Munster SHC games expected to be played at neutral venues

Munster GAA secretary Kieran Leddy said the details around the matches will be confirmed before the end of the month

Limerick captain Declan Hannon lifts the Munster SHC cup in front of his team-mates in an empty Semple Stadium last November. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The Munster Senior Hurling Championship games are expected to be played at neutral venues for the second year in a row.

Provincial secretary Kieran Leddy said the details around the matches will be confirmed before the end of the month. Both Munster senior championships will be drawn on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland on Monday week.

As supporters are highly unlikely to be able to attend the games in June and July, at least not in considerable numbers, Munster GAA are set to retain the same match regulations as 2020 while ensuring the venue arrangements for the round-robin system can carry on in 2022.

“We still have to decide the home-away arrangements,” said Leddy, “but it would appear we will stay neutral for the hurling venues and home and away for the football games. The round-robin in the Senior Hurling Championship is expected to return next year so if that happens we can return to the sequence we had in place up to 2019.” 

Last year, three of the four Munster SHC matches were played in Semple Stadium, the only fixture involving Tipperary taking place in Páirc Uí Chaoimh when Limerick won the semi-final.

Leddy said the idea of returning to the round-robin format this year and not playing the League, as was suggested in some quarters, was a non-runner. 

“You have to give counties warm-up games for Championship and allow them see players. It was felt then why don’t we simply play the League. Teams still have two bites of the cherry in the Championship.” 

No consideration has been given to adding a bye element to the Munster SHC so that teams drawn in the first round (quarter-final), as Clare and Limerick were in 2020, avoid it the following year. The Ulster SFC is in its third year of providing quarter-final byes to teams who have been drawn in the preliminary round the previous two seasons.

“Ulster have a preliminary round with nine teams whereas we start from the quarter-final stage with five so it’s different,” remarked Leddy. “Limerick obviously won the All-Ireland from that stage last year. It’s not something that has come up.” 

As last year’s Munster SFC finalists, Cork and Tipperary will have semi-final byes - Clare, Kerry, Limerick, and Waterford are expected to be in quarter-final action on June 26 and 27. However, Cork and Tipperary could yet be drawn to face each other in the last four.

Should Cork and Kerry clash, the game will be in Killarney’s Fitzgerald Stadium, which mark the first Championship game there between the neighbours since the Munster final in 2017.

The Munster SFC final is scheduled for Sunday July 25, seven days after the provincial senior hurling final. This year’s Munster SFC champions face the Ulster winners in an All-Ireland semi-final.