Cork chairman proposes radical revamp of All-Ireland hurling championship

Rebel county chief Pat Horgan has put forward a plan to spur Croke Park into corrective action as the game of hurling requires a “lift”.

THE GOAL: The Liam MacCarthy Cup at the Limerick homecoming on Monday. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Cork GAA chairman Pat Horgan has drawn up a radical new All-Ireland SHC format which will ensure that all Liam MacCarthy counties are still hurling in mid-June.

Horgan’s proposal to create a 12-team All-Ireland series comes independent of the Cork GAA executive and is being put forward to spur Croke Park into corrective action as the game of hurling requires a “lift” similar to the bounce enjoyed by Gaelic football over the past two years.

While increasing the number of teams in Leinster from six to seven to make feasible his All-Ireland series proposal, Horgan would leave untouched the provincial round-robin structure. The Munster and Leinster championships will continue to throw in from mid-April, with the respective deciders staged on the first weekend of June.

Thereafter, a new All-Ireland series would kick into gear. Horgan’s blueprint sees the four provincial finalists progress direct to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. This quartet would also enjoy home advantage for these last-eight clashes.

The remaining eight counties, irrespective of their finishing position in Leinster and Munster, would continue beyond their province to play a preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final. The third and fourth-placed teams from Leinster and Munster would be drawn against the bottom four ranked teams, they being fifth from Munster, and fifth, sixth, and seventh in Leinster.

On account of their higher finish in the respective provincial tables, the third and fourth-placed teams would enjoy home advantage in the preliminary quarter-finals, to be played the weekend after the provincial finals.

Horgan’s final twist is to flip the schedule of the hurling and football deciders, recommending that the All-Ireland hurling final be played two weeks after the football.

“This suggestion is a first step to continue growing the hurling family,” said the Cork chairman.

“It will ensure that six hurling counties will be playing for a further month than present and still maintain the split-season format. The provincial championships will still be competitive as home advantage is a huge incentive for counties and would ensure that they push to finish as high as possible in the provincial competitions.

“I do think there is a need for management in Croke Park to order a review of how some hurling competitions are run, particularly the Liam McCarthy, to give the game a lift similar to the great boost football got recently.

“It doesn’t need major surgery, and I am sure a few hurling people could come up with proposals that counties could consider for the betterment of our wonderful game. I recently put my own thinking cap on, and this suggestion will necessitate only one extra weekend to complete, as against the present three weekends to run off the All-Ireland series.

“Hopefully we will see movement shortly from those charged with the responsibility of running the Association. Now with the competition completed, and I extend my congratulations to Limerick, we hopefully can look forward to a few adjustments to our national game.”

Adjustment to the calendar is what Munster GAA put forward on these pages last month, proposing the All-Ireland SHC be pushed back by at least two weeks into August.

While the provincial council want to retain the round-robin format of their own competition, they are in favour of altering the schedule and arranging an August date for the All-Ireland final as a means of promoting the game at the elite level. Their proposal also seeks to reduce the disparity between football and hurling games across June and July.

Writing in Sunday’s All-Ireland final match programme, GAA president Jarlath Buns said “lengthening the season does not create more freedom”.

Sinead O'Keeffe, Commercial Director Cork GAA & SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh; Brendan Harrington, CEO McCarthy Insurance Group; Alan O'Connor, St. Finbarrs; Charlie McCarthy, McCarthy Insurance Group and Pat Horgan, Chairperson Cork Gaa, at the McCarthy Insurance Group 2026 Cork County Club Football Championship launch.

Wearing his county board chairman’s hat, Horgan said there remains no appetite to extend the inter-county season by a fortnight.

Cork GAA, earlier this year, were opposed to the Central Council motion to finish the inter-county season two weeks later than is presently the case from 2027 onwards. The motion was withdrawn from the Congress floor such was the certainty of it being rejected.

“There certainly was no appetite for extending the season at Congress, and I think anybody that was at Congress would agree that had that motion been put to the floor, it would have been heavily, heavily defeated. I think there is disquiet that motions are being withdrawn when they should really be allowed to stand,” Horgan, who is in his final year as Cork chairman, continued.

“Myself, I don’t see any appetite out there for extending the inter-county season by a number of weeks. But I do think there is an appetite out there for looking at some sort of an adjustment to the All-Ireland hurling championship and I do think that is something that would need to be further examined.

“The Waterford's, Kilkenny's, and all of those counties that haven’t qualified from their province, something will need to be done to have a completely separate competition for the Liam MacCarthy Cup to the provincial ones. It is not good for hurling to see so many counties not participating in the Liam MacCarthy as we move on from the provinces.”