Tailteann Cup
Current season or competition: 2024 Tailteann Cup
Irish	Corn Tailteann
Code	Gaelic football
Founded	2022
Region	Ireland (GAA)
No. of teams	17
Title holders	Meath (1st title)
First winner	Westmeath
Most titles	Westmeath, Meath (1 titles)
TV partner(s)	RTÉ
Official website	www.gaa.ie

The Tailteann Cup is a second tier Gaelic football championship competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams who do not qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the winner is awarded the Tailteann Cup.

The name 'Tailteann' comes from the ancient Tailteann Games.

The title has been won by 2 different counties, none of whom have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Meath and Westmeath, who have won the cup on 1 occasion each. Meath are the title holders, defeating Down by 2-13 to 0-14 in the 2023 final.

History

Creation

Following ongoing one-sided matches in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship between counties of differing standards, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) began considering the addition of a tournament for so-called weaker counties who were usually eliminated in the early stages of their respective provincial championship. At a national conference in November 2018, the GAA found broad support for the introduction of a second-tier championship and canvassed options for its potential structure and future inclusion within the annual calendar.^[1] One year later at a specially convened congress, 76% of delegates formally approved of the second-tier tournament.^[2] The tournament was named the Tailteann Cup in February 2020 and it was intended it would hold its inaugural season that year,^[3] though its introduction was ultimately delayed until 2022 due the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games over that period.

Second and third-tier competitions have been incorporated in hurling for several years, such as the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup.

Development

In 2023 a group stage was introduced, following the success of the inaugural cup.

Team changes

19 county teams have participated in at least one edition of the Tailteann Cup. Fifteen have been ever-presents. in 2023, Limerick and Meath became the most recent counties to make their debut in the Cup

Format history

2022

The first Tailteann Cup was a knockout tournament whereby once a team was defeated they were eliminated from the championship. The pairings were drawn by location. Each match was played as a single leg.

2023–present

The Tailteann Cup has since emulated the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship format which includes a group stage and a knockout stage.

Tailteann Cup moments

• Westmeath 2-14 - 1-13 Cavan (1 July 2022): Westmeath won the inaugural Tailteann Cup, defeating Cavan in Croke Park.
• Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois (25 June 2023): This semi-final meeting was the biggest ever Tailteann Cup winning margin in the cups history.

Format

Up to 17 teams compete in the cup. The teams are drawn from the bottom 16 rankings from that season's National Football League, plus New York. However, if a team in this position qualifies for the final of its provincial championship, that team continues to compete in the same year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and does not compete in the Tailteann Cup.^[4]

The teams that compete in the Tailteann Cup are split into four round-robin groups, and the top two teams from each group proceed to one of four knockout quarter-finals matches, followed by semi-finals and the final.^[4][5] The Winners of the four Quarter Final pairings qualify for the semi-finals, with pairings decided via an open draw. The final of the Tailteann Cup is currently scheduled three weeks before the All-Ireland Football Final, and is staged at Croke Park in Dublin.^[6]

For the inaugural 2022 Tailteann Cup, the format was altered to a straight-knockout competition with Round 1 and the Quarter Finals organised on a geographical basis with Northern and Southern Sections. From 2023 onwards, there are scheduled to be no North/South sections.^[7]

Unlike the contest for the Sam Maguire Cup, London and New York are permitted to meet each other in the contest for the Tailteann Cup.

Tailteann Cup group stage

Group stage (Sixteen teams remaining)edit

Group stage (24 matches): The 16 counties who did not qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship group stage make up the group stage teams. Teams are divided into four groups of four. The group winners advance to the quarter-finals and the group runners-up and 3 out of 4 group third placed teams advance to the preliminary quarter-finals. Five teams are eliminated at this stage while twelve teams advance to the All-Ireland knockout-stage

Tailteann Cup knockout stage

Preliminary quarter-finals (12 teams remaining)

Preliminary quarter-finals (4 matches): The second-placed teams from the group stage play the 3 best third-placed teams from the group stage and New York. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate preliminary quarter-finals. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals (Eight teams remaining)

Quarter-finals (4 matches): The winners of the preliminary quarter-finals join the first placed teams in the group stage. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate quarter-finals. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (Four teams remaining)

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate semi-finals. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.

Final

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Tailteann_Cup
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