Ironically, the tenth senior club will be All-Ireland Club IFC champions An Ghaeltacht whose chairman Dara Ó Cinnéide led the review committee recommendation. The lowest placed teams in a club championship group will enter the relegation process in all grades (bar Junior). In senior, however, there is the proviso that any club side which reaches a County Senior football final cannot be relegated; meaning that if a county SFC finalist is in a club championship relegation final, the other side will be automatically relegated. The addition of a tenth team to the senior club championship also means the three groups of three from last year will have to change. Instead, six of the seven district sides will face off against one another in the opening preliminary round, with the other division getting a bye to Preliminary Round 2.

Source: Irish Examiner January 29, 2026 16:30 UTC