Clubs ratify major shake up to senior football championship
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After years of debate, Laois GAA clubs have finally voted in favour of restructuring their football championship agreeing to reduce the number of competing teams to 12 at senior grade.
The long-awaited decision marks a significant shift in the county’s football landscape, aimed at raising standards and improving competitiveness.
Club delegates voted 38-5 in favour of reducing the number of teams in the senior grade at the recent County Board meeting in the Laois GAA Centre of Excellence.
That is significant support for the motion and comes after the executive had backed the recommendation and after strong engagement with the clubs in recent weeks.
It means that there will be three teams relegated from the senior football championship in each of the next two seasons. The intermediate winners will continue to be promoted.
By 2028, the senior and intermediate grades will both be comprised of 12 teams and will be played under a new format of two groups of six.
For next season, both grades will be played under the same format as recent years, with the eight teams that fail to make the senior quarter-finals going into the Senior ‘B’.
The four Senior ‘B’ quarter-final losers will meet in relegation playoffs with the losers of those two games automatically relegated to intermediate for 2027.
The two initial relegation playoff winners will then meet in another relegation playoff where the loser of that game will also be relegated.
For the 2027 season, there will be 14 teams in a group format (two groups of four and two groups of three) in the senior championship which will end up having the three relegation playoffs with the six teams that don’t make the quarter-finals. The three losers of those games will be relegated.
Should all that play out as planned, it will allow the new format come into use in the 2028 club championships.
While opinions had been sharply divided in recent seasons, the latest vote reflects that change was needed – and that the future of Laois championships will benefit from the new format.
