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23 between 3 clubs?? il take your word for it bannside but my god where is the players at from the other clubs around the county. is our intermediate or junior footballers nowhere near the standard of county level. im not up to date with the county panel but even in years gone by i can only think of one or two lads whos clubs wernt in div1 that held down their place in a county jersey. Kevin Brady and Big Sean McVeigh in more recent years. If there are more id like to hear about them. Goes back to a debate we had on here regarding Harbinson bringing lads onto the panel who were from clubs outside the big 3/4 and that turned out not a good thing  for him. i think bannside, yourself and milltown along with a few others were advocates for that approach but would need to scroll back and see. Though with the new management doing the complete opposite it will be interesting to see how it pans out for them thats for sure.

The strongest football players we have are also hurlers and are also in the county senior hurling panel so it wouldn't ever work out for them to try to commit to any football panel.

Its a good game for Antrim. We have nothing to lose whatsoever and the experience of last season plus the Division 1b campaign will stand them to good footing going forward.

If we wanted to see where we are going with this Antrim set then this is where we want to be. Looking forward to this.

Bathshack senior hurling championship

Group 1
Loughgiel
Rossa
Ballycastle
St Endas

Group 2
Dunloy
St Johns
Cushendall
Tir Na nOg

Some decent games in store there for the senior games

I chuckled this morning when I seen promotional material for St Endas called Club 100.
They claim to be the biggest club in Antrim and Ulster and the  predominant club in South Antrim.  No mean feat.
There is a lot of competition with all the clubs in North Belfast.. Lol 😂😂
The last time I looked they had zero senior football and zero hurling championship medals.
They have a big membership, a growing nursery school and good size of land facilities but they  have also developed a BIG dose of DUP type arrogance as well.  Too soon to claim to be the biggest club in the world...

Listened to The Saffcast podcast this morning. Very impressive set up that St. Enda's have going on. A serious pick of schools and players feeding into their teams. Surely on numbers alone and with the sort of set up they have they'll be a championship winning club in a few years.

listened to it myself this morning and they have done a fine job at St Endas. I've been impressed with the work they have been doing on and off the field.

If they keep that going at underage level it gives the platform for a senior success at the club

Part of the problem in this wasn't caused by the GAA that caused such a massive delay which has had the knock on effect to leave it so far down the line and the costs go up.

The cost of steel, blocks, insulation, windows etc have risen due to the pandemic, inflation, natural rises and brexit. Of course what was ring fenced and agreed 10 years ago was never going to be in the same playing field as it is now so for the GAA to be asked to up their commitment for something that wasn't their fault is a bit laughable. I can see why the GAA arent forthcoming with any commitments to give anymore money into the project.

They already have commitments to other improvements in Meath and Kildare put on the back burner so Antrim will go the same way with that regards as well.

The DOC wont be forth coming with more money at the moment, the GAA either. Casement Park will be sitting as it is for a while longer.

Its very depressing to think that once great venue is now lying how it is.

Theres been lots of faults all along the way in this from the start of the process to now. Closing down Casement while we waited on a planning application to be done and submitted etc was silly. the ground should of been kept open until the last moments.

Was there a public consultation done on the project? Not sure if one was done at that time to gauge the local response to the scheme designs for the ground. I have always got the feeling that the money was there - we all took it and never for once though it all through at all. Just get it done and built seemed to be the thought process.

The balls up made with the health and safety side of things for the fire escapes, large crowd evacuations etc. All signs that the project was just being pushed through to get that public money spent and get it built.

The complete shambles made with the original planning decision. I mean ffs i have a handling sometimes trying to get a house passed for planning through my work and have to jump through hoops just for that to be done lol

The on going mess with the local residents and their concerns. Should of been sorted right back at the very start with a public consultation and meetings for have that all in place before it got into Planning.

There's little can be done with regards to the time and costs going up, thats just a reflection on how things are now, with the GAA being asked to foot more money into this as the money that was ring fenced isn't enough to cover the new costs. As time moves on and nothing happening the cost of construction will also keep rising.

Another smaller scheme would need to go back into Planning and that in itself would just add more years onto a delay in starting. I feel we are where we are now and it wont be changed or reduced down. It will be down to the GAA finding more money as the executive wont be stumping up anymore without a political row.

personally i dont ever see Casement happening. By the time the GAA finds the money it will be too far down the line.

The planning approval will prob have ran out by that stage and need to go back in again! We may get used to Ballycastle and Corrigan Park for the foreseeable

A season like last year would work tho the GAA will be wanting to push the All irelands to later in the year to see if they can get people in at the games.

CCC proposing single round leagues with promotion and relegation for winners only in hurling and football.  With group based championship format, like last year.

Seems like an ambitious schedule, when are they thinking this might start?

That's outside Ccc remit at the present time , but if it started in May , they would have 6 months to play approximately 20 games in football , hurling slight less games

With how roll outs of vaccines and how things are currently going I wouldn't be surprised to see a return to sports training after Patricks day, id say you could prob see club football middle of April and latest may, id say leagues will be a case of play away without county players

Fingers crossed, there was some buzz around last year and getting out onto the pitch is what made the summer... hopefully we can all get back at it again. I miss it lol

Never as happy to see you turn up in Dunloy last year for that friendly!  Didnt even care who won as it was the first hurling match of the year we had seen in the pitch!

id be very surprised if any teams are training. I know lads have individual training/running to do for teams but theres no where to train at night as everywhere is closed.

i work from home every day and can see our pitch and i can def confirm theres no one training in it. Nothing but constant walkers and runners is all you see.

If teams are breaking the rules then plain and simple kick them out of the championship. It will solve it all

Massive numbers. Gaelfast not needed in that area obviously. They should focus on Polegalss, Antrim town, Lisburn and those other places with big populations and struggling to get 15 players.

Agreed. getting into the primary schools in those places is vital to keeping the games going.

Its easy for places like ourselves, Loughgiel etc to keep the interest going. Its part and parcel of the community and our way of life and dont need that help but areas like Antrim, Lisburn etc do need to get the help as theres a massive area of players that could get involved.

I see the boxer Paddy Barnes done a zoom session with St Endas Glengormley u13s. They have over 60 u13s it said. That's unbelievable numbers. How do you even manage that!

Cousin of mine moved to Belfast from Tyrone as hes a doctor and has had his kids at St Endas. Loves the club and speaks very highly of how well looked after the kids are. Hes not from a GAA back ground at all but says that his young lads love going to training and matches with the Club

Its an interesting debate here and one that has many rights and wrongs, depending on your own point of view.

How do you feel that its worked out for your own club KCSC? Your footballers have been paying for a manager for a number of years now since Micky Moran was it? correct me if im wrong here.

Do you feel that bringing in paid managers over this period of time has brought the senior team on or do you think otherwise? Its interesting to hear that side of things from clubs who bring managers in rather than source your own club. Since they started paying managers should, in that passing time, the club not of been investing as well in coaches to take that mantel on down the line. Or has that not been done at all?

Im not having a go at your club by the way, I do want to understand the long term plan of a club that pays managers year on end and if theres an end goal other than hope that they bring success (by using the unpaid underage coaches hard work to develop the kids)

We dont pay managers and i would oppose it in any shape if our senior hurlers or footballers or camogier managements were paid. Im in one of these set ups and have been for the past 7 years now.

I dont want paid. I dont go to the pitch for training and to matches twice a week for money. Ive been offered money to take other teams and turned it down as i couldnt care less about another club and how they do. I dont care about the development of their minors or U14's but i do care very much about our own players and wanting to see them do well and its why i spend countless hours doing it.

of course it is, its very hard to keep going each year relying on vols. We have had years where no one wanted the senior football, senior camogie, minor hurling, minor football etc. We have struggled to fill those voids and its see fellas and girls take jobs on that they necessarily didn't want to do but felt compelled to do.

But its taken development committees for each codes to be formed to sort that problem out if it arose. They can source out potential coaches to step into voids and also get some more experienced along with someone new to give them a hand, guide them along and give that new coach the confidence going forward. They generally tend to stay on when they know that backing is there.

Theres always people who others think shouldnt be taking a post but as you say MR2 they are the ones who wont step up to take that post. they are happier to bitch about them behind their backs than get out 4 nights a week to train the team, travel to matches and look after the players.

Your prob left with no option PJ but it should only be a short term solution. Long term clubs should be coaching and encouraging existing club vols to step up to that senior plate otherwise clubs will be stuck in the same cycle each year of saying 'we have no one to take it, we will have to pay someone'.

Long term that £10k should be invested back into the club for coaches, kids etc. Not invested into your senior team for a short term gain for that person to leave potentially after one season.

Getting out of that continuous cycle of paying outsiders whilst relying on vols to coach your future senior player is so important. Put some faith in your own club.