from the town centre. White’s Hotel is a grand hotel and it’s right in the middle of our lovely town. The Talbot Hotel is also “on the town” as we say in Wexford. Ferrycarrig and Talbot are owned by diehard GGA families so please support one or the other.
I have the pleasure of Tom Byrne’s company (last Wexford minor hurling winning captain - 1968) for an 18 hole Christmas hamper competition on Saturday. Hopefully I can shake off the cold that has afflicted me these last couple of days. I need to bring the A game. If anyone has any hurling related questions they would like me to ask Tom let me know.
Looks like it’ll be Chadwicks Wexford Park from January onwards after a competitive stadium naming rights tender process. Nice to be able to build on the Innovate deal.
Paul Galvin facing player backlash already after wielding the axe in Wexford
Paul Galvin faces the possibility of a player backlash just weeks into his tenure as Wexford football boss after cutting some of the county’s most experienced faces from the fold.
The former Kerry star is being widely criticised in the Model County after dropping long-serving midfielder Daithà Waters from the squad in what could prove to be the end of the 33-year-old’s inter-county career.
The decision to dispense with Waters - one of Wexford’s best players over the last decade - has been met with shock while last year’s captain Michael Furlong has also been deemed surplus to requirements.
Galvin is in his first season as an inter-county boss and it is understood the Wexford camp is unhappy with the duo’s exit with the prospect that the Finuge man could be operating from a skeleton squad for their Division 4 league campaign.
Last year’s goalkeeper Matt Doyle is another casualty of Galvin’s regime while it’s believed that Kevin O’Grady and Tiernan Rossiter have also left the squad in a show of solidarity with those who were cast aside.
Speculation is growing that others may follow in the coming weeks as the fallout continues while Galvin was also hit by the departure of Matty Forde, the county’s sole All-Star footballer, from his backroom team.
There was much excitement when Forde was named in the management set-up but the Kilanerin legend, who is getting married in February, has since stepped away due to work commitments.
Galvin, a four-time All-Ireland winner with the Kingdom, arrived to much fanfare in Wexford in the hope he could turn around their ailing fortunes following a disastrous 2019 under Paul McLoughlin and he seems intent on going with youth in 2020.
However his Model reign opened with O’Byrne Cup defeats at home to Westmeath and Laois and while his achievements on the pitch marked him down as one of the game’s finest, his managerial nous will only become clear in the coming months and he may first have to ride out a storm from within his squad.
