Cork GAA aiming to maintain group format, set to stream club matches live

The Cork club championships will still be run in a group format despite the contracted timeframe available this year, Cork GAA hopes.

A Cork GAA subgroup is examining the concept of streaming club games to allow the greatest possible audience.

The Cork county championships look set to begin with the group format - three groups of four - approved by clubs last year.

With inter-county championships set to begin on the weekend of October 17th/18th this year, and clubs not allowed to commence playing until July 31, county boards have 11 weekends at most available to run their championships, depending on how the inter-county season is structured.

But the Cork County Board executive last night expressed their preference to roll out the group format during the 11-week club window handed down by Croke Park.

But they will not make a final decision on how their county championships are structured until Croke Park publishes a master fixture schedule for the 2020 inter-county championships.

If neither Cork team is involved on the weekend of October 17/18, then the county board may seek to extend their club championships beyond the October 11 deadline outlined in the GAA's return to action roadmap.

The statement read: “At tonight’s meeting of the County Executive, consideration was given to County Championship formats for 2020.

“The preference remains for a group stage championship in line with the format approved by clubs last year, subject to the window available.

“With inter-county games games resuming on the weekend of October 17th / 18th, we await the programme of inter-county activity from the GAA’s CCCC later this month to allow us to maximise the period of club activity from July onwards.

“Therefore, there will be no final decision on formats until that point.”

The board also confirmed it plans to stream some matches live this season. Last year, Cork GAA worked with the Irish Examiner to stream several matches live via Facebook.

The statement added: “Meanwhile, a subgroup is examining the opportunities for the streaming of games to allow the greatest possible audience for the club programme and to facilitate those who are unable to attend.

“In the meantime, we thank all teams and club members for continuing to comply with government and GAA regulations.”