Kieran Shannon: Accidental finalists show we now need an FRC for the calendar

The Football Review Committee has done sterling work. Now let them at competition structures.

FRIENDS REUNITED: The last Division 1 final between Kerry and Mayo was three years ago, a game the Kingdom won 3-19 to 0-13. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

It is something unique, bordering on special, to have a competition in which more participants are eager to avoid reaching its final than wanting to partake in it.

For almost all of the 21st century, the integrity of the national football league and its top division has been maintained because it has tended to throw up at least one finalist who at the outset of the campaign targeted getting that far.