Mickey Donnelly would like even split of home and away league games

“We only have three home games. That has to be looked at because the three-four split is ridiculous – last year every team that was relegated played at least four games away from home and that’s not fair."

Tue, 04 Feb, 2025 - 06:14

John Fogarty

Down selector Mickey Donnelly has called for an even split of home and away games in the Allianz Football League.

The Mourne County have four Division 2 fixtures on the road this year including back-to-back trips albeit short ones to Louth and Cavan on February 23 and March 1 respectively.

Down is a county sensitive to lack of home matches: their Ulster quarter-final win over Armagh in Páirc Esler in 2017 was their first provincial championship game on home soil in 12 years.

Tyrone native Donnelly stressed the advantage that the four teams with four home games have over the other three. In Division 2 this year, Cavan, Cork, Louth and Westmeath have that advantage over Down, Meath, Monaghan and Roscommon. “If you’ve two defeats in the first two games – especially one defeat at home then you’ve a lot of work to do,” he said. “We only have three home games. That has to be looked at because the three-four split is ridiculous – last year every team that was relegated played at least four games away from home and that’s not fair.

“We have to make the most out of the home games and it was great to get a bit of support (v Cork in Newry). The crowd really got behind us when we started to get a bit of momentum and then we got the kick in the teeth when Cork got it back to five points with eight minutes to go so we showed a lot of resilience and character.”

He added: “Out of the last four games we have one at home. It’s a tough run-in when you’ve to go to places like Louth, going to Drogheda isn’t simple.”

Outside of Division 2, last year’s champions Derry, Dublin, Kerry and Tyrone in Division 1 and Antrim, Kildare, Leitrim and Sligo in Division 3 all have four away outings. Analysis done by the “Irish Examiner” in 2024 found that over a 10-year period the total win rate for the home team in the league was 54.7%.

The last team to win a Division 1 title in a normal year having had the minimum number of home matches was Dublin in 2015 (Kerry won the 2020 crown with only three home games by virtue of topping the table as there wasn’t a final). While it’s six years since Roscommon were the last team to be relegated from the top flight despite four home fixtures.

Donnelly is not in favour of following the hurling route of seven teams per division, which would guarantee each team three home and away fixtures as well as a bye weekend.

He prefers retaining the four groups of eight but each team playing one game at a neutral venue to even up the home-away split. “The four eights are nice. Hurling is not the same because the Tyrones and Fermanaghs of this world are playing Nicky Rackard etc.

“Three home and three away and the other game at a provincial venue or at Croke Park? I just think it’s a no-brainer, I think it’s unfair. It was four out of the six teams that were relegated the year before (in 2023) had played four away games so I think it’s something that needs looked at.”

The second part of the late Eugene McGee’s original Football Review Committee’s brief was to evaluate the formats of competitions. That isn’t on the agenda of Jim Gavin’s current group but Donnelly would like to see the league reviewed as hurling was before last season.

“We recognised that the product of Gaelic football wasn’t where it should have been, especially when it’s the most popular field game in the country and we’ve addressed that and now we have to do the same with the structure of the competitions.”