THE DR MCKENNA CUP looks set to be added to the calendar for 2026. Delegates from the Ulster counties unanimously backed a return of the pre-season competition at the province’s Central Competitions Control Committee last night.
The competition was dropped in 2025, along with similar pre-season competitions in Leinster, Munster and Connacht. Some are likely to return in 2026 following a review at a recent meeting of the GAA’s Central Council.
The Gaelic Players Association could respond to the announcement. The players’ union has argued that January competitions contribute to burnout and go against their ‘No contact November’ policy, where there is a six-week lead-in period before competitive games.
However, the idea of November as a ‘zero contact month’ has been questioned before by GAA officials.
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“If even a fraction of the reports of inter-county collective training sessions taking place in November are true… [what] did the GPA say or do during this time to call this out? I’m not sure if they did or said anything,” Ulster GAA secretary Brian McAvoy wrote in his report at the start of the year.
The Dr McKenna Cup is a lucrative competition for Ulster GAA, drawing sizeable crowds, most famously the more than 19,000 that went to Armagh and Tyrone in Casement Park in 2006 in the semi-final.
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Ulster delegates back the return of Dr McKenna Cup
THE DR MCKENNA CUP looks set to be added to the calendar for 2026. Delegates from the Ulster counties unanimously backed a return of the pre-season competition at the province’s Central Competitions Control Committee last night.
The competition was dropped in 2025, along with similar pre-season competitions in Leinster, Munster and Connacht. Some are likely to return in 2026 following a review at a recent meeting of the GAA’s Central Council.
The Gaelic Players Association could respond to the announcement. The players’ union has argued that January competitions contribute to burnout and go against their ‘No contact November’ policy, where there is a six-week lead-in period before competitive games.
However, the idea of November as a ‘zero contact month’ has been questioned before by GAA officials.
“If even a fraction of the reports of inter-county collective training sessions taking place in November are true… [what] did the GPA say or do during this time to call this out? I’m not sure if they did or said anything,” Ulster GAA secretary Brian McAvoy wrote in his report at the start of the year.
The Dr McKenna Cup is a lucrative competition for Ulster GAA, drawing sizeable crowds, most famously the more than 19,000 that went to Armagh and Tyrone in Casement Park in 2006 in the semi-final.
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Dr McKenna Cup GAA Pre-season GAA