Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI at Fitzgerald Stadium

There’s a proper championship feel here in Killarney and there’s no surprise that it’s a sea of green and gold!

The sun is shining, the pitch is immaculate, but we do have a slight breeze, which is to be expected as Fitzgerald Stadium is surrounded by the Kerry mountains.

The winner today is potentially one win away from a return to Croke Park for the last eight, the loser faces a long road, losing their safety net and could be one defeat away from exiting the championship.

Kerry took the victory in the All-Ireland final last summer, Donegal dismantled the Kingdom in the league final a few months ago, it’s all to play for and the race for Sam starts now!

Image source, Getty Images

It's nearly go time at Fitzgerald Stadium as Kerry welcome Donegal in round one of the All-Ireland.

This year's All-Ireland series is a little different, with the round-robin group stage that was used between 2023 and 2025 scrapped in favour of a revamped backdoor system.

The current iteration works as follows:

Round 1

The eight provincial finalists play home matches against the seven next best placed teams according to league position and last year's Tailteann Cup winners.

Round 2A

The eight winners from the opening round will be drawn against each other in Round 2A. The four 2A winners then progress to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

These games are scheduled to take place 13-14 June.

Round 2B

The eight Round 1 losers will face each other in Round 2B. The four losers in 2B will be eliminated.

These games are scheduled to take place 13-14 June.

Round 3

The four 2A losers will face the four 2B winners. A draw will determine the home venue for each pairing and will avoid provincial final repeats and Round 1 repeats where possible.

These games are scheduled to take place 20-21 June.

The four Round 3 winners will advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals to face the four Round 2A winners.

The quarter-finals are scheduled to take place 27-28 June, with the semi-finals on 11-12 July and the final on 26 July.

So, those are the fixtures, but how does this new-look championship work?

As mentioned, the first round games are spread over this weekend and next to afford last week's Ulster and Leinster finalists a breather.

This is how we're fixed for the opening round games - first teams at home.

Today

Kerry v Donegal (15:00)

Cork v Meath (17:30)

Galway v Kildare (19:30)

Tomorrow

Roscommon v Tyrone (14:00)

Saturday, 30 May

Westmeath v Cavan (17:00)

Armagh v Derry (19:15)

Sunday, 31 May

Dublin v Louth (14:30)

Monaghan v Mayo (16:00)

Image source, Getty Images

So, here were go again.

With the provincial championships in football decided, it's time to step it up another gear as the race for Sam Maguire starts here.

And what an opener we have with a repeat of last year's All-Ireland final between Kerry and Donegal the first of eight round one games - four this weekend and four next week.

Killarney is the venue as the Kingdom's place in the Munster final - which they won - guaranteed them a home tie, while Donegal's shock exit from Ulster at the quarter-final stage left Jim McGuinness' men with a road trip to contend with.

Kerry were the masters when they met last summer, but Donegal turned the tables in this year's Division One league final.

It sets it up perfectly this afternoon, so let's get cracking...