With the county championship in the rear view mirror, the inter-county season begins with the start of the All-Ireland series this weekend.
This is a new competition for 2023 with 16 regions made up of four groups of four for the Sam Maguire Cup.
With the second round of the Tailteann Cup starting earlier this month, the All-Ireland teams start with three games on Saturday and one on Sunday.
In the All-Ireland series, a total of 34 games will be played over the next 10 weeks before the final in Croke Park on July 30.
The new version, which was approved in Congress in February 2022, was introduced with the aim of seeing more matches between the most powerful regions.
It also guarantees that each county will play at least three games in the All-Ireland or Tailteann Cup series.
Who qualified for the All-Ireland round-robin series?
Four regional winners – Dublin, Kerry, Galway, Derry
The final four beaten by the counties – Louth, Clare, Sligo, Armagh
2022 Tailteann Cup Winners – Westmeath
The following seven teams based on the final places in the 2023 National Football League – Mayo, Roscommon, Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal, Cork, Kildare.
What is its appearance?
Sixteen teams are formed in four groups of four teams and each team is playing the other areas in its group once, getting two points for winning and one match. Each team plays one home, one escape and one neutral game.
The top three in each group advance to the semi-finals, the first-placed teams to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, and the second- and third-placed teams to the semi-finals.
The four second-placed teams play the third-placed team in the preliminary quarterfinals. The winners of the first quarter advance to play the group winners in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The two semi-finals are next to the final.
What parts are grouped together?
First Class – Kerry, Louth, Mayo, Cork
Second Class – Galway, Armagh, Tyrone, Westmeath
Third Class – Dublin, Sligo, Roscommon, Kildare
Group Four – Derry, Clare, Monaghan, Donegal
When will the game be played?
Round-robin matches will be played on 20/21 May, 27/28 May, 3/4 June, and 17/18 June.
When will the knockout stages take place?
First quarter final – 24/25 June
All-Ireland quarter-finals – 1/2 July
All-Ireland semi-finals – July 16
All-Ireland Final – 30 July
What about this week’s events?
The opening round of the All-Ireland group stage was the final two sections that promoted Sam and the two teams they beat in the final.
On Saturday, the Kerry hosts welcome favorite Mayo to Killarney in the First Division. Mayo, who were last beaten in 2021, were revived by the arrival of Kevin McStay as manager, winning the National Football League title with a series of impressive displays.
That included a comfortable win over Kerry in Castlebar in February, but when the Kingdom looked slow to finish fifth, they warmed their All-Ireland defense by claiming another Munster title, beating Tipperary and Clare on aggregate. 34 points.
Galway, who lost to Kerry in last year’s decider, will start Group Two at home to 2021 champions Tyrone. The Red Hands finished the league campaign with three straight wins but were knocked out of Ulster by Monaghan, who won the quarter-final at Omagh 2-17 to 1-18.
The Connacht outfit beat Tyrone 0-16 to 0-13 in the Division One clash in Tuam.
The first game of the weekend is also of interest as Donegal travel to Ennis to face Clare. Donegal endured a disappointing league campaign, which saw manager Paddy Carr resign after just five months.
Aidan O’Rourke was appointed interim manager but his fortunes did not improve, struggling to get down to the Second Division before losing in the Ulster quarter-finals to Down.
With previous Ulster champions Derry and Monaghan completing Group Four, Saturday’s trip to Ennis provides a vital opportunity for Donegal to get some points on the board.
Sunday’s game raises the curtain on Group Three as Connacht runners-up Sligo host Kildare.
All-Ireland group games this weekend
- Clare v Donegal (Saturday, 14:00 BST, Group Four)
- Kerry v Mayo (Saturday, 15:00, First Division)
- Galway v Tyrone (Saturday, 17:15, Group Two)
- Sligo v Kildare (Sunday, 14:30, Group Three)