Club hurling in Galway faces a major overhaul from 2023

GALWAY hurling clubs face far-reaching decisions when adjudicating on proposed new structures for the running of county championships at various levels from 2023.

Following the passing of a controversial motion at last year’s GAA Annual Congress, a limit of 16 teams has been placed on all adult grades, and with currently 24 senior clubs in Galway, eight of them face demotion to intermediate ranks in one swoop.

There are similar implications for the intermediate championship, with eight clubs also facing the drop to junior level. The County Board are also proposing a new Premier Junior hurling championship in 2023 which would comprise of non-senior and intermediate clubs. This would result in Junior A, B, C and C1 catering for the second, third and fourth teams of clubs.

If this radical overhaul of club hurling in the county gets the seal of approval, it would mean the ending of Senior B in Galway, with only 16 clubs competing for the Tom Callanan Cup from 2023.

It’s not just Galway having to deal with the fallout of the Congress motion. Tipperary, for instance, a county which had 32 senior clubs in 2021, has opted to create a new Premier Intermediate championship comprised of existing Senior B clubs, running alongside the existing intermediate championship.

This new structure was only passed narrowly and has caused consternation in Tipperary, with last year’s Senior B teams, like Newport, Cashel King Cormacs, Portroe and Killenaule, now playing Premier intermediate in 2022 – all losing their status in the boardroom rather than on the field of play.

Officials will say it’s only labelling, as the new Premier Intermediate title race amounts to last year’s Senior B championship, but clubs are very protective of their status. Had Tipperary held onto Senior B, it meant the winners of the competition could not represent the county in the Munster Intermediate club championship. With Premier Intermediate status, they can.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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