A new year of football is almost upon us, a fact confirmed by Connacht GAA yesterday when they released details for the two rounds of group fixtures in next month’s pre-season FBD League.

To re-cap on the arrangements for next year’s FBD, which, like the pre-season competitions in the other provinces, is returning to the calendar after a year’s absence, it’s the first two rounds of games that decides who ends up where in the final set of games to come after that.

The top two teams in the league table after two rounds will advance to contest the FBD Cup final, the third and fourth placed teams will square off in the Shield final while those finishing fifth and sixth will go at each other in the Plate final.

Our opponents in the two opening rounds are Sligo and Roscommon. Galway, by contrast, face London and Leitrim so, much like the soft draw they got in Connacht next year, this means they’re pretty much guaranteed one of the FBD Cup final slots. We’ll be looking to win our two games – both better tests to be having in January, to be honest – if we’re to join them in that decider.

Our first round match against Sligo takes place at Fr O’Hara Park in Charlestown on Saturday 3rd January, where throw-in is 1pm. Our second round game against Roscommon is fixed for Dr Hyde Park on Sunday 11th January and will also throw in at 1pm. All three FBD finals will be played the following weekend, with details of these ties to be confirmed following the opening two rounds.

By the way, in the fixture update released by Connacht GAA yesterday, details were also confirmed about the dates for next year’s Connacht U20 and U17 Championships, as well as the times and dates for next year’s Connacht SFC fixtures – that update is here.