The Armagh Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships will all return to the group stages format of a few years ago.
Last used in 2018 and 2019, the round robin returns this year, replacing the knockout style of the last three years.
There will be four groups of four teams. Each group will be based on where each team finished in the league.
The draw for the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships will take place on Wednesday night.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll use the Senior Championship as an example to explain the group stage format.
Seedings
The top four of Division 1A will be in Pot One. The bottom four of Division 1A will be in Pot Two.
The top four of Division 1B will be in Pot Three. The bottom four of Division 1B will be in Pot Four.
POT ONE: Clann Eireann, Crossmaglen, Madden, Killeavy.
POT TWO: Armagh Harps, Granemore, Ballymacnab, Mullaghbawn.
POT THREE: Silverbridge, Dromintee, St Peter’s, Clan na Gael.
POT FOUR: Sarsfields, Maghery, Shane O’Neill’s, Grange.
One team from each pot will be drawn out to give four groups of four. The team that finishes top of their section will advance to the championship quarter-finals.
The second and third placed teams head into the play-offs while the bottom team exits the championship.
Home and Away
The teams from Division 1B will have two home games and one away game. The teams from Division 1A will get one home game and two away games.
For example, if Group One is made up of Clann Eireann (1), Armagh Harps (2), Silverbridge (3) and Sarsfields (4), then the fixtures will look like this:
Round One: Sarsfields v Armagh Harps – Silverbridge v Clann Eireann.
Round Two: Sarsfields v Clann Eireann – Armagh Harps v Silverbridge.
Round Three: Clann Eireann v Armagh Harps – Silverbridge v Sarsfields.
