Westmeath included in Tailteann Cup first round draw
Westmeath will host Leitrim in the first round of the Tailteann Cup if they fail to beat Kildare in the Leinster senior football championship semi-final this weekend.
The draw for the reformatted 2026 second tier championship competition took place on Monday and Mark McHugh's team will host Connacht opposition should they fail to progress to the provincial final on Sunday.
There are a number of permutations at play for Westmeath prior to Sunday's semi-final fixture in Glenisk O'Connor Park Tullamore.
If Westmeath fail to beat Kildare in next weekend's Leinster semi-final, they will face Leitrim in the Tailteann Cup.
Should they win and reach the Leinster final and Down come up short against Armagh in the Ulster semi-final, then Conor Laverty's team will once again be in the Tailteann Cup, despite their shock defeat of Donegal in Letterkenny on Sunday.
Should both Westmeath and Down win their respective provincial semi-finals, then Cavan will enter the Tailteann and face Leitrim in Kingspan Breffni.
Westmeath won the inaugural Tailteann Cup in 2022, but heavily fancied to repeat that feat in 2025, they exited the competition to Wicklow at the quarter-final stage.
The revised Tailteann Cup format will see the winners of the eight first round ties will progress to Round 2A, with four teams from that stage advancing to the Tailteann Cup quarter-finals.
The eight losers of the ties will face off in Round 2B, after which the four losers of those ties will exit the championship.
The four winners of the Round 2B ties will face the four losers of the Round 2A ties, the winners of those ties advancing to the quarter-finals.
The opening round of the Tailteann Cup is due to be played over the weekend of May 9/10 with dates and times for the fixtures to be confirmed this week.
Tailteann Cup First Round Fixtures
Fermanagh v Longford
Laois v Wicklow
Clare v Offaly
Carlow v Antrim
Wexford v Limerick
Westmeath/ Down/ Cavan v Leitrim
Sligo v Tipperary
Waterford v London