During the summer, GAA president John Horan said he wanted to see the establishment of a second tier football championship.
"There has been a resistance in the organisation to that but I'm quite sure if we put it together properly we might get a buy-in," Horan told RTÉ Radio 1 following a qualifier draw in late June.
The championship done and dusted, there is already movement on the formation of a tier two competition.
Colm Keys reports in today's Irish Independent that Central Council met over the weekend and has approved in principle a competition which would run concurrently with the race for Sam Maguire.
The new competition's final would take place on the same day as the All-Ireland final, replacing the minor decider. With minor football dropping to U17, there have been calls to remove young players from the glare of Croke Park.
A second tier competition - the now-defunct Tommy Murphy Cup - ran between 2004 and 2008. For its first four years, taking part was voluntary as it ran side-by-side with participation in the qualifiers.
In its final year, teams which had dropped into Division 4 for the 2009 season were denied a spot in the qualifiers once eliminated from their provincial championship and forced into the Tommy Murphy Cup. The format of the final year was subject to much criticism and the competition was scrapped.
Proposals for the format of John Horan's new competition will be considered at next year's congress.
Over the weekend, Longford footballer Micky Quinn told RTÉ that he is in favour of a tier two competition.
Counties and players are afraid of changeThe most disappointing thing for ourselves was three championship games this year, same last year. There's no continuity from year to year. You can't see progression from two or three games.
You want to be playing more games. And if that means playing in a second tier competition where you can actually say 'yes, we've improved, we've won that second tier competition, now we're up and challenging in that top tier.'
That's why there's so much emphasis on the league. If you're promoted in the league, you're setting yourself up for the next year, you're creating momentum for the championship and that's what you want.
I'd be in favour of a second tier championship. I don't think I'll see it in my time. Personally, it's more games, I want to play more games. Tyrone had ten games, Dublin had eight. I had three games.
Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
