In what will be a welcome boost to the coffers of Mayo GAA, there will be four home games for Mayo in the proposed fixtures for Division 1 of the Allianz Football league next year. The draft fixtures which were released this week will see Mayo entertain Kerry, Tyrone, Kildare, and in a repeat of this years All Ireland final, Donegal in Elvery’s McHale Park. They will be on the road to Dublin, Down, and Cork in their remaining three games. The fixtures will see Mayo open up at home to Kerry on Sunday February 3, and follow that up with another home game against Tyrone the following Sunday. After a couple of weeks break they will be back in action on Saturday March 2, in the first of two away games in a row, on a Saturday night against Dublin, they will follow that up the next Saturday night away to Down. They will be back home the next Saturday night, March 16, against Kildare, before hosting Donegal the following Sunday, March 24, in Castlebar. They will round off the group stages of the competition away to Cork on Sunday, April 7. Mayo will have three Saturday night games and four Sunday afternoon games in the proposed fixtures.
As for the Mayo hurlers the proposed fixtures would see them play on the under card of a couple of the senior footballers games. The division 2B outfit have been provisionally fixed to play at home against Armagh on Saturday, March 16, at 5.30pm with the footballers taking on Kildare at home that evening at 7pm. They are also down to play London at 1pm on Sunday March 24, the same day as the footballers will play Donegal at home. Their other games see them open up the league at home to Roscommon on Sunday February 24, play away to Meath on March 10, and finish up away to Down on Sunday March 31.
Development academy to be launched this weekend
The Mayo GAA Senior Football Development Academy will be officially launched tomorrow night, October 13 at 8pm in Elverys McHale Park. The academy will be officially launched by Mayo senior manager James Horan along with the 2011 Young Footballer of the Year and Cillian O'Connor. This academy has been constructed to cater for the development of high potential players between the ages of 19 and 22 years.
