Early league start means two rounds in January

The National Leagues in football and hurling will get straight down to business in the new year

Shane O'Donnell of Clare in action against Conor Groarke of Dublin during this year's Allianz Hurling League. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile

The first two rounds of the National Football and Hurling Leagues are set to take place in January next year.

As the entire fifth weekend of 2027 falls in January, the second as well as the opening weekend of the competitions are pencilled in for the first month of the year.

The proposed January 23/24 weekend for Round 1 would be the earliest for the National Leagues since they changed from the pre-Christmas start in 2001.

Between 2001 and ‘15, the football league began in early February. It commenced in the last weekend of January 2016 and returned to February the following season before reverting to January in 2018 to accommodate a month of club activity in April.

After the pandemic precipitated the split season, the January start was retained in 2022. The earliest league starts since 2001 were in 2020 and ’25 when on both occasions the first games were played on January 25.

To facilitate the introduction of the round-robin provincial hurling championships, the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup and lower tier competitions which were also played in a group format, the commencement date for the NHL moved to January in 2018.

It’s possible that some counties will have played just over a third of their hurling for the year by the seventh weekend of the year, half of their six NHL group games.

As was the case this past season, there are set to be five double weekends where both leagues will be active – two in January, two in February and the final round in March.

Central Council agreed in May that teams can return to collective training from November 20. Pre-season competitions are set to go ahead, although the Munster Council have expressed their indifference about them. They remain viable financial vehicles for both Connacht and Ulster GAA.

In football’s 2027 Division 1, four from Armagh, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Meath are set to have four home games, while Kerry and Roscommon are certain to have three.

The All-Ireland senior club finals have already been fixed for the weekend of January 16/17 with both codes’ intermediate and junior deciders down for decision on January 9/10.

The All-Ireland senior, intermediate and junior club hurling semi-finals will take place on December 19/20. The senior last-four club football fixtures are scheduled for January 2/3 as are the junior and intermediate semi-finals.

In both football and hurling, Munster’s club champions will take on Connacht and Leinster’s winners will meet Ulster’s.