Nicky Rackard Cup

The Nicky Rackard Cup (Corn Niocláis Mhic Riocaird; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by the six county teams ranked 24–29 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Nicky Rackard Cup are promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup. The winners of the championship receive the Nicky Rackard Cup, named after former Wexford hurler Nicky Rackard regarded as one of the greatest hurlers of all time.

The Nicky Rackard Cup, which was introduced for the 2005 season, is a recent initiative in providing a meaningful championship for third tier teams deemed "too weak" for any higher grades. It effectively replaced the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship (1912–2004). Originally introduced as a third-tier competition, it is currently the fourth tier overall in the inter-county hurling championship system. Between 2005 and 2017 the Nicky Rackard Cup was the third tier hurling championship. With the introduction of the Joe McDonagh Cup, the Nicky Rackard Cup is the second highest tier of the championship system without entry to that year's All-Ireland finals series (the top two teams in the Joe McDonagh Cup usually gain entry to preliminary quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship).

The title has been won by 10 different counties, 8 of whom have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Donegal, who have won the cup on 3 occasions. Wicklow are the title holders, defeating Donegal by 1-20 to 3-12 in the 2023 final.

Inauguration of the competition
In 2003 the Hurling Development Committee (HDC) was charged with restructuring the entire hurling championship. The committee was composed of chairman Pat Dunny (Kildare), Liam Griffin (Wexford), P. J. O'Grady (Limerick), Ger Loughnane (Clare), Cyril Farrell (Galway), Jimmy O'Reilly (Down), Willie Ring (Cork), Pat Daly (GAA Games Development Officer) and Nicky English (Tipperary). Over the course of three months they held discussions with managers, players and officials, while also taking a submission from the Gaelic Players Association. The basic tenet of the proposals was to structure the hurling championship into three tiers in accordance with 2004 National Hurling League status.

The top tier was confined to 12 teams, while the next twenty teams would contest the second and third tiers which were to be known respectively as the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup. There would also be promotion-relegation play-offs between the three championship tiers. The HDC also suggested that these games would be played as curtain raisers to All-Ireland quarter-finals and semi-finals.

The proposal were accepted at the 2005 GAA Congress. The Christy Ring Cup and the Nicky Rackard Cup competitions were launched at Croke Park on 8 December 2004.

2005-2006
The twelve participating teams were divided into three groups of four and played in a round-robin format. Each team was guaranteed at least three games each. The three group winners qualified for the knock-out semi-finals of the competition. The runners-up in groups 3B and 3C contested a play-off with the winner playing the runner up in group 3A in a lone quarter-final. The winner of that match joined the three group winners in the semi-finals.

2007-2008
The twelve participating teams were divided into four groups of three and played in a round-robin format, thus limiting each team to just two games each. The eventual group winners and runners-up qualified for the knock-out quarter-finals of the competition.

2009-2017
In 2009 a double elimination format was introduced, thus guaranteeing each team at least two games before being eliminated from the competition.
 * The eight teams play four Round 1 matches.
 * The winners in Round 1 advance to Round 2A.
 * The losers in Round 1 go into Round 2B.
 * There are two Round 2A matches.
 * The winners in Round 2A advance to the semi-finals.
 * The losers in Round 2A go into the quarter-finals.
 * There are two Round 2B matches.
 * The winners in Round 2B advance to the quarter-finals.
 * The losers in Round 2B go into the relegation playoff.
 * The losers of the relegation playoff are relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup for the following year.
 * There are two quarter-final matches between the Round 2A losers and Round 2B winners.
 * The winners of the quarter-finals advance to the semi-finals.
 * The losers of the quarter-finals are eliminated.
 * There are two semi-final matches between the Round 2A winners and the quarter-final winners.
 * The winners of the semi-finals advance to the final.
 * The losers of the semi-finals are eliminated.
 * The winners of the final win the Nicky Rackard Cup and are promoted to the Christy Ring Cup for the following year.

2018-present
Beginning in 2018, the Nicky Rackard Cup changed format, with initial ties played in group stages, which in 2018 consisted of one of four teams and one of three. Previously it was a double elimination tournament. The top two teams from both groups advance to the cup semi-finals. The bottom team from each group will progress to a relegation final.

The winner of the Nicky Rackard Cup will be promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, For 2018 only, 2 teams will be relegated from the 2018 Christy Ring Cup to the 2019 Nicky Rackard Cup to bring the number of teams in the 2019 edition to an even 8, allowing for two groups of 4.

The loser of the relegation final will be relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup, to be replaced by the winner of the previous years competition.

2025 Cup
Six counties will compete in the 2025 Nicky Rackard Cup, with Sligo relegated from the Christy Ring Cup and Fermanagh promoted from the Lory Meagher Cup:

Group stage
Fixtures in the five group stage rounds of the cup are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed at least two home games. Some teams get three home games.

Final
The Nicky Rackard Cup final is played at Croke Park.

Team records and statistics
Legend


 * – Champions
 * – Runners-up
 * – Semi-finals/Quarter-finals
 * – Group Stage
 * – Relegated
 * AI – All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
 * JM – Joe McDonagh Cup
 * CR – Christy Ring Cup
 * LM – Lory Meagher Cup

For each year, the number of teams in each championship (in brackets) are shown.

Seasons in Nicky Rackard Cup
The number of years that each county has played in the Nicky Rackard Cup between 2005 and 2025. A total of 19 counties have competed in at least one season of the Nicky Rackard Cup. Monaghan have participated in the most championships. The counties in bold participate in the 2025 Nicky Rackard Cup.

All-time table
Legend As of 12 June 2024 (After 2024 Nicky Rackard Cup).

By decade
The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Nicky Rackard Cup titles, is as follows:


 * 2000s: 1 each for Colours_of_London.svg London (2005), Colours_of_Derry.svg Derry (2006), Colours_of_Roscommon.svg Roscommon (2007), Colours_of_Sligo.svg Sligo (2008) and Colours_of_Meath.svg Meath (2009)
 * 2010s: 2 each for Colours_of_Armagh.svg Armagh (2010, 2012) and Colours_of_Donegal.svg Donegal (2013, 2018)
 * 2020s: 2 for Colours_of_Donegal.svg Donegal (2020, 2024)

Finishing positions

 * Most championships
 * 4, Colours_of_Donegal.svg Donegal (2013, 2018, 2020, 2024)
 * Most second-place finishes
 * 5, Colours_of_Armagh.svg Armagh (2007, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)


 * Most third-place finishes
 * 1, Colours_of_Donegal.svg Donegal (2022)
 * 1, Colours_of_Armagh.svg Armagh (2023)
 * 1, Colours_of_Roscommon.svg Roscommon (2024)


 * Most fourth-place finishes
 * 2, Colours_of_Armagh.svg Armagh (2022, 2024)


 * Most fifth-place finishes
 * 2, Colours_of_Louth.svg Louth (2023, 2024)


 * Most sixth-place finishes
 * 1, Colours_of_Warwickshire.svg Warwickshire (2022)
 * 1, Colours_of_Fermanagh.svg Fermanagh (2023)
 * 1, Colours_of_Monaghan.svg Monaghan (2024)


 * Most semi-final finishes
 * 7, Colours_of_Donegal.svg Donegal (2005, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021)
 * 7, Colours_of_Tyrone.svg Tyrone (2005, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)


 * Most quarter-final finishes
 * 4, Colours_of_Longford.svg Longford (2005, 2007, 2016, 2017)
 * 4, Colours_of_Louth.svg Louth (2006, 2009, 2010, 2013)
 * 4, Colours_of_Monaghan.svg Monaghan (2007, 2012, 2015, 2016)


 * Most quarter-final playoff finishes
 * 1, Colours_of_Armagh.svg Armagh (2005)
 * 1, Colours_of_Sligo.svg Sligo (2006)


 * Most group stage finishes
 * 4, Colours_of_Fermanagh.svg Fermanagh (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
 * 4, Colours_of_Leitrim.svg Leitrim (2005, 2006, 2007, 2018)


 * Most round 2 finishes
 * 3, Colours_of_Monaghan.svg Monaghan (2009, 2010, 2020)


 * Most qualifier round 2 finishes
 * 1, Colours_of_Louth.svg Louth (2014)


 * Most qualifier round 1 finishes
 * 1, Colours_of_Sligo.svg Sligo (2014)
 * 1, Colours_of_Monaghan.svg Monaghan (2014)