HOLDERS…Armagh Harps will have to come through a group stage to retain the Gerry Fagan

THE Armagh Club Championships are set for significant change as a motion from the Clann Eireann club was passed at last night’s county congress.

From 2018, teams will now compete in groups of four with the winners progressing to the quarter-finals. The second and third-placed teams in the group will then play off to produce the other four quarter-finalists.

Significantly, league performances will act as as a seeding tool with the top four in each tier going into pot one and so on.

The original motion is set to be amended to include the junior championship also having originally been pencilled in for just senior and intermediate.