Competition Rules 2026
Competition Rules 2026 
V2.0 ratified 08 June 2026
Match Organisation
- Fixtures must be played before or on the play by date unless postponed due to an emergency.
- In the case where a game has to be postponed due to an emergency, i.e. extreme weather conditions or a bereavement, the game will be re-fixed within 7 days (6 days in the case of a Bank Holiday Monday fixture) of the original fixture with a default date and time applying in the event both clubs cannot agree. The clubs will be notified of the changed date within 2 days of the fixture change.
- Where teams cannot agree on a date and time to play, the default play by date and time for fixture is Sunday at 3pm except for the months of May, June, July and Aug where the default time is 7pm.
- Where a club has 2 teams, and both have to play on the default date, the default throw in time will be 12pm for the second team (Lower Age/Grade) except for the months of May, June July and August when it will be 4pm. The default throw in time will be 3pm/7pm (as per Rule 3) for the first team (Higher Age/Grade).
- The Home Club must update the Fixtures system with date, time, referee, and venue at least 2 days in advance of the fixture where possible in order to advertise the fixture. Clubs who have not updated the system for their home games will be liable to a €10 fine for a 1st offence and doubled hereafter for every subsequent offence.
- For County League and Championship Finals the County Board will organise a neutral referee and neutral venue.
- For League and Round Robin Championship Games the Home Club must organise a neutral referee and put on the Fixtures system 2 days prior to the match being played. For all Semi finals/Qtr Finals Home advantage will be awarded to the higher placed team or by random draw for equal placings. Fixtures must be notified of the fixture 5 days prior to the game to organize a neutral referee.
- Referees are to be selected from the approved TLGFA Referee List only. Only in exceptional circumstances when none of these referees are available the club secretary must contact the County Chairperson or Secretary for approval to contact other LGFA referees.
- Payment of referees not on the approved TLGFA Referee List is the responsibility of the Home Club. These referees will not be paid by TLGFA.
- Referees from the TLGFA Referee List will update the result on the fixtures system. If a club uses a Referee not on the approved list, it is the Home Clubs responsibility to ensure the result is updated on the fixtures system and this should be notified by emailing the County Secretary.
- In the event of a club not fulfilling a fixture and giving a walkover, the club conceding the game must email both the opposing club secretary and county secretary to notify them of the walkover.
- Where a club cannot field a team on or before the play by date the Fixtures Committee have the power to propose the awarding the result to the opposing team. A team awarded a walkover by the Fixtures Committee will be deemed to have fulfilled that fixture.
- If both teams fail to fulfil the fixture, a void game will be declared by the Fixtures Committee and both teams will be deemed to have given a walkover.
- Clubs giving walkovers will be deducted 1 point per game and fined €100 for the first walkover and €150 for subsequent walkovers. Any team failing to fulfil two fixtures will be expelled from the competition. In addition, if a team is disqualified or retires/withdraws during the course of the competition, the results of games they have already played will be null and void. Clubs failing to fullfill Semi final fixtures will be subject to €250 penalty and €500 for failing to fulfill a Final Fixture.
- Walkovers may not be taken into account by the County Board for regrading purposes.
16 Eligibility for Adult League and U21 League are for non-County Senior A Panel players with the following exception:
Players will be released by the County Manager on a week-by-week basis, dependent on county games, load management and injury status. This is to provide players on the county panel who may have seen limited game time playing opportunities. The County secretary will inform all clubs on the Wednesday of the play by date of the players who are available.
This exception is only granted on the basis that:
-Club League Games wont take precedence over County training sessions of Challenge games and all county players are expected to attend these sessions/games.
-Club League Games wont take precedence over NFL and Championship Games and all county players are expected to attend these games
Note:
- Senior County Management are not looking to envoke the 5 day rule (5 days exclidung match day) for the players who are not getting regular game time
- By Wednesday 10pm Senior County Manager will inform players and county secretary (who will inform all clubs) which players are free to play with their clubs that week.
- Division 4 in the Adult and U21 League Competitions are 13 a side games however opposition must match numbers up to 15 players if these are available to play for both sides.
- Relegation Playoffs in Senior Championship.
Table Positions
League & Championship Competitions - 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.
19a. Adult League and Championship
When Round Robin games are played within a group and teams are tied after the group games, table positions are decided as follows:
- 2 teams tied
- Higher position goes to the winner of their head-to-head game.
- If the head-to-head game was a draw or if a head to head game did not take place, the placings will be decided by score difference throughout the competition i.e., score remaining when all scores for each team throughout the round games are added together (points will have a value of 1 point whilst goals will have a value of 3 points) and all scores conceded are subtracted from that number.
- If teams are still level as per point (b),the team that scored the most points over the bar throughout all their games in the group stage will finish in the higher position.
- 3 teams tied
Determining the higher position is based on:
- the team with the highest score difference i.e., score remaining when all scores for each team throughout the round games are added together (points will have a value of 1 point whilst goals will have a value of 3 points) and all scores conceded are subtracted from that number.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (a), then the team that finishes in the higher position will be the team that registered the highest number of points and goals i.e., scores converted over the bar equals 1 point and goals equals 3 points.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (b), then the team that finishes in the higher position will be the team that registered the highest number of points over the bar
NOTE:
If 1 of the teams conceded a group game, they will automatically become the lowest placed of the teams.
In the event of a team conceding a game in the round games, and when teams are tied, that conceding teams results will not be counted for the other teams for the table placings.
If any team should concede 2 round games, they will be expelled from the competition.
19b. For all competitions except Adult League and Championship the following rules apply for table position:
When Round Robin games are played within a group and teams are tied after the group games, table positions are decided as follows:
- 2 teams tied
- Higher position goes to the winner of their head-to-head game.
- If the head-to-head game was a draw, the higher position goes to the team that scored most points over the bar in their head-to-head game.
If the points scored over the bar are equal in the head-to-head game, the placings will be decided by score difference i.e., score remaining when all scores for each team throughout the round games are added together (points will have a value of 1 point whilst goals will have a value of 3 points) and all scores conceded are subtracted from that number.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (c), then the team that finishes in the higher position will be the team that registered the highest number of points and goals i.e., scores converted over the bar equals 1 point and goals equals 3 points, this will determine the overall table placings e.g. (1st,2nd,3rd,4th)
- 3 teams tied
Determining the higher position is based on:
- the team that scored the most points over the bar throughout all their games in the group stage.
- If two or more teams are still level on points as per point (a), the placings will be decided by score difference i.e., score remaining when all scores for each team throughout the round games are added together (points will have a value of 1 point whilst goals will have a value of 3 points) and all scores conceded are subtracted from that number.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (b), then the team that finishes in the higher position will be the team that registered the highest number of points and goals i.e., scores converted over the bar equals 1 point and goals equals 3 points.
Determining the 2nd highest position is based on:
- winner of their head-to-head game between the remaining 2 teams
- If the head-to-head game was a draw, the higher position goes to the team that scored most points over the bar in their head-to-head game.
- If the points scored over the bar are equal in the head-to-head game, the placings will be decided by score difference i.e., score remaining when all scores for team throughout the round games are added together (points will have a value of 1 point whilst goals will have a value of 3 points) and all scores conceded are subtracted from that number.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (c), then the team that finishes in the higher position will be the team that registered the highest number of points and goals i.e., scores converted over the bar equals 1 point and goals equals 3 points,
this will determine the overall table placings e.g. (1st,2nd,3rd,4th) NOTE:
If 1 of the 3 teams conceded a group game, they will automatically become the lowest placed of the 3 teams, with the highest and 2nd highest places decided by head-to-head between the other two teams.
In the event of a team conceding a game in the round games, and when teams are tied that conceding teams results will not be counted for the other teams for the table placings.
If any team should concede 2 round games, they will be expelled from the competition.
20. When Round Robin games are played in a group where not all of the teams have head-tohead games, and teams are tied after the group games, table positions are decided as follows:
• 2 or more teams tied
- Higher position will be determined by the team that scored the most points over the bar throughout all their games in the group stage.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (a), the placings will be decided by score difference, i.e., score remaining when all scores for each team throughout the round games are added together (points will have a value of 1 point whilst goals will have a value of 3 points) and all scores conceded are subtracted from that number.
- If teams are still level on points as per point (b), then the team that finishes in the higher position will be the team that registered the highest number of points and goals, i.e., scores converted over the bar equals 1 point and goals equals 3 points, this will determine the overall table placings e.g. (1st,2nd,3rd,4th)
NOTE:
If 1 of the teams conceded a group game, they will automatically become the lowest placed of the teams.
In the event of a team conceding a game in the round games, and when teams are tied, that conceding teams results will not be counted for the other teams for the table placings.
If any team should concede 2 round games, they will be expelled from the competition.
Match Day Guidelines
- Quarter Finals, Semi-finals and Finals are Result on the Day.
(U14 Games and older) In the event of a draw at Full Time – Extra Time will consist of 2 halves of 10 mins played each way. In the event of a draw at end of Extra Time a shootout shall take place from 25 metres (20 metres for U14).
- Match Day Panel maximum of 30 players with a maximum of 5 mentors
Substitutions
- For all League Competitions including Finals unlimited substitutions are allowed.
- For Round Robin Championship Games unlimited substitutions are allowed.
- For Championship Quarter Finals, Semi-finals and Finals, only 5 substitutions are allowed.
Best Active 15 Players
- For all competitions all clubs must submit their full eligible panels, including coaches and FLOT to the Secretary, Registrar and Childrens Officer 1 week before the competition commences. This must be done via Foireann team sheet.
- Clubs with 2 teams must submit their list of Best Active 15 players by email to the County Secretary, 1 week before the competition commences.
- For League Competitions, Players named on the Best Active 15) can only play with first team.
- For League Competitions, Players on the Second Team can play with both First and Second teams.
- For Championship Competitions, Players named on the Best Active 15 can only play with first team.
- For Championship Competitions, Players on second team can play with first team but cannot play with the second team for the remainder of the competition thereafter.
- The County Board shall rule on any disputes of Best Active 15 players, any breach of this rule will result in a €500 fine.
Competition Finals
- All finalists must submit their player and management details prior to the deadline date.
- If a Club submission deadline is passed, a fine of €50 will be imposed, if after 24hrs the deadline has still not been met a further fine of $100 will be imposed and the clubs may be subject to CODA rules. Clubs will be given 4 days’ notice of the deadline date.
All players and management personnel must be registered with the LGFA.
All management personnel must be Garda Vetted and have attended the Safeguarding 1 Course.
- County Executive to set the Time & Date for all Finals
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