THE DONEGAL COUNTY BOARD last night announced the format for next year’s All-County Football League.
At a meeting with club delegates in Ballybofey, it was decided to retain the existing make up of the Leagues.
There will be minimal change with the existing structures containing the same amount of teams next year as it does this – 10 apiece in Divisions One, Two and Three, nine in Division Four and at least six.
The only difference will be a straight two up, two down from Divisions One to Four, in place of the existing play-off system that sees second from bottom play second from top in the division below.
Donegal leagues for 2016. Div 1,2,3 made up of 10 teams div 4 has 9 Div 5 shall be 6 or more. Only change is top 2 up bottom 2 down.
— Official Donegal GAA (@officialdonegal) December 1, 2015
Alternatives mooted would be to increase the number of teams in the various divisions from 10 to 14 or 16, but to get rid of the home and away fixtures for a single meeting each season.
Another would be to bring in North and South conferences, with the reintroduction of a final also mentioned.
Last night, however, clubs voted to retain the existing set-up with a proposal from the Naomh Muire club – which would’ve seen Division One extended to 16 teams with teams playing each other once – failing to garner the necessary two-thirds majority to vote it through.
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