Both the 2020 hurling and football championship finals set for December
The return to inter-county action took a step closer with the release today of the 2020 hurling and football championship fixtures.
Both the All Ireland hurling and football finals are pencilled in for December. The hurling final will take place on the 13th of December and the All Ireland football final will be played just six days before Christmas on the 19th of December.
The 2020 All Ireland football championship will be a straight knockout competition including the provincial championship as both competitions revert to the classic format.
The All Ireland hurling championship will be knockout but will contain a back-door format and the quarter finals of the Leinster and Munster championships will take place at the end of October.
The Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard, Joe McDonagh and Lott Meagher will also begin before the end of October.
All knockout games will be finished on the day, with penalties if required, including provincial and All-Ireland finals.
Before the race begins for All Ireland glory the inter-county scene will get up and running on the 17th of October with the final two rounds of the National League.
The GAA have confirmed that there will be no provincial or All Ireland club championships in 2020 and the Tailteann Cup and All Ireland schools series are also postponed for this year.
There is an 11 week window for the completion of Club county championships which will get underway from the 31st of July.
Although the final two rounds of the National football league will be played, the final rounds of the Allianz hurling league will not and Limerick and Clare are declared the respective winners of division 1A and 1B.
Should both counties be drawn to meet in the championship then that game will double up as a league decider.
The draws for the Leinster and Munster Senior Hurling Championships and the Leinster Senior Football Championship will take place live tonight on RTÉ’s Six One news.
The current Leinster hurling champions Wexford and beaten finalists Kilkenny will receive byes into the provincial semi-finals but can drawn against each other at that stage.
That will leave Dublin, Galway and Laois in the draw to determine which two teams meet in the quarter final.
Munster also reverts back to an open draw which includes one quarter-final, two semi-finals and a final and there is a backdoor for teams beaten along the way in both provinces.
The Joe McDonagh Cup format remains the same, but the finalists won’t proceed to the race for Liam MacCarthy and will be a curtain raiser to the All-Ireland hurling final.
The Under-20 and minor hurling championships and the minor football championship will commence in mid-October and played on a straight knockout basis.
2020 Hurling and Football Fixtures
24th/25th of October
Allianz Football League Round 7
Munster SHC 1/4-final
Leinster SHC 1/4 final
Christy Ring and Nickey Rackard 1/4 finals
Joe McDonagh & Lory Meagher Round 1
31st of October/ 1st of November
Connacht SFC 1/4 finals
Munster SFC 1/4 finals
Leinster SFC Round 1
Ulster SFC preliminary round/1/4 finals
Munster SHC semi-finals
Leinster SHC semi-finals
Joe McDonagh & Lory Meagher Round 2
Christy Ring & Nickey Rackard semi-finals & relegation semi-finals
7th/8th of November
Connacht SFC semi-finals
Munster SFC semi-finals
Leinster SFC 1/4 finals
Ulster SFC 1/4 finals
All-Ireland SHC Qualifier Round 1 (2 games)
Joe McDonagh Round 3 (1 Game)
Christy Ring & Nickey Rackard Relegation finals
Lory Meagher Round 3
14th/15th of November
Connacht SFC final
Leinster SFC semi-finals
Ulster SFC semi-final
Leinster SHC final
Munster SHC final
All-Ireland SHC Qualifier Round 2 (2 games)
Joe McDonagh Round 3 (1 game)
Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard & Lory Meagher finals
21st/22nd of November
Leinster SFC final
Joe McDonagh Round 4
All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals (2 games)
Munster SFC final
Ulster SFC final
Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U20 SHC final
28th/29th of November
All-Ireland SHC semi-final (Leinster champion v 1/4 final winner)
Joe McDonagh Round 5
All-Ireland SHC semi-final (Munster champions v 1/4 final winner)
All-Ireland MFC semi-finals
All-Ireland MHC semi-finals
5th/6th of December
All-Ireland SFC semi-final (Leinster champion v Ulster champion)
All-Ireland SFC semi-final (Connacht champion v Munster champion)
All-Ireland MFC final
All-Ireland MHC final
13th of December
All-Ireland SHC final
Joe McDonagh final
19th of December
All-Ireland SFC final