Five football talking points ahead of 2026 campaign

Updated / Saturday, 27 Dec 2025 09:21 Kerry and Armagh have won the last two All-Ireland titles Peter Branigan By Peter Branigan RTÉ Sport journalist We're all getting used to this big gap between the end of the inter-county season and the beginning of the next one. A shorter year for counties has received some mixed reviews, with a potential for a return to an August All-Ireland final for 2027 depending on how February's Congress vote goes. One thing's for sure though, the bigger break between last summer and the start of the National League at the end of January means we're all dying to get going again. Here are five of the big talking points ahead of the new campaign. Pre-season is back... but for how long? Before we even get to the league, we have the return of the pre-season competitions. It has been common practice for managers to make use of the pre-season competitions to give less experienced players a shot at competitive fare ahead of the start of the league, or so the reasoning goes. In reality, the likes of Kerry and Dublin - traditionally - might have sent teams out into the McGrath or O'Byrne Cups with players that you would not see again; that year or any other, for that matter. For part of Jim Gavin's reign with the Metropolitans, he washed his hands of Dublin for pre-season, sending out Paul Clarke to manage an O'Byrne Cup squad. Longford will look to defend their O'Byrne Cup title in January With the Connacht and Ulster councils revealing that six-figure sums have been lost out on due to the lack of pre-season competitions , they're clearly satisfied to see them back on the calendar. But not the Gaelic Players Association , who claimed that their return, "runs contrary to much of the recent commentary on protecting player wellbeing and managing workloads responsibly." There's a suggestion that 2026 may be the pre-season competitions' last hurrah, but don't be surprised if, like the 'Kiss Farewell Tour', players are still being asked to get out on the stage and perform in early January decades from now. Longford, for the record, are going for a third O'Byrne Cup on the bounce. New managers in big counties There was plenty of change in the dugouts around the country over the autumn and winter. The big ones are Dublin and Mayo - the counties that arguably defined the last decade - appointing Ger Brennan and Andy Moran respectively. Both men had cut their teeth with other counties before arriving in the presumed dream job of taking over one's own county. Brennan achieved something truly remarkable, guiding Louth to a first Leinster title in 68 years in 2025. Moran spent three years with Leitrim, the highlight of which was a promotion to Division 3 in the league in 2024. Can Andy Moran show Mayo the way in 2026? Elsewhere in Division 1, Mark Dowd has taken the reins at Roscommon, and his first...

Preview: ~500 words