GAELIC GAMES NEWS:THE VENUES for next summer's Leinster football championship won't be decided until early next year as the Leinster Council has decided to take more time to consider their options. The actual dates will be agreed at the Leinster Council meeting next Monday night, but among the considerations regarding venues is the extent to which they will use of Croke Park.

Normally Dublin would be automatically assigned to Croke Park, but having drawn Wexford in the quarter-final stage next summer, the Leinster Council may yet decide on a provincial venue. In the meantime, the Wexford county board have submitted a request to have the game played at their home ground, Wexford Park, which has a capacity of 25,000.

Dublin would also have to be agreeable to this, but it would mean a considerably reduced income, given the expected crowd should the game be played in Croke Park would be at least twice that.

The three first round matches – Louth against Longford, Wicklow against Carlow, and Meath against Offaly – are all certain to go to provincial venues, but should the Dublin-Wexford quarter-final go to Croke Park, it would most likely be paired with one of the other three quarter-finals: Laois against Meath/Offaly, Westmeath against Wicklow/Carlow, or Kildare against Louth/Longford.

Dublin’s Leinster semi-final, should, of course, they beat Wexford to progress, will almost certainly be played in Croke Park. But there is enough reason to play the Wexford quarter-final in a smaller stadium such as Wexford Park, particularly given the major investment made at the ground in recent years. Dublin last met Wexford in the championship in the 2008 Leinster final, beating them by a massive 23 points in Croke Park.

It will be Dublin’s first step towards a sixth successive Leinster title and an attempt to equal the record set by Wexford from 1913 to 1918 and the Dublin team of the 1970s – who won five back-to-back titles from 1974 to 1979.

Coincidentally, Dublin will also get a sneak preview of what to expect from Wexford in their first outing of 2010, as they’ve also drawn Wexford in the first round of the O’Byrne Cup, which is scheduled for Sunday, January 10th.

Dublin will be entitled to a home venue here as the first county drawn, while new Westmeath manager Brendan Hackett will get his season underway with a home tie against DCU. In the Walsh Cup hurling, Dublin will play the winners of Carlow/NUIG.

Also announced yesterday were the hosts for the Ulster Bank Higher Education Championship weekends, the Sigerson Cup and Fitzgibbon Cup, for the next three years.

NUI Maynooth will host next year’s Sigerson Cup while next year’s Fitzgibbon Cup will be hosted by NUI Galway.

Schedules

SIGERSON CUP

2010: NUI Maynooth

2011: Sigerson Cup Centenary Year, UCD

2012: NUI Galway

FITZGIBBON CUP

2010: NUI Galway

2011: Waterford IT

2012: Fitzgibbon Cup Centenary Year, UCC LEINSTER/O’BYRNE CUP 2010

January 10th: First round: Laois v DIT; Kildare v UCD; Carlow v AIT; Wicklow v Louth; Dublin v Wexford; Longford v Meath; Kilkenny v Offaly; Westmeath v DCU; January 17th: quarter-finals; January 24th: semi-finals; January 31st: final.

LEINSTER/WALSH CUP SH 2010

January 24th: first round: 1 UCD v Antrim; 3 Carlow v NUIG; 5 Laois v GMIT; 7 Offaly v DIT; January 31st; second round: 1 v Wexford; 3 v Dublin; 5 v Galway; 7 v Kilkenny; February 2nd: semi-finals; February 14th: final.