After last weekend, when the GAA reaffirmed September 14th as the official start date of inter county training and October 17th as the start of competitive action, it is expected that later this week Croke Park will release details of the 2020 senior football and hurling championships. It is understood that the football championship will be run on a provincial knock-out basis, leaving Galway to play Sligo in a Connacht semi final (currently to be played in Pearse Stadium, although Croke Park is a potential option due to social distancing rules) as their fixture in New York has been shelved. A new draw will be held for the 5 teams in the Leinster hurling championship, but there will be a 'back-door' qualifiers system in place for teams who lose in the provincial championships along the lines of the system last used in 2017.
With the knock-out stages of the National Hurling Leagues set to be scrapped, the last two group games in the National Football League will decide all promotion and relegation issues, as well as who are crowned league champions. In Division 1, Galway footballers have home games against Mayo and Dublin on the weekends of Oct 17th and 24th, and if they are still top of the table at that stage they will be crowned champions without the need to play a final.
