Following a meeting of all Division 3 & 4 clubs along with Atticall, Burren, Castlewellan and Liatroim on Tuesday 23rd November 2004 all these clubs are invited to a further meeting on Thursday 13th January 2004 in the Donard Hotel at 8.00 p.m. to discuss proposals for the future of these two divisions.

Clubs should have discussed these proposals prior to the meeting and should be mandated to decide the changes, if any, to the present structures.

Suggestions for Re-shaped leagues – 2005 (Division 3 & 4 only)

All 24 Division 3 & 4 clubs as well as the reserve team representatives of Atticall, Burren, Castlewellan and Liatroim were invited to an open meeting with Coiste Riarachaín na gCluichi on Tuesday 23rd November 2004 in the Donard Hotel to debate the position of the present league structures.

There was a general acceptance that there was a serious problem in Division 4 of our football leagues and that some alterations should be made to try and improve the situation.

Eighteen clubs were represented with an apology from Atticall.

While there was a very robust debate on the merits of change there were some very diverse opinions on the direction that change would take.

It was agreed that GAC would discuss the outcome of the meeting, take on board the concerns of the clubs, formulate the different options and send it to the clubs for there perusal.

Another meeting would be arranged in early January 2005 for a debate on these options and hopefully have a proposal to present to the first meeting of An Coiste Contae.

At a subsequent meeting Coiste Riarachaín na gCluichi made the following observations:

The leagues as they are at present are working fairly well except for Division 4.

Division 4 has 10 teams but there is a big divide in the standard of teams at the top and bottom of this division. With this in mind Coiste Riarachain na gCluichi present the following options:

Option 1
Let the leagues remain as they are at present

This would not solve the problem that exists at present.

Option 2
Division 3 14 teams – 26 games each plus play-off’s
Division 4 10 teams – 18 games each with no play-off’s

With 26 games the season would need to be extended by at least 8 weeks which would have a knock on effect on the fixtures programme.
An option would be to play through the “July fortnight” and use Saturday’s in September. This would effect the recommendation that the “July fortnight” is a closed term and it would also impact on those clubs playing in tournaments and St. Jude sevens.

To make Division 4 10 teams 2 teams from East Down Reserve Leagues and 2 teams from South Down Reserve Leagues would need to be drafted in.
There is a conception that this may degrade Division 4 but would have the effect of teams being more the same standard.

Option 3
Division 3 12 teams – 22 games each plus play-off’s
Division 4 12 teams – 22 games each with no play-off’s

This is on the assumption that 4 teams would be promoted from the divisional leagues to Division 4.
This option may balance the leagues numerically and still give more level games in Division 4 except for those perceived stronger teams.

Option 4
Division 3 & 4 amalgamate with 20 teams divided into Section A and Section B – 18 games each

The sections would need to be seeded so as not to have 1 section stronger than the other. Promotion and relegation from each section would not work otherwise we are back to the same situation as before.

A possible seeding procedure could be 1st in Div 3 in Section A, 2nd in Section B, 3rd in Section A, 4th in Section B, and so on down through Division 3 and 4.

The top 4 teams in each section play (1st Section A v 4th Section B, 2nd Section A v 3rd Section B, 3rd Section A v 2nd Section B and 4th Section A v 1st Section B - all home and away with aggregate scores counting.) Winners to play semi-finals (1st v 2nd and 3rd v 4th) and final for league winner and runner-up as well as for promotion. (Minimum additional 2 games each.)

Remaining 12 teams play in a knock out competition (drawn 1 from each section home and away) for Section B winner and runner-up. (Minimum additional 2 games each.) Semi-finals and final would be one game at a neutral venue.

Sections A and B would be dictated by league positions last year (1st Section A, 2nd Section B, 3rd Section A, etc.)

The top 4 in each section would compete in the Intermediate Championship the following year.
The remaining 12 teams would contest the Junior Championship.

This option would leave the present Division 4 teams playing teams at the top of the present Division 3. Would this option do any good for either the stronger or weaker clubs?

Conversely, it would mean that the perceived stronger Division 4 teams would be pitching themselves against Division 3 opposition and presumably improving as a consequence.

Every team would have a minimum of 20 games and a maximum of 22 games.