The first in a series of columns that will feature in match programmes and online here. This week’s offering is by Peter Mernagh of Monageer-Boolavogue GAA Club and Clubber TV. Views expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of Wexford GAA.
The annual January County Board meeting customarily deals with our league and championship structures. This year’s took place on Tuesday January 13th.
Firstly, it is important to note that the County Board is not some group of people sent from Mars to decide how Wexford GAA structures its competitions. The County Board has a representative from every club on it, plus numerous office holders who were nominated for those positions by their clubs.
It is also worth noting how relatively easy it is to get your proposal heard by the County Board. Join a club and send your proposal to your club committee. Clubs will usually have a meeting to discuss and send forward any reasonable proposal to the County Board meeting for further debate and decision. Alternatively, speak to a member of the Competitions Control Committee. They also can bring forward motions on championship structures.
If you are reading this and believe you have an idea that would make the running of our competitions better, then approach someone. Our County Board officials are very approachable people and want what is best for Wexford GAA. The key thing is that your idea must be workable in practice, considering the restrictions of the calendar, fixtures, availability of referees and gate people, venues and a myriad of other factors. Often people have strong opinions about what changes should be made, but have no idea how their idea could actually work in practice.
So what changes were made for 2026?
The football championship structure remains the same as in 2025. For the hurling championships, two groups of six teams remain, with the top 3 in each group going into quarter finals, 4th and 5th place teams into preliminary quarter finals, while the 6th place teams in each group go directly to a relegation final. This change was badly needed. For the last two seasons, no team was eliminated after the group stage. I am all for structures which provide a decent number of guaranteed games, but playing 30 games without any team being eliminated was a bit silly.
Under 21s
The other main issue for discussion was Under 21, which for the last few seasons had a couple of rounds played in July and August before being completed in October/November when the adult championships were over. For 2026 it was agreed to hold off the start of the Under 21 until the end of the year.
I was a member of a committee a few years ago set up to examine Under 21. Timing was the main issue we were tasked with solving. In summary, it can’t be played in the early season because players are with the county minor, under 21 and senior teams. It can’t be played in May/June because of the Leaving Cert. It was decided it should start in July and August, alongside the adult championships. However, what transpired was a disgraceful amount of walkovers, caused in part by adult team managers not letting players play Under 21 midweek between two adult championship games; caused in part by early July being a popular time for players to head on ‘post leaving cert’ holidays with their friends; and caused in part by clubs entering teams in hope of fielding a team when the time would come and ultimately failing.
With minors allowed now to play adult, keeping some rounds of Under 21 in July and August would have meant a very crowded fixtures schedule for minors. Playing it at the end of season in October/November/December is worth trying at this stage, but like any option, it isn’t perfect. Lots of players will be in college midweek, making midweek matches/training difficult to manage, while other popular sports like soccer and rugby will be in full swing at weekends during this time too. There is no obvious solution to the under 21 grade, but let’s hope for some reduction in the number of walkovers conceded.
Split Season
I was happy to see the split season motion defeated. It was a practical idea during Covid, but in normal circumstances I believe the cons greatly outweigh the pros.
Parades
The final motion from HWH Bunclody was defeated. They were calling for all members of the panel to march behind the band on senior county final day, rather than just the starting 15. A well-meaning motion, but it has been known for clubs to name almost 40 players on their matchday panel. That would would look more like a St Patrick’s Day parade than a county final!
