Qualifier guarantee for lucky trio of counties

Cork, Kerry, and Roscommon are the only teams guaranteed to avoid the first round of this year’s All-Ireland senior football championship qualifiers.

The seeded nature of the Munster SFC, which rewards the previous year’s finalists with byes to the semi-finals, and Roscommon’s fortune in being drawn in a Connacht semi-final for the second year in a row, means the trio will begin the All-Ireland competition at the earliest on Saturday, June 23, in the second qualifier round, which takes place on the same day as the Munster SFC final.

The disparity of the provincial championships feeding into the All-Ireland SFC is highlighted by the advantageous circumstances provided to Cork and Kerry, compared to Ulster SFC preliminary round teams, Cavan and Donegal, who would have to win one of two games to reach the second round of the backdoor.