Three weeks short: Time constraints forced GAA into knockout Sam Maguire Cup

'There were two things that influenced it: you were going to have to take that time off the club season which you didn’t want to do or you were going to have to shorten the league season further'

Dublin captain Stephen Cluxton lifts the Sam Maguire Cup following December's All-Ireland final win over Mayo. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

The GAA were three weeks short of being able to implement a qualifier system in the 2021 All-Ireland senior football championship.

For the second season in a row, the Sam Maguire Cup will be a knockout competition as the GAA have not been able to make enough time to give counties a second bite of the cherry in the revised 20-week inter-county season, a reduction of seven from the original schedule. In total, the games period is 16 weekends.