Dublin will be on the road to either Wexford or Wicklow for a Quarter-Final as they open up their defence of the Leinster and All Ireland Senior Football Titles.
I remember as a (very young) Dublin fan, the excitement of heading to Wexford Park on the train and walking to the ground from the station with local residents peeping out at us through net curtains. Sadly it doesn’t;t look as if there will be many fans travelling this summer but at least with fixtures there is a kindling of hope.
Mickey Harte will be on the road to face John Maughan’s Offaly side in the first round, bringing together two managers that have taken their teams to seven All-Ireland Finals.
The winners of that clash will face Kildare in Newbridge in the Quarter-final while Meath will face the winners of Carlow and Longford. The one Quarter-final that is confirmed already is between Laois and Westmeath.
There is no second chance for teams that lose at any stage of this year’s Football Championship.
In the Leinster Hurling Championship, Kilkenny will host the winner of a Quarter-final between Wexford and Laois while Dublin or Antrim will take on Galway. All the matches will be played at Neutral venues with dates, times and broadcast arrangements for the games to be confirmed.
The Connacht draw was held last night and pitches Sligo against mayo in the Quarter-final. Sligo will be playing their first Championship match in two years having missed last year due to a positive Covid test in the camp.
The winners will face Leitrim in one Semi-final with Galway and Roscommon meeting in the other.
The draw for the Ulster Football Championship will take place this evening.
Intercounty teams got back to training together in full compliance with regulations for the first time in four months yesterday. The Allianz Hurling and Football leagues will get underway next month.
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