Cork Senior A Football Championship
The Cork Senior A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as The Echo Cork County Senior A Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition that will be organised by the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 2020 for the second tier Gaelic football teams in the county of Cork in Ireland.
| Cork Senior A Football Championship | |
|---|---|
Current season or competition: | |
| Irish | Craobh Peile Sinsearach A Chorcaí |
| Code | Gaelic football |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Region |  |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Sponsors | The Echo |
| Official website | Cork GAA |
The series of games will be played between the spring and autumn months, including a summer break, with the county final being played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in October. The championship will include a round robin followed by a knock-out stage.
History
On 26 March 2019, three championship proposals were circulated to Cork club delegates. A core element running through all three proposals, put together by the Cork GAA games workgroup, was that there be a group stage of 12 teams, as well as straight relegation and promotion.[1] On 2 April 2019, a majority of 136 club delegates voted for Option A which will see one round of games played in April and two more in August – all with county players available.[2] The decision meant that, for the first time since 1887, the top tier of Cork football would be split in two into the Cork Premier Senior Championship and the Cork Senior A Championship.
The championship
Format
Group stage: The 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, which features one game in April and two games in August, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knock-out stage.
Play-off: The second best and third best third placed teams from the group stage play off for last quarter-final place.
Quarter-finals: The play-off winner and the seven top-ranking teams from the group stage contest this round. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.
Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions and gain automation promotion to the Cork Premier Senior Football Championship for the following year.
Sponsorship
The Echo will provide the sponsorship for the Cork Senior A Football Championship.
References
- Cormican, Eoghan (26 March 2019). "Here's a breakdown of the proposals to restructure the Cork county championships". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- "Cork clubs vote down radical restructuring proposals". RTÉ Sport. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.