The dates for next year’s Connacht championship have been announced (so says this story in Hogan Stand). Our opening match against New York had already been confirmed for 10th May and, assuming we can make them the third championship scalp collected under The Second Coming, we’ll then be up against the winners of the Roscommon/Leitrim tie on 20th June at McHale Park. That date, amigos, is a Saturday (confirming this report that the GAA are planning to move a number of championship games away from Sunday). If this match ends in a draw, the following Saturday (27th June) has been pencilled in for the replay.
The first round tie between the Rossies and the Ridge County lads takes place up in Carrick on on Sunday, 31st May and the Sunday prior to that Galway open the defence of their provincial crown over in Ruislip. The winners of that one face Sligo on 28th June, with provision made for a possible replay of that one on 4th July.
Next year’s Connacht final is set for Sunday, 19th July. If, as expected it’s ourselves and Galway, it’ll be in Pearse Stadium where we’ll be looking for our first championship victory at that venue since the Connacht semi-final of 1967. If we’re not in it then I don’t really give a fiddler’s where it’ll be but if Kevin Walsh’s Sligo do manage to upset the champions (and Sligo have a half-decent record of doing so against the Herrin Chokers) then I suppose, if it’s us and them, it’d have to be in Markievicz Park. But that’s too much conjecture to be getting into late in November.
This year the fixtures caused no end of grief Chez WJ in terms of scheduling summer hols and so forth so I’m happy to see a nice big, fat window in the first two weeks in July with HOLIDAYS!!!! written all over it. This year we had to deny the chisellers their last day in school before they broke for summer and even then I only managed to touch down back at Dublin airport a little more than twelve hours ahead of throw-in time at McHale Park. I’m expecting a bit more in the way of serenity next year on that front. Until the throw-in, that is, at which time, no doubt, it’ll be back to good old-fashioned blood and thunder.
WJ, let the kids have their holidays in the Bronx in May to see the Green and Red storm NYC!
The lads might be wearing a new strip out there I see – hoganstand.com Discussion Board says the new jersey is being launched this week.
yes…a green a gold strip 🙂
New jersey is out tomorrow. Here’s a link to it from Elverys.
Pretty poor effort, looks like something you might see a clown wearing.
Is it so hard to design a simple green and red jersey, minus the jazzy stripes??
I’m blaming the new jersey if we have a bad year next time out!
http://www.buy4now.ie/elverys/aspx/productdetail.aspx?pid=4883&loc=P&catid=50.21
Connacht GAA website has Final for 12/07/09.
http://www.connachtgaa.ie/countychamp_09.php?yr=09&comp=2001
Hmmm, you’d have to think that this date makes more sense and it’d be more in line with previous years. I may be forced to watch this one in the Irish pub on hols!
On the subject of fixtures, the GAA has confirmed all the NFL dates.
All are as per the provisional list, except the trip to Kerry. That’s been moved from the Saturday night to the Sunday afternoon. The floodlights must be needed at Farranfore airport Saturday night
Thanks for that, Dan, I hadn’t got around to looking at them to see if they were the same as the provisional list. I’ll amend the fixture list on the site accordingly.