Hurling quarter-finals to stay neutral
Cork's Darragh Fitzgibbon tries to get away from Brian Hayes of Dublin in the 2024 All-Ireland SHC quarter-final at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
The GAA has confirmed that the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals will continue to be played at neutral venues.
Last month’s annual Congress finalised the removal of the preliminary quarter-final stage, whereby the winners and runners-up of the Joe McDonagh Cup hosted the sides finishing third in the Leinster and Munster championships.
With the change in format, whereby the beaten provincial finalists will now take on the third-placed sides in the opposite province, the Hurling Development Committee had suggested that home advantage be provided for the higher-ranked counties.
However, Saturday’s Central Council meeting opted against that idea, with Waterford and Wexford believed to have led the push to retain the status quo.
In 2025, Dublin beat Limerick in Croke Park – considered a neutral venue for that game, and the Dubs’ semi-final against Cork – but on occasion employed as a home venue for the Leinster county, too. The Tipperary-Galway quarter-final took place at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.
The two years prior to that, the quarter-finals were held as a double-header – Cork beat Dublin and Clare overcame Wexford at FBD Semple Stadium in 2024 while in 2023 Limerick was the venue for Clare and Galway beating Dublin and Tipp respectively.
As in recent years, the quarter-finals are scheduled for the weekend of June 20/21, along with the Tailteann Cup semi-finals. Since the second-tier football competition was inaugurated in 2022, the last-four ties in Croke Park have been given Sunday billing with the hurling on the Saturday.
The Central Council meeting also saw Cork County Board chairperson Pat Horgan raise issues with the decision to hold next Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1A and 1B finals as a double-header.
The meeting of Limerick and Cork at TUS Gaelic Grounds will be preceded by the Clare-Dublin game and, as a result, the demand for tickets has been very acute. Cork hurling affiliations have been allocated two stand tickets each, with football affiliations limited to terrace tickets only.
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