By Shane Brophy
Tipperary hurling and football supporters can start planning their 2024 calendars after some of the fixtures for the forthcoming campaigns were released over the last week.
Senior Hurling
In terms of hurling, at senior level, the Tipperary senior hurlers will begin their competitive campaign in the Munster League away to Waterford on Sunday, 7th January before hosting Kerry a week later. The top team will progress to the final which is scheduled for January 21st.
The senior hurlers will begin their Allianz National League campaign on Saturday 3rd February against Dublin at Parnell Park (2.30pm). The following Sunday, 11th February (3.45pm), Galway will come to FBD Semple Stadium in round 2. There will be a week’s break before Westmeath come to Thurles for round 3 on Saturday 24th February (4.00pm).
There will be another week’s break before the round 4 clash with defending league and All-Ireland champions Limerick at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday 9th March (7.30pm). Tipp’s round-robin league campaign will conclude with a trip to Belfast to face Darren Gleeson’s Antrim on Saturday 16th March (1.45pm) with the top two teams from the group progressing to the semi-finals the following weekend with the final scheduled for April 7th.
In terms of the championship, Tipperary have a bye in round one on April 21st and will start in the toughest way possible when they take on Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday 28th April, with all throw-in times to be confirmed. It was expected that Tipperary would be starting away to Waterford, but the fixtures were altered due to Pairc Ui Chaoimh being unavailable due to a concern in May.
The Waterford game will now be played on Saturday, 4th May, just six days after the Limerick game, which is a tough turnaround for Tipperary, with it also being confirmed that this match will be shown live on GAAGO. It is expected Tipperary’s other three games, including the two home games against Cork and Clare on Sunday’s 19th & 26th May respectively will be on RTE, whose schedule has yet to be confirmed.
The format for the All-Ireland Series remains the same with the top-two teams progressing to the Munster Final and the third placed team facing the MacDonagh Cup final winner in a preliminary quarter final.
Senior Football
The Paul Kelly’s era in charge of the Tipperary senior footballers will begin just three days into 2024, and in one of the toughest ways possible, when they travel to Kerry in the first round of the McGrath Cup. Tipperary have a bye in round 2 before hosting Limerick on January 13th with the top-team from this group progressing to the final on Friday, 19th January.
Tipperary will then head into division 4 of the Allianz National Football League which begins on Saturday 27th January at home to Carlow at 6.00pm. In round 2 on Sunday 4th February (2.00pm), Tipperary make what is now an annual trip to Longford who were relegated along with Tipperary from division 3.
On Sunday, 18th February (1.00pm), Tipperary will make a rare trip to Ruislip to face London before the following Sunday 25th February (2.00pm), they take on Laois at Semple Stadium.
On Sunday, 3rd March, Tipperary host Waterford in Thurles in round 5 (2.00pm) before welcoming Wexford to Semple Stadium on Saturday 16th March (6.00pm) before the Premier footballers wrap up their league campaign away to Leitrim on Sunday, 24th March at 2.00pm.
Moving onto the championship, Tipperary will start out on Sunday, 7th April against Waterford in Fraher Field, Dungarvan in the Munster quarter final. Should Tipp be successful, they will then be away to Clare in the semi-final on Saturday 20th April. If Tipp progress to the Munster Final, that is scheduled for Sunday 5th May while Tipp would begin in the Sam Maguire Cup on May 25th, but if they fail to reach the provincial final, they will start out in the Tailteann Cup on May 11th.
Under 20 Hurling
Tipperary, under manager Brendan Cummins, will have the same schedule at the senior hurlers, starting away to Limerick and Waterford before finishing at home to Cork and Clare. The dates for these games have yet to be confirmed but will be played in April and May. The team that finishes top of the round-robin section will progress to the final while the second and third placed teams will meet in a semi-final.
Minor Hurling
James Woodlock’s charges will start away at home to Cork on Thursday, April 4th before travelling to Waterford a week later. Tipp have a bye in round 3 before hosting Clare on May 2nd and finishing in Limerick a week later.
The top-two teams will progress to the Munster Final but in a change to the format, the third and fourth placed teams will also progress to the All-Ireland Series with four All-Ireland quarter finals with the four top teams in Leinster.
Under 20 Football
There is a new round-robin format in Munster for the four so-called weaker counties, similar what has been in place at minor football in recent years. Tipperary, under manager Niall Fitzgerald, will start out at home to Waterford on Saturday 16th March before traveling to Clare and Waterford respectively on the following two Saturdays. The top-two teams will then progress to another round-robin with Cork and Kerry with the top two teams progressing to the final. The third and fourth placed teams will then meet in a ‘B’ final.
Minor Football
Under the guidance of new joint-managers Michael Donnellan and Shane Hennessey, Tipperary will start out at home to Limerick on Tuesday 2nd April before traveling to Clare and Waterford on the following two Tuesday evenings. The top two teams will progress to a final on April 30th, the same date Cork and Kerry will meet in a quarter final with both teams joining the two phase one finalists in the semi-finals on Tuesday, May 7th with the final scheduled for Monday, May 13th.
The two Munster finalists will progress to the All-Ireland quarter finals while the two losing semi-finalists will progress to a new All-Ireland ‘B’ competition with a third tier competition to be set-up for teams that don’t make the semi-finals of the four provinces.
