Division One the perfect place to get ready for championship, says Meath’s Eoghan Frayne

Eoghan Frayne believes operating in Division One of the National Football League next year should strengthen Meath’s championship chances – irrespective of the results.

The Royals will play all their home league games in Croke Park again next season as redevelopment work continues at Páirc Tailteann, with their opening match an away trip to face Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on January 24th.

Their first ‘home’ fixture will see them face Galway on January 30th as part of a Croke Park double-header alongside the Division Two meeting of Dublin and Monaghan.

“Division One will be a real test to see where we’re at but if we don’t get too caught up in the results, we’ll learn a lot about ourselves going into a Leinster championship and All-Ireland series then,” says Frayne.

“So, if we can stay kind of positive no matter how the league goes, hopefully we can improve on last year.”

Meath’s most recent top-flight experience was in 2020 when they lasted just one season in Division One before dropping immediately back down to Division Two.

For many of the current panel, 2027 will be their first time playing in Division One and Frayne, who has captained the Royals for the past two years, hopes it will help the team’s development.

“Obviously we’ve played Division One teams in the championship but it’ll be a different experience playing them at the start of the year and in winter conditions,” he says.

“We’ll have to be humming from the start, as you want to compete and stay up. We’ll learn a lot about ourselves in Division One, no matter how the results go.

“Monaghan last year had a lot of injuries and lost a few games in Division One and then ended up getting a good bounce when the lads came back and they improved as the year went on then.”

Frayne was at July’s All-Ireland final, where he watched Mayo beat Kerry to lift the Sam Maguire. The Royals had Mayo on the ropes in Castlebar the previous month but Andy Moran’s men staged a second-half comeback to survive.

“There is the danger that you’d obviously be thinking ifs, buts and maybes but it’s easy to say it in hindsight. We didn’t do the job on the day and that’s the bottom line,” he says.

Frayne will be pulling on the Meath jersey next Wednesday night for the Focus Ireland charity match against Dublin at Parnell Park.

“It’s for a good cause, that’s the biggest thing, but then you also have the Meath-Dublin rivalry, so that adds another bit of an edge to it.”

2027 NFL Division One fixtures

(finalised details to be confirmed)

Round One

January 23rd: Armagh v Roscommon; Mayo v Donegal; Galway v Kerry

January 24th: Cork v Meath

Round Two

January 30th: Meath v Galway

January 31st: Donegal v Cork; Roscommon v Mayo

January 30th/31st: Kerry v Armagh

Round Three

February 13th: Donegal v Meath; Mayo v Galway

February 14th: Armagh v Cork; Roscommon v Kerry

Round Four

February 20th: Cork v Roscommon; Meath v Mayo

February 21st: Galway v Armagh; Kerry v Donegal

Round Five

February 27th: Donegal v Armagh

February 28th: Mayo v Cork; Roscommon v Galway

February 27th/28th: Kerry v Meath

Round Six

March 13th: Armagh v Mayo; Cork v Kerry; Meath v Roscommon

March 14th: Galway v Donegal

Round Seven

March 21st: Armagh v Meath; Galway v Cork; Donegal v Roscommon; Mayo v Kerry