Micheál Clifford

IT IS SAID no work of art is ever finished, only abandoned.

They can pretty much say the same about the format of the football championship. No sooner has one blueprint been committed to canvas, than the next minute someone has the easel out and touched it up again.

If you think we are exaggerating, consider this.

Since the GAA made the seismic move back in 2001 and discovered the world did not end, or at least the ball did not burst, by affording beaten teams a second chance, the format of the championship has been tinkered with eight times, effectively once every three years.

Some of those changes have been seismic – the introduction of the Super 8s which evolved to the less super 16s, the introduction of the Tailteann Cup, and the brand-new shiny format that has been exhibited for the first time this season.

Other times, they have been more nuanced; the exclusion of Division 4 teams for two seasons back in the noughties, the splitting of the qualifier draws into A and B sections to deal with the once dreaded six-day turnaround, and the awarding of home advantage to lower tier teams when drawn against those higher up the food chain.

Given how the latest format has rocked and rolled the football world this summer, you could be forgiven for thinking there will be no tinkering for the foreseeable, but most likely you would be wrong.

The clever money is by the time next season dawns, the latest blueprint will get a dab of paint, and will be no more attractive for it either.

Donegal fans celebrates their side’s goal against Cork. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

The speculation – fuelled by a fair amount of bellyaching – is that the home/away element of round 3 will be torched in favour of sending teams and their tribes to neutral venues.

This is done in the perceived interest of fairness, but in terms of colour, it is the equivalent of throwing a can of grey emulsion over a vivid landscape portrait of a wildflower meadow.

Cork manager John Cleary, speaking ahead of last weekend’s trip to Ballybofey, was among those who argued that home advantage should be dispelled for the preliminary quarter finals

A penny for his thoughts now after his charges produced arguably the greatest result ever achieved by a Cork football team on the road.

The perception is only results which yield silverware tend to qualify as defining in the lifespan of a group, but there are exceptions.

Last Saturday in Ballybofey was one. When the final whistle blew, Cork had not just won a game of ball but had literally planted their flag at a peak that they had scaled for the very first time.

The image which went viral of a steward crudely bringing a Cork supporter to ground was likely to have been instigated not by a desire to protect Ballybofey’s freshly laid pitch but rather an attempt to stem the tide of the mini pitch invasion which served to salt Donegal’s hurt.

A steward tackles a Cork fan on the pitch after the game at MacCumhaill Park. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

As the local hordes streamed out of MacCumhaill Park in a hushed funeral procession, they did so to the soundtrack of “Rebels, Rebels, Rebels” in a moment which crystallised the chasm between pleasure and pain that only sport can deliver in the purest form.

Now, consider that game was played as a round 3 fixture next season, most likely it would have been fixed for a quarter-full Croke Park and when the final whistle sounded, the only invading force would be a flock of seagulls scavenging for scraps in an atmospheric free zone.

If there has been a narrative behind the GAA’s constant tinkering with the championship format, it has been its failure to get the small details right.

For example, had they wanted to protect the long-term relevance of the provincial championships during the qualifier years, it would have been achieved by giving the provincial winners home advantage in the quarter-finals.

If they wanted to avoid the accusation of elitism which the Super 8s attracted, they would have done so by extending the group concept to all teams from the outset.

And when they finally cottoned on to that principle with the group stages of the last three seasons, the perceived lack of jeopardy which they became infected with would have been resolved by allowing just two rather than three teams to progress from each group, with the added bonus of providing a condensed schedule with some breathing space by binning the preliminary quarter-finals.

In all instances, each construct had an obvious flaw which went unaddressed.

The difference this time, if the GAA move to tweak round 3 next season, is that no flaw has been identified, merely the expressed fears of team managers unwilling to roll the dice of a home/away draw have been amplified.

More than anything, the hook of this summer’s draws – with the exception of round 1 – has been as much about not what teams you get, but where you get them.

That pregnant sense of anticipation extends far beyond the draw. 

This weekend is surely proof of that.

Dublin manager Ger Brennan takes a selfie with a supporter after beating Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

There is the sight of Dublin manager Ger Brennan expressing a preference for moving his team’s clash with Donegal from Croke Park to Parnell Park – rejected by his board aware of the storm it would generate – which amounts to an admission they have traded places with their visitors.

After all, it was only six years ago when Central Council shamefully rejected Donegal’s bid to move Dublin out of Croke Park in the Super 8s, despite the compelling argument that it was unfair the latter should have two home games compared to everyone else getting one.

And then there is the sight of Armagh travelling south to Fitzgerald Stadium, where for the first time after a wait of 142 years they get to play championship ball.

Nothing is ever likely to top beating Kerry in the 2002 All-Ireland final for the Orchard men, but should they cut down the Kingdom under the shadow of the Reeks this Saturday, it will offer up a moment in time that will come a close second.

And, of course, they will travel in their hordes because the length of the road trip involved is shortened by the awareness that each supporter’s voice becomes more precious when aired in hostile territory.

Mirroring a society obsessed by bricks and mortar, the irony is county boards tend to invest the GDP of third world economies in developing stadiums with capacities that are rarely road tested.

Last weekend, four of the eight games were played in grounds that were sold out, the others played before attendances well above their mean average.

And as to the suggested unfairness of the advantage gleaned by home teams, it tends to be overstated.

Thus far, of the 16 games played, it has been split down the middle, with eight wins for home and away.

That is in keeping with the group stages for the last two seasons, with away teams having a slight win advantage last year, with that marginal gain reversed in 2024 by the home teams.

Young Mayo fans watch on as their players inspect the pitch before facing Roscommon at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO

Perhaps, no county has a more conflicted relationship with its own ground than Mayo, who host Meath this weekend.

There are no home comforts, just confusion.

Their record in the Connacht championship at McHale Park is woeful when fighting at their weight-level against Galway and Roscommon, having not won against either there since 2014, which amounts to a run of seven straight defeats.

On the flip side, last year’s shock defeat to Cavan was the first time they ever lost an All-Ireland Series game there, a sequence that had extended to 10 straight wins.

At times it plays as their home, and times it plays as their hell.

As to which way it plays this time is just one more compelling reason to leave well enough alone.