Waterford SHC cut to ten teams for 2027
Ballygunner joint captains Peter Hogan and Mikey Mahony lift the News & Star cup after their runaway win against Mount Sion in the final.
Three teams will be relegated from the Waterford SHC in 2026, including Ballygunner B, as the club championship structures were decided at a packed Lawlor's Hotel on Monday night.
Ballygunner have also volunteered to name 20 players on their Senior A panel this season instead of 18.
Two motions were on the table after a proposal for a Senior B championship from the CCC was defeated unanimously.
Ferrybank and Ballysaggart sought to retain the status quo of 12 senior teams and eight in Premier Intermediate. Delegates voted in favour of a Mount Sion motion which will see 10 clubs compete in the senior hurling championship and 10 clubs compete in the Premier Intermediate hurling championship for 2027.
The 2026 SHC is split into two groups of six, with the top four in each progressing to the quarter-finals.
The two bottom sides will be relegated, along with Ballygunner B, with the two fifth-placed teams finished for the season.
If Ballygunner B finish bottom however, the two fifth-placed clubs will play off, with the loser being relegated. Before the vote was taken, county board chairman Neil Moore warned delegates about the consequences of the Mount Sion motion: "A team could be relegated by the August Bank Holiday weekend. There is a lot of jeopardy attached to it."
The Mount Sion motion passed. A gap weekend will also be included in the schedule.
Central Council gave the green light last month for two Ballygunner teams to enter the 2026 Waterford SHC.
The deviation was conditional on the introduction of a Senior B championship in 2027 or on Ballygunner's second team being regraded to Premier Intermediate that year.
"It cannot be overturned," chairman of the CCC Brendan Tobin told delegates. "It's a one-year derogation."
Tobin informed the meeting that Ballygunner have volunteered to list 20 players on their Senior A squad instead of the 18 originally agreed. Six additions can be made from the Senior B team but they cannot return to the B side if they play a championship game.
Once the Senior B team is eliminated, all of those players are allowed to play with the A team. Ballygunner A and Ballygunner B also had to be drawn in separate groups.
The newly crowned All-Ireland champions will start their quest for 13 in a row in Waterford against Passage. Roanmore will tackle Ballygunner B in round one.
Rathgormack begin their bid for four senior football titles in a row against Roanmore.
Waterford SHC 2026 Group A: Ballygunner A, De La Salle, Clonea, Passage, Abbeyside/Ballinacourty, Ferrybank. Waterford SHC 2026 Group B: Mount Sion, Roanmore, Fourmilewater, Lismore, Dungarvan, Ballygunner B. Waterford Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship 2026 Group A: Brickey Rangers, Clashmore/Kinsalebeg, Shamrocks, Affane/Cappoquin/Tourin. Waterford Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship 2026 Group B: Tallow, An Rinn, Ballysaggart, Portlaw. Waterford SFC 2026 Group A: The Nire, Gaultier, An Rinn, Kilrossanty. Waterford SFC 2026 Group B: Rathgormack, Abbeyside/Ballinacourty, Roanmore, Stradbally. Waterford Premier Intermediate Football Championship 2026 Group A: St Saviours, Tramore, Rathgormack, Brickey Rangers. Waterford Premier Intermediate Football Championship 2026 Group B: Mount Sion, Modeligo, Portlaw, Clashmore/Kinsalebeg
