Meath Football Championships all set for early April start
Meath GAA released their master fixture plan for the first half of the year with the club football championships scheduled to get underway over the opening weekend of April and the hurling championships penciled in from Thursday 17th June.
On instruction from the higher authorities in Croke Park April is a designated month for club activities and Meath GAA have scheduled two rounds of the football championships with the first round fixed to get underway from Thursday 4th April.
The first round of games will be spread over two successive weekends with a similar pattern proposed for the second round of games in the respective championships to get underway on Easter weekend, from Thursday 18th April, and continue on the weekend starting Thursday 25th April.
With Meath scheduled to take on Offaly in the opening round of the Leinster SFC on Sunday 12th May, that will give manager Andy McEntee two weeks to work with his panel for the championship game in Pairc Tailteann.
The Christy Ring Cup campaign for the senior hurlers starts on Saturday 11th May with a home game against London and the hurling championships will not start until after the final of the Christy Ring Cup which is fixed for Saturday 22nd June.
The A FLs commenced last Thursday and continued over the weekend, round two will take place next weekend and round three will be on Sunday 10th February.
The A HLs will start on Sunday 17th February.
It is expected to play the hurling league finals on the weekend of 9th June, while the A FL Div 1 semi-final and lower division finals are scheduled for Sunday 30th June, with the Div 1 final Sunday 14th July.
The third rounds of the hurling and football championships are provisionally proposed for the last two weekends in July respectively, but those games could be switched depending on Meath's progression in the All-Ireland SFC race.
GAA MASTERPLAN
FOOTBALL
Sunday 3rd February - A FL round two.
Sunday 10th February - A FL round three.
Saturday 23rd February - B FL round one.
Sunday 23rd February - A FL round four.
Saturday 9th March - B FL round two.
Sunday 10th March - A FL round five.
Saturday 23rd March - B FL round three.
Sunday 24th March - A FL round six.
Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th April - football championships round one.
Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th April - football championships round one.
Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st April - football championships round two.
Wednesday 24th April - A FL round seven.
Thursday 25th to Saturday 27th April - football championships round two.
Sunday 28th April - back matches.
Saturday 4th May - B FL round four.
Sunday 5th May - A FL round eight.
Wednesday 8th May - B FL round five.
Wednesday 15th May - knockout competitions round one.
Saturday 18th May - B FL round six.
Sunday 19th May - A FL round nine.
Wednesday 22nd May - A FL round 10.
Wednesday 29th May - A FL round 11.
Saturday 1st June - B FL round seven.
Sunday 2nd June - A FL round 12.
Wednesday 5th June - knockout competitions round two.
Saturday 15th June - B FL round eight.
Sunday 16th June - A FL round 13.
Wednesday 26th June - knockout competitions round three.
Saturday 29th June - B FL round nine.
Sunday 30th June - A FL finals & A FL Div 1 semi-final.
Wednesday 10th July - B FL finals & play-offs.
Saturday 13th July - B FL finals.
Sunday 14th July - A FL finals.
Wednesday 17th July - knockout competitions quarter-finals.
Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th July - football championships round three (provisional).
HURLING
Sunday 17th February - A HL round one.
Sunday 3rd March - A HL round two.
Sunday 17th March - A HL round three.
Sunday 31st March - A HL round four.
Sunday 28th April - A HL round five; back matches.
Wednesday 1st May - knockout competitions round one.
Sunday 12th May - A HL round six.
Sunday 26th May - A HL round seven.
Monday 3rd June - A HL back games.
Sunday 9th June - A HL finals.
Wednesday 12th June - knockout competitions round two.
Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd June - hurling championships round one.
Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th July - hurling championships round two.
Wednesday 10th July - knockout competitions round three.
Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st July - hurling championships round three (provisional).
Club Fixtures are generally shown as occurring on a Sunday. This is used only to identify the particular weekend. Games may be fixed for Thursday to Sunday of that particular weekend.
The Fixture Planner is the best guide to fixtures, based on information available at the time of publishing.
The Master Fixture list may be amended to accommodate exceptional circumstances and events not envisaged during the compilation of the Master Fixture list.