The draws for the 2026 provincial senior football championships will take place on Thursday, November 27th.
In a break with tradition, the provincial draws will not be aired on RTÉ. They will instead be held at Croke Park in front of a live audience and will be streamed on the GAA website and associated online platforms, including GAA+.
Last year, the draws for the 2025 provincial championships took place on October 12th and were broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1.
However, in a bid to increase the profile and interest around the draws, there will be a shake up to this year’s iteration, including a panel discussion and immediate player reaction live from Croke Park.
RM Block
The start time for the draws has yet to be confirmed but they are expected to get under way at around 8pm.
New Dublin manager Ger Brennan will find out if he is to be put on a possible collision course with Louth, the team he led to a famous Leinster title in 2025.
Brennan guided the Wee County to a first provincial title in 68 years with a victory over Meath in the final last May. It is the first time since the 2011 season that Dublin will not enter the campaign as defending Leinster champions.
How are Leinster and Munster stacking up ahead of their first meeting of the season?
With new champions, plus Meath and Kildare making significant progress last season, the Leinster Championship has the potential to catch the imagination again after over a decade of Dublin dominance.
The Ulster Championship remains the jewel in the provincial football calendar. Donegal, with Jim McGuinness still at the helm, will be hoping to retain the Anglo Celt Cup but the road to Ulster glory is littered with danger.
Armagh will be trying to end their barren period in the province, the Orchard County’s last provincial triumph coming in 2008.
Derry, under the stewardship of Ciarán Meenagh, will hope they can rediscover their Ulster winning form of 2022-2023, while Conor Laverty’s Down have developed steadily in recent years.
Monaghan will be aiming for a second solid season under Gabriel Bannigan, while Cavan could well get a first-year bounce from Dermot McCabe taking the reins with the Breffni.
The Munster Championship draw has generated plenty of debate following the decision to reintroduce a seeding system which will place Kerry and Cork on opposite sides of the draw so they can only meet in the provincial final.
In Connacht, the two quarter-final pairings are already predetermined as Mayo will travel to face London on April 11th while it is Roscommon’s year to take on New York at Gaelic Park.
The game in New York is fixed for April 12th and will mark the first time in a decade that the Rossies have made the trip to the Bronx after their 2021 fixture was cancelled due to Covid.
No draws are required for the Leinster and Munster Senior Hurling Championships as the round-robin fixtures are scheduled annually on a rotating basis.
