Flaws in qualifier system mean provincial winners not getting a fair deal

ONE of the obvious defects of the qualifier system in the Bank of Ireland football championship is that the provincial winners only learn of their opponents in the All-Ireland quarter-finals a week in advance.

However, of much greater concern is the fact that they are inactive while the third and fourth round qualifier games are decided.

Galway, for instance, played their Connacht final on July 6, Kerry won Munster on July 13 and Tyrone's replay victory up North came a week later, on the same day that Laois emerged triumphant in Leinster.