Explained: Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup draws

The draw for the group stages of the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cups will take place on Wednesday.

The draw, which will be steamed live at 1.30pm on the GAA's YouTube channel, occurs before the provincial finals so we won’t know the complete groups in the All-Ireland series until the Munster and Connacht finals (Sunday) as well as the Ulster (Saturday week) and Leinster deciders (Sunday week) are complete.

The Tailteann Cup groups will be more straight forward as the 16 teams and their seedings have been confirmed.

The draws will be conducted by Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) chairperson Brian Carroll and Feargal McGill, GAA Director Player, Club and Games Administration.

Sam Maguire

First seeds (provincial winners)

Clare/Kerry, Galway/Mayo, Armagh/Donegal, Louth/Meath

Second seeds (provincial runners-up)

Clare/Kerry, Galway/Mayo, Armagh/Donegal, Louth/Meath

Third seeds

Dublin, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tyrone

Fourth seeds

Cavan, Cork, Derry, Down

This marks the third and final edition of the current format, with a qualifier structure in place for both the All-Ireland series and the Tailteann Cup.

With three from the four teams in each group progressing from the current 'Super 16’ format, it hasn’t been without its fair share of criticism. Last year, Derry and Roscommon qualified for the knockout stages despite losing three of their four games.

Louth became the 16th and final team to book their place in the All-Ireland series with their Leinster semi-final victory over Kildare.

It was the other semi-final that created all the headlines as Meath ended Dublin dominance to book their place in a provincial decider and a place in either Pot 1 or Pot 2 depending on how they fare out against the Wee County.

The provincial winners (first seeds) and runners-up (second seeds) won’t be known fully until Sunday week, though Kerry will be overwhelming favourites to get the better of Clare this weekend.

Dublin’s shock defeat means they find themselves in Pot 3 in with a number of other teams more than capable of landing some big results.

Meath and Dublin could be a repeat pairing in the All-Ireland series group stage

Tyrone will lament their late loss to Armagh at the weekend. Without ever playing to their potential, they reeled the All-Ireland champions back in before being edged out at the death. Ulster rivals Monaghan showed against Donegal in patches that they justifiably have ambitions of further progress while the side that joined them in climbing out of Division 2 this spring, Roscommon, complete the third pot.

Based on a small sample size, Cork appear to the strongest of the teams in Pot 4. The Rebels pushed Kerry all the way in an absorbing Munster semi-final, coming undone after goals from Sean O’Shea and Joe O’Connor. It’s all-Ulster after that with Derry and Cavan – both soundly beaten in their provincial defeats to Donegal and Tyrone respectively – joining a Down side coming off the back of a defeat to Donegal.

While provincial finalists cannot be drawn in the same group, teams who have already played each other earlier in this year’s championships can be pitted together again, raising the possibility of Dublin getting the chance to exact revenge on Meath, Cork the opportunity to take on Kerry again (the Rebels would have home advantage) and Armagh the possibility of facing Tyrone for the second time in a matter of weeks.

You could get groups such as:

Kerry, Armagh, Dublin and Cork, or Galway, Donegal, Tyrone and Cork all pitted together.

The opening round of games will see provincial winners host a team from Pot 3, while provincial runners-up will have home advantage against a fourth seed.

Dates

Round 1 - 17/18 May, 24/25 May, home team first – Seed 1 v Seed 3, Seed 2 v Seed 4

Round 2 - 1/2 June, – Seed 4 v Seed 1, Seed 3 v Seed 2

Round 3 - 14/15 June, neutral venues – Seed 1 v Seed 2, Seed 3 v Seed 4

All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals – 21/22 June.

All-Ireland quarter-finals – 28/29 June.

All-Ireland semi-finals – 12/13 July.

All-Ireland final - 27 July.

Tailteann Cup

First seeds

Fermanagh, Kildare, Offaly, Westmeath.

Second seeds

Laois, Limerick, Sligo, Wexford

Third seeds

Antrim, Carlow, Leitrim, Wicklow.

Fourth seeds

Longford, London, Tipperary, Waterford.

Similar to the Sam Maguire draw, 16 teams are drawn into four separate groups. The seedings have already been confirmed and are based off finishing positions in the league.

Each group features a team from pots 1-4, while New York will enter at the preliminary quarter-final stage.

Teams who have already met in this year’s championships can be drawn to the same groups.

Down players celebrate victory in last year's Tailteann Cup final

Dates

Round 1 - 10/11 May, home team first – Seed 1 v Seed 3, Seed 2 v Seed 4

Round 2 - 17/18 May, home team first – Seed 4 v Seed 1, Seed 3 v Seed 2

Round 3 - 31 May/1 June, neutral venues – Seed 1 v Seed 2, Seed 3 v Seed 4

Preliminary quarter-finals - 7 June.

Quarter-finals – 14/15 June.

Semi-finals – 21/22 June.

Final - 12 July

Watch a provincial football final double-header, Kerry v Clare (1.45pm) and Mayo v Galway (4pm) on Sunday from 1.15pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.

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