Big hooter change confirmed for 2026 Gaelic football season

More rule amendments.

Another big rule change is coming in for the 2026 GAA Gaelic football season.

The Central Competitions Control Committee has approved the recommendation from the Football Review Committee to end Gaelic football games at the hooter.

This had previously been the rule last season prior to the All-Ireland series, before the law was changed that the match would only end when the ball went dead.

However, this resulted in the games slowing down towards the end of the halves, with the attacking team passing the ball around until a clear opportunity arose, while the defence sat back.

As with many of the new rules brought in over the last year, there is a give and take element.

There had been issues last season with the original hooter rule, notably in a Division 2 game when Meath scored a last-gasp winning goal, while losers Westmeath felt that it came after the hooter had sounded.

At the time, the head of the FRC, Jim Gavin, said: "The FRC remains committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the Clock/Hooter system and will continue to monitor its impact to refine and improve its application."

In fairness he is sticking to his word.