THE FIRST OF the qualifier draws for the 2018 All-Ireland senior football championship will take place next Monday morning.
Ten of the counties that will be competing at this stage are already known including big guns like last year’s All-Ireland finalists Mayo and last year’s All-Ireland semi-finalists Tyrone.
This year’s Division 2 league finalists Cavan and 2017 All-Ireland quarter-finalists Armagh are also included along with London, Wexford, Louth, Offaly, Limerick and Waterford.
The remaining six teams will be revealed after the outcome of this weekend’s action. On Saturday there is a Leinster quarter-final in Tullamore and an Ulster quarter-final in Newry with Sunday seeing an Ulster last eight fixture in Celtic Park and a trio of Leinster last eight ties taking place.
Here’s the provincial breakdown of the 16 teams involved:
- Connacht – Mayo and London.
- Leinster – Wexford, Louth, Offaly, Laois/Westmeath, Carlow/Kildare, Wicklow/Dublin and Longford/Meath.
- Munster – Limerick and Waterford.
- Ulster – Cavan, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry/Donegal and Down/Antrim.
A key difference this season in the qualifiers is the removal of the A and B sections, thus all 16 counties can be drawn against each other with an open draw determining the eight pairings.
The first named team drawn will have home advantage with the exception being if a Division 3 or 4 team is drawn against a Division 1 or 2 side from this year’s Allianz football league.
Of the ten teams already in the draw, this exemption concerning home advantage would involve London, Wexford, Louth, Offaly, Limerick, Waterford and Armagh.
The draw will take place on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 with the eight games to take place on Saturday 9 June.
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