A total of 40 motions will be debated and voted on by delegates on Saturday, but motion 19 – which concerns the football championship’s structure – is unsurprisingly attracting the most attention.
The proposal is that the 2026 All-Ireland Championship would comprise 16 teams: the eight provincial finalists, the seven highest-ranked Allianz League finishers, and 2025 Tailteann Cup winners.
The biggest change in the new format would be the elimination of the round-robin format, which was introduced for the 2023 season on a three-year trial basis (so it will continue throughout the 2025 campaign).
While these group stages have guaranteed more games, they have been criticised for lacking jeopardy and drama. Currently, 24 matches are played across four, four-team groups to eliminate just four teams.
Under the new structure, the championship from 2026 would look as follows:
Round 1
Eight provincial finalists v eight highest-ranked teams
Round 2A
Winners of Round 1 (eight teams) play each other; the winners would advance to the quarter-final
Round 2B
Losers of Round 1 (eight teams) play each other
Round 3
Losers of Round 2A v winners of Round 2B
Quarter-finals
Round 2A winners v Round 3 winners
Essentially, teams will be able to book a quarter-final spot after two games.
The Tailteann Cup would follow a similar structure.
