The fixtures for the 2022 O’Byrne Cup have been released, with the competition getting underway on January 8.
The Leinster Council has decided against starting the competition on the first weekend of the New Year with teams only permitted to resume training on December 8.
With 11 counties taking part, Kilkenny being the exception, each are guaranteed a minimum of two games and most will have three. There are two groups of four and another three-team group, all of which will be played off on a round robin basis.
Following that, semi-finals will be played, with the final taking place on the weekend of January 22/23 ahead of the start of the Allianz Football League on January 29.
Longford won the last staging of the competition in 2020, beating Offaly in the final. It wasn’t held in 2021 and, like the other pre-season competitions, looked set to be shelved altogether following a recommendation from the Fixture Calendar Review Task Force though the GAA performed a u-turn with Central Council reinstating them last weekend.
Meanwhile, the draws for the 2022 provincial football Championships will take place this weekend on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport at 3pm.
2022 O’Byrne Cup fixtures (first named team at home)
Saturday, January 8
Group A: Longford v Louth, 2pm; Offaly v Dublin, 2pm; Group B: Wicklow v Meath, 2pm; Wexford v Laois, 2pm. Group C: Kildare v Westmeath, 2pm.
Wednesday, January 12
Group A: Dublin v Louth, 7.30pm; Offaly v Longford, 7.30pm. Group B: Wicklow v Wexford, 7.30pm; Laois v Meath, 7.30pm. Group C: Carlow v Kildare, 7.30pm.
Saturday, January 15
Group A: Longford v Dublin; Louth v Offaly. Group B: Laois v Wicklow; Meath v Wexford. Group C: Westmeath v Carlow.
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