Congress vote reduces Galway club championship fields to 16

GAA Congress 2021 marked the end of John Horan's three-year term of office and the installation of New York's Larry McCarthy, the Association's first president from overseas. However, it was the passing of Motion 13 on the slimmed-down Clar that represented the most significant take-away from a Galway perspective as 66 per cent of delegates backed the proposal that stated: “The maximum number of teams that may participate in an adult County Championship shall be 16.”

Galway opposed the motion along several other high-profile counties such as Limerick, Dublin and Tyrone, however it received the required level of support and now dictates that the field in Galway GAA's two flagship competitions will have to be cut before 2023.

The 24-club Senior Hurling Championship, split evenly into Senior A and B, is where the vote carries most relevance. To come into effect in two years' time, Galway would have to axe eight clubs in a radical competition overhaul, a move that would have a major knock-on effect for Intermediate and Junior clubs too. Fifteen clubs took part in last year's Intermediate Hurling Championship. Junior or lower grades are treated as an exception and are not restricted to the 16-team maximum under rule.

Read the full story in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald, on sale in shops and online www.tuamherald.ie