Sean Cavanagh: Too many meaningless games in football format

Sean Cavanagh argues the current All-Ireland football championship has saddled us with "too many meaningless games" in the aftermath of two lopsided provincial deciders.

As expected, Galway and Kerry cantered to easy victories in their respective provincial finals, nailing down their top seed spots in the upcoming All-Ireland group phase.

Sligo and Clare, who defied their league standing to reach the Sam Maguire competition, the former thanks to a fortuitous draw in Connacht, take the second seed spots in Group 3 and 4 respectively.

Controversially, the third place team in each four-team group will survive the group phase, playing an away game against a second place team in another group.

The upshot of this is that 24 games will be played across four groups in the coming weeks, with four teams eliminated at the end of it.

"It's not just the provincials. Across the board, there's just too many meaningless games," Cavanagh said on The Sunday Game.

"We all grew up going to championship games, where it was knockout. There was a sense of occasion. It gave hope for teams who weren't so strong.

"You went there going that maybe a refereeing decision, or a Declan Browne scoring 2-10, might knock Kerry out. We don't have that anymore.

"We sit here every week and we look at the pre-season and everyone shrugs their shoulders and says 'well, it's only a pre-season competition'.

"Teams get safety in the league and everyone goes, 'well, it's only the league, you don't want to make a league final'.

"Now we have the provincials and people are shrugging their shoulders and saying 'ach well, it's all about the All-Ireland groups'."

Is modern football blighted by 'too many meaningless games'? #SundayGame pic.twitter.com/A6snD2lm6E

Sligo, who escaped