McKenna Cup 2024

[corn02]

You can fool no one, it is obvious you don't really back Harte in this instance. It is ok you are allowed to disagree with your County's manager, I give Joe a hard time on this board.

[Josey Whales]

would have said O Neill is right - i know if iit was me id want to play for my county- playing for you university is hardly the same thing. theplayers should have the right to choose- it may be the only chance they'd ever get.

[never kickt a ball]

Another first for the GAA as Tyrone and Cavan play their

McKenna Cup tie on ice

15 January 2007

The Cavan versus Tyrone McKenna Cup game this weekend is noticeable by its absence from the official fixture list as the Ulster Council are set to meet to discuss the O'Neill County's use of four players who were meant to assist their colleges in the competition.
It is understood the fixture has been put on hold pending the outcome of an emergency meeting of the Ulster GAA Council tomorrow night (Tuesday).
The meeting will determine whether if any punishment is handed down to Tyrone after the county fielded four university players in their game against Derry last weekend. Under competition rules, universities have first call on an eligible player.
Jordanstown's Damian McCaul, Colm Cavanagh and Brendan Boggs and Cathal McCarron of St Mary's all lined out for Tyrone on Sunday, despite a warning from the Ulster Council last week that this was in breach of the competition rules.
Tyrone boss Mickey Harte has said though that the players concerned opted to line out for their county.
http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=71160

Get yourselves down to Coors Breffini Park Cavan where the puck-in or face off is 6.30pm

[tayto]

would have said O Neill is right - i know if iit was me id want to play for my county- playing for you university is hardly the same thing. theplayers should have the right to choose- it may be the only chance they'd ever get.

Totally agree.

[Uladh]

Haven't played much lads?

[aontroim abu]

Reddgnhand the point i am trying to get across is that all teams/ counties/ uni's knew the rules about declaring for a team prior to the competition starting, but obviously Tyrone/Harte dont want to abide by them. What would you expect the ulster council to do? nothing i presume

[nrico2006]

At the end of the day this is an inter-county competition, not a 3rd level one.  The Universities have been let in and they shouldnt be calling the shots or getting any preferential treatment.  Fair dues, if county teams can accomodate them by letting their students play with them then so be it, but if the players or the management want certain players to line out for the county then so be it. For teams like tyrone, who dont play challenge games, the mckenna cup is important to blood and try new players.  Put on top of that that tyrone have several players recovering from injury, then they need all the available players they can get.  For boys like Brendan Boggs, Colm Cavanagh etc, this competition is a big opportunity for them to show they canhold their own at competitive(although not championship)senior intercounty football.  Most of these players have come through successful underage teams, and they know that opportunities to break into the senior team or to get themselves in the running for a spot or likely sub apperance are scarce.  As stated, these players made the decision and I believe it should be their choice and nobody elses.  Im sure if you had asked any of the players in question as to who they wanted to play for, they would have said their county!

[saffron sam2]

If the competition regulations state that the Universities have first call on the players, then the Tyrone four were every bit as ineligible for the Derry game as Steven O'Neill was.  I too would like to play for Tyrone but unfortunately I am ineligible because of the rules and regulations of the GAA.

Given that they were all ineligible, the only appropriate action (as stated in the official guide) is that Tyrone are thrown out of the competition, all four players receive a six month ban and the Tyrone county chairman and secretary receive identical bans.  At least until Fergal Logan gets involved.

Rules is rules, boys.

[Rois]

Having received a legal opinion (and not Fergal Logan's by the way!), Mickey Harte was advised that playing the Tyrone Four was not against the written rules, but against the spirit of the competition.  He ignored the "spirit" comment.

[SlimShady]

if thats true then Scruffy Mick will now be as likeable to the non-Tyrone people as his media-whore of a daughter!!

[Goats Do Shave]

Everybody know's that won't happen, Tyrone will bring 3000 supporters to Cavan on Saturday night - then about 10000 to a possible semi with Armagh & something similar if they get ot the final.

Possible Revenue over £140,000 (As long as my maths hold up).

No matter about rules though, or the arrogance of Messeurs Harte & the Tyrone County Board of which rules apply to them or not...

...Micky should have used this as an opportunity to try someone else. Surely it is obvious that the county teams have a greater selection than the Universities & to make this competition competitive & worthwhile these rules exist!

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

if thats true then Scruffy Mick will now be as likeable to the non-Tyrone people as his media-whore of a daughter!!

[realredhandfan]

This debate has gone far enough and Im gonna end it now.   Lets talk about rules and the spirit then of the GAA, it seems universitiies bend the rules all the time, by paying managers and offering incentives to players.  Can anyone tell me who was the last non paid University coach?  Remember the UCD Dublin championship win, boys played on that team that had already played at club level.  Im a great believer in leaving the colleges to one side as they operate on a different spirit and set of rules than cluib and county.  Fair play to ye \Mickey - I tell ye what lads ye can be thankful that Harte calls these things on behalf of us all (even at this stage if we cant agree) I guarantee Mickey will never let what happened with UCD happen in Ulster.    Lads if i had a choice of playing for a college team or a county team Id jump at the county opportunity.  it  mightr be the only one that comes my way.   Fair play to Mickey for giving these starlets a chance and by the way they all probably played themselves on to his panel.  
Tyrone made the Mc kenna cup what it is today. Lets show the colleges who is boss - kick them out of the Mc kenna Cup for whinging....[/color]

[Maximus Marillius]

I think there are two reasons why the Mc kenna cup is more successful today than it was was five years ago.....firstly Ulster is on a crest of a wave in that we have Tyrone and Armagh who are top drawer and as history has shown us here in Ulstern ah la early 90s, when we have success we go in to overdrive, secondly and equally important is the fact that precedes tha national league  providing managers and players serious games...the two combine together are served in the successful Mc kenna Cup...the uni spin is a minor side issue

[phpearse]

I personnally think the Universities bring shag all to the competition. The McKenna Cup has seen a resurgence owing more to the fact of its placement just before the start of the National league and owing much to the interest generated by Armagh and Tyrone. Bring in your Tyrone Derry thing and you have the makings for decent crowds. I'm not sure of the figures but I would guess that the attendance figures at the UUJ and Down game, or St Mary against Monaghan or QUB and Cavan wouldn't be that high. You could easily exclude the University teams and still have a worthwhile competition. I'm not that big a fan of the university football in any case. Its just an excuse for the likes of QUB, UUJ and other unis to see what courses they can get star players on so that they can field a team.

The players like Cavanagh, Boggs, McCaul and McCarron all know that they have a slim chance of making the Tyrone panel and that every opportunity they get to make an impression they must take. They can't make an impression playing for a college team. Nowhere in the rules, that I have seen anway, does it say if you attend any college that you are ineligible to play for a county side during the McKenna Cup. If the competition rules say that Unis have first call on players, then thats fine but then the county has next call. What call does the player have? If the player says naw Mickey Moran I'm not playing for you, what can the Ulster Council do about it.