Éamonn Fitzmaurice: It ain't championship when staying alive is this easy

As is stands it very hard to get knocked out of the All-Ireland football championship. It's not meant to be like that. A volte face is required. Courage and flexibility as opposed to stubbornness are necessary.

Supporters, in the Cusack Stand, before the start of the match between Dublin and Roscommon . Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

While I promised myself to avoid howling at the moon about Championship structures this summer it is hard to avoid the issue with the current format. Right now interest in the football championship is low as it trudges along at a snails pace. Which is a shame. 

The attendance in Croke Park for the Dublin-Roscommon match last weekend is surely a canary in the coal mine for the powers that be. I am an optimist by nature but it was stark and impossible to argue with. There was treble that attendance (11,167) at the dead rubber Super 8 game in 2018 between the same counties.