The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Derrick Lynch
There will be no Clare club championship games played in April once more this year.
The draft master fixtures plan for 2020 is to be discussed at next Tuesday’s county board meeting with the document being sent to clubs this week.
It proposes that the first round of the senior football championship be played on the weekend of August 1, with the senior hurling championship getting underway the following week. These dates are dependent on the progress of the county teams, and will likely be reviewed closer to the time if needed.
The proposed dates for this year’s county finals are October 18 (football) and October 25 (hurling). The provincial club quarter-finals are set to take place on November 8.
The first championship due to get underway is the Clare U-21 hurling championship with that set to start on the weekend of March 7, while it also proposed for games in this championship to be played on St Patrick’s Day, Tuesday March 17.
The opening rounds of the Cusack Cup are also set for the weekend of March 7, with the Clare Cup getting underway on the weekend of March 21. There will also be two action packed weekends in April, with U-21 hurling, Clare Cup and Cusack Cup games all pencilled in for the first two weekends of the month. There will be Cusack Cup games only on the weekend of April 19, with the following weekend solely for Clare Cup fixtures. The finals of both competitions are provisionally set for the weekend of July 18. There is no proposed start date on the document for the 2020 U-21 football championship.
Club delegates will discuss the master fixtures proposals when they meet next Tuesday evening. It is also expected there will be a discussion on a change to the format of the Junior A championship, while Sixmilebridge’s motion which was passed at convention in relation to penalty shootouts will also be discussed. It was agreed that championship games which finish level after extra-time on the first day would not be settled by a penalty shootout as a means of having a result on the day.
Proposed dates for 2020 Clare GAA competitions
U-21 Hurling: March 7; Cusack Cup: March 7; Clare Cup: March 21; Senior football championship: August 1; Senior hurling championship: August 8.
The document in full can be viewed below
