THE NEW TIER 2 football championship will be called the Tailteann Cup, president John Horan confirmed during his speech at Congress today.
The decision was taken at a recent Ard Chomhairle meeting.
The GAA intend to have the Tailteann Cup semi-finals and final televised live on RTÉ from Croke Park.
The competition will take place for the first time in 2020, featuring Division 3 and 4 teams that fail to reach a provincial final.
Explaining how they arrived at the decision, Horan said: “In ancient Ireland, our athletic and sporting prowess was celebrated every summer by the staging of the Tailteann Games, a festival that some scholars date as far back as 1600 BC
“A recent meeting of Ard Chomhairle has agreed to dedicate a new trophy for the Tier 2 senior football championship to be called the Tailteann Cup – a name that honours this link to Ireland’s sporting heritage and crowns modern day sporting heroes in one of our native games.
“This competition came out of a desire from several counties to have a championship that was inclusive and not exclusive.
He continued: “Far from being a radical new departure, it follows a tiered path that is well known in inter-county championship hurling, at club championship level, schools’ level and across our sister organisations where it has proven itself to be effective.
“Yet, for all of that, it still does not deny a county a chance at aiming for the Sam Maguire Cup if they are good enough.
“The make-up of the Tailteann Cup will still be about finding winners and establishing who is the best – but will do so with a smaller field of teams on a more equal footing.
“It is vital that the marketing and promotion of this new competition delivers. In addition to having its own all-star selection, it is our intention to have the semi-finals and the final of the Tailteann Cup shown live on RTÉ television from Croke Park.
“I feel this competition is a good step forward and I hope everyone involved gives it a chance.”
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