Kerry to examine new SFC proposals with ten senior clubs and only six divisions 

The format for Kerry's SFC has been a hot potato in the Kingdom for some time, with clubs railing against the cut-throat nature of the current format with only eight senior clubs.

DIVISIONAL DELIGHT: East Kerry captain Paudie Clifford celebrates with the Bishop Moynihan cup after their 2023 win over Mid Kerry at Austin Stack Park. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

KERRY GAA clubs will Thursday be presented with fresh county championship structures that would see the number of Kerry SFC clubs increased to ten and the number of divisional sides reduced to six.

The format for the senior championship has been a hot potato in the Kingdom for some time, with clubs railing against the cut-throat nature of the current format with only eight senior clubs. The future of the district sides in the championship has also been under the microscope, leading to a special review committee, headed by All-Ireland winning captain, Dara Ó Cinnéide.

Some criticism of the championship has been “a bit simplistic and self-serving” according to Kerry CEO Peter Twiss, but if delegates to a Board meeting Thursday back the recommendations of the review group, it will lead to important changes going forward - and most likely some kickback from junior clubs who form most of the divisional sides.

While the view is that the club championship is working well, the review group wants a 16-team county championship of 10 senior clubs and six district teams from 2026 onwards. Preliminary round(s) will be required to cut the current district teams down to six. There will also need to be adjustments made over the next three campaigns to accommodate this format. 

So this year, there would be no relegation from senior, intermediate or Premier JFC with championship winners promoted from Intermediate, Premier Junior and Junior as in previous years. From 2025, the proposal is: 

Kerry SFC: Nine senior clubs and six district teams. Prelim Rd 1: 8 district teams play off,  four winners go into Rd 1; Prelim Rd 2: the four losers of Prelim Rd 1 play off with the two winners going into Rd 1, and the two losers out.

Rd 1 would then look like: 15 teams, 9 clubs and 6 district teams (7 v 7) open draw and one bye (CCC to decide how this is done). Knockout thereafter.

Senior Club Championship 2025: Nine teams: Three groups of 3. Two finalists from 2024 are kept apart. Two teams qualify from each group. Two quarter finals consisting of 3 runners-up and one winner which will be drawn. Two teams from the same group cannot play each other in a quarter final. NO RELEGATION Rd 1: Round robin Rd 1 Rd 2: Round robin Rd 2 Rd 3: Round robin Rd 3 Rd 4: 2 Quarter finals Rd 5: 2 Semi-finals.

2026 Kerry SFC: Ten senior clubs and 6 district teams.

Prelim Rd 1: Eight district teams play off, four winners go into Rd 1; Prelim Rd 2: Four losers of Prelim Rd 1 play off. The two winners go into Rd 1, 2 losers are out. 

Rd 1: 10 clubs and 6 district teams (8 v 8) open draw. Knockout thereafter.

Senior Club Championship 2026: Ten teams. Two groups of 3, one group of 4. Finalists from previous year are kept apart. They will be drawn into group 1, group 2 or group 3 first. The bottom team from each group will play off for relegation. Third from Group 1 will play third from group 2. The loser will play the fourth team from Group 3 in the relegation final. (The 3rd team from group 3 will not play in the relegation play off).