Congress to debate motion on provincial football final replays 

The GAA’s Central Council is to bring a motion to next month’s annual Congress, proposing that replays be permitted when provincial senior football championship finals finish level after extra time.

Since the advent of the split-season and the move towards more winner-on-the-day fixtures, two consecutive Ulster SFC finals – 2023 and 2024 – were decided by penalty shootouts, with Derry and Donegal respectively beating Armagh. In 2025, the fixture was again level after 70 minutes before Donegal repeated their victory over Armagh, but on that occasion they triumphed in extra time and another shootout was avoided.

If the Congress motion were to pass, shootouts in such scenarios would be avoided and the sides would meet again – however, it is worth noting that any potential change would only apply to football, facilitated by the fact that the provincial championships are followed by the stand-alone All-Ireland series.

In hurling, the Munster and Leinster championships are quickly followed by the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals and quarter-finals proper, with the beaten finalists involved in the latter – recently, Munster Council secretary/CEO Kieran Leddy reiterated his view that, if provincial final replays were to be allowed for, an extra weekend would need to be allocated in the calendar.

Saturday’s Central Council meeting also granted permission for SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh to host the World Cup qualifier between the Republic of Ireland women’s team and their Dutch counterparts, which takes in June. Another soccer crossover granted was to allow Derry City the use of Celtic Park in April and May.

In addition, All-Ireland champions will now receive 35 winners’ medals, up from 26 – previously, counties had to pay for extra units beyond the basic allocation. Another decision made at the weekend was that sponsorship branding is to be allowed on match balls, subject to approval from Central Council.