20 Aug 2010
Why Football is More Competitive than Hurling
Comment (0)Much has been made of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship this year, and that it is a one horse race in the eyes of many. After last weekend’s semi-final clash, some commentators referred to it as a second-placed playoff.
This year’s All-Ireland Football Championship, on the other hand, has been one of the most open in recent memory. All four provincial champions, including pre-tournament favourites Kerry and Tyrone, have been knocked out and we are left with four teams that were (with the exception of Cork) unfancied before the tournament.
But what makes the two competitions so markedly different in terms of the level of competition? There may be a number of reasons:
Football has no dominant force at a comparative level to Kilkenny
Kerry fans may beg to differ, but football has no team capable of walking over any other team in the country. Any of the four semi-finalists could, potentially, beat another semi-finalist. The same can’t be said for their hurling counterparts.
Football has a better standard
Although Kilkenny are completely glorious to watch, hurling suffers from a weak level of competition in many counties. This is exampled by Antrim and Galway playing in Leinster rather than Connacht. The same situation would never happen in football. There are four thriving provinces, and the gap between them isn’t huge.
There are more shocks
This year we had Louth getting to the Leinster final, Dublin beating Tyrone and Down beating Kerry. In hurling, you could have predicted the semi-finalists months ago. Aside from the odd shock (Antrim trumping Dublin, for example) hurling is a lot more predictable than football.
More people play football
It’s a simple fact. More people play football, so there’s a bigger playing pool. Having more players means that there is a greater chance of one or two being good. It’s not that there aren’t good hurlers, it’s just that they are all quite concentrated in a handful of counties. The same can’t be said for football.




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