GPA or GAA?

[Captain Scarlet]

and here's Brolly!

When Tyrone's senior squad holidayed in Jamaica last year , they were given £3,000 per man spending money, which works out at roughly £100,000 of the hard earned money of the people of Tyrone. Sean Kavanagh probably thought the sun was too hot and Pat D'Arcy didn't do enough to get it turned down a notch. The good people of Tyrone do not begrudge it, but the players by the same token must start to appreciate what is done for them. Increasingly, the amount of money spent on county senior teams is a source of concern. On the one hand, clubs all over Ireland are struggling to make ends meet. On the other, we gave last year's All-Ireland finalists exactly 280,000 euro for team holidays. Is this fair? 280,000 euro would run most clubs for a decade. Alternatively, it can be blown in a week by simply lying on a beach, then issuing press releases complaining bitterly about the quality of the sand. It should be borne in mind that there are 12,000 boys and girls at all age levels playing Gaelic games in Tyrone, not 30.

Paddy Bradley is Derry's GPA rep. His situation is a good example of the dilemma created for players by the GPA. Glenullen's population is 700. In 1987 they built a pavilion. Materials cost £120,000, labour costs were nil. They built it themselves. Joiners, plumbers, brickies and electricians worked for free. On Boxing Day 1987, picture the scene at 8am in the half finished clubhouse. Ten men were plastering walls. Paddy's uncle Gabriel, a factory owner, was one of the labourers, mixing cement and carrying it to them. Forty people ferreting away. All for free, all for the good of the community. Like the Amish people building a barn for their neighbour.

Last Christmas, the great Martin Mullen, their chairman longer than Mao, dug the foundations for their new gym and sauna. Every weekend and holiday, a squad of local tradesmen arrived at 7.30am. During the dark mornings, the floodlights were switched on. The work is now finished, and the new facility is simply incredible. One of those labourers was Paddy Bradley. Which is more important?

The problem is that the GPA, founded by Donal O'Neill, a sports agent by trade, has encouraged players to look on the game with a selfish perspective i.e. the GAA is raking it in, we are the attraction, we deserve a cut. In principle, this is fundamentally wrong, but it is difficult for players not to think like this. If someone had offered me money to play when I was twenty, I would have said yes please. Young men find it hard to see the bigger picture. This is the dilemma. The players in a way are pigs in the middle and many of them are uneasy about what is happening. When I'm on the point, exactly how many real GPA members are there? In Derry, in the week of the fifteen minute strike, forms were brought to the changing room after training and the boys advised to sign them. Hey presto they were members. So 'Pay for Play', but not it seems 'Pay to Join.'

County players have a responsibility. They must appreciate their privileged place in the GAA community. The ' them and us' perception that exists, as if we are somehow the players' enemy, is a nonsense. There is no Ming the Merciless Style Dictator with pots of money, denying players what is rightfully theirs.

At the moment, the GPA is wearing sheep's clothing. The stated demands don't stand up to scrutiny, but appear reasonable and most importantly selfless. Sean Kavanagh can't sleep at night for worrying about the Tyrone hurlers. Dessie Farrell spoke sadly at a press conference recently about an unnamed footballer from a lesser county who had a serious injury and couldn't afford the repair operation. He wouldn't be drawn on his identity, perhaps because it would have intruded on his privacy but it was, Dessie assured us sadly, a terrible situation brought about by this cruel organisation that had been ruthlessly exploiting him and other footballers for years. In fairness to Dessie, it was clear he was sparing us a whole raft of other heart breaking tales of anonymous county players who had been bull-whipped to the training in heavy rain by sadistic GAA personnel, and eventually developed pneumonia and died. Is it any wonder he is such a gloomy person, saddled with the fight against such great injustice? Truly, the Nelson Mandela of county footballers and hurlers. Donal O'Neill sat there throughout, nodding sadly, touching Dessie's arm in a sympathetic way at the appropriate moments. The message was clear ' We Care, We care a lot.' They appear to be on the verge of renouncing all their worldly goods and heading for Africa.

Make no mistake about it, the raison d'etre of the GPA is the accumulation of money. Sponsorship deals, not membership dues, keep them going. Donal has given Dessie the rather grand title of Chief Executive. They believe that pay for play is achievable. They use the language of commerce. One of my favourites from their recent press conference was the possibility of ' a withdrawal of players' services.' In the press release supposedly issued on behalf of the Tyrone football and hurling panels last week, it was stated that in light of the ''co-operation of the Tyrone footballers'' in fulfilling their recent floodlit fixture at Croke Park, the GAA must immediately renounce the letter sent by the Tyrone County Board. To date we have politely ignored them and they have achieved nothing. The truth is that players are well looked after so they've had to cobble together increasingly vague demands, which no one can really understand. The GAA hierarchy should cut off all communication with the GPA. Under no circumstances should they be officially recognised. We have sustained them to date by tolerating them and being kind. We ought not to be afraid of them. When it comes down to it, the GPA is irrelevant. It is driven by a few people, perhaps ten or twenty. They get plenty of media publicity because its controversial and divisive, but they have nothing, just a begging bowl. It is a classic parasite. Why bargain with them when they have nothing to bargain with? Lets see if Donal and Dessie will persuade the players to strike, which of course would be their death knell.

I spent the last week at club matches. The Ulster Intermediate final between Ballymacnab and Coleraine at floodlit Casement Park was a very special occasion. Both teams had sets of brothers and cousins. Both clubs were created and maintained by the people in the communities, who have devoted their time and money to this great project. The aim? To create an amenity for young and old. To create a vibrant community. Not so that the few can be enriched financially, but so that everyone can be enriched in the only way that matters. Coleraine won it, scoring two sucker punch goals in the first ten minutes then riding out the storm, but my abiding memory will be the heroic effort of both teams. More importantly, no one was bleating on about mistreatment or not being paid. On Sunday past, we were treated to two great senior semi finals. Colin Cooper's impossibly beautiful goal, the refusal of Moorefield to accept defeat, the genius of Oisin McConville and stubborness of the Cross defence set against the enthusiasm and pace of St Brigids and the outrageous skill of Frankie Dolan. All of the boys were representing their families and clubs. All of them train as hard as any county player. This is heart and soul, not capitalism. This is the GAA.

When Ciaran McGeeney recently talked about 'The great men of the GAA' he wasn't referring to the countless really great GAA men. He wasn't referring to Liam Harry from Dungiven, doorman, selector, umpire, driver, cleaner who sold £24,000 worth of tickets in our recent club draw. He wasn't referring to the people in Coleraine or Ballymacnab, or the thousands of other places who have given their time, sweat and money for the good of us all. He was talking about a handful of county players: The boys who give least and get most. I know this, I was that man. I said some hurtful things about Mickey Moran once and he asked a very good question: ' What has Joe Brolly ever contributed to Derry?' When I thought about it, I realised the answer was very little. We get the kicks, the adulation, the spin offs, never mind the spiritual and physical well being that comes from playing team sport. Finally, we play because we love it. Someone forgot to tell Sean Kavanagh it wasn't compulsory. If I had never played for Derry I would still be training three times a week for my club. The reality is the county senior teams are the decoration on the cake. We support them because they are a part of us, and sometimes - not often - we get a terrific team that excites us and goes on to win something. In 1993 Derry won the All-Ireland. The GAA community in Derry wasn't depending on us. It had already been thriving for 100 years. It may be a while before we win anything else, but we will still support the team and put our hands in our pockets to keep the thing going.

The GAA is all of us, young and old, fit and unfit, talented and untalented, not just the 300 ( or is it 30) non paying members of Donal and Dessie's two bit outfit. It is the cement in our society, the greatest community organisation in the world. The GPA represents the first serious attack on the GAA since its foundation. That this near perfect organisation might be destroyed by simple greed is unthinkable. The legendary Sean O'Connell, perhaps Derry's greatest footballer, was asked once to sum up what it was that made the GAA extraordinary. He said it was because it was about giving not receiving. We need to remember this, before it is too late...

[Maximus Marillius]

The boys who give least and get most. I know this, I was that man.

Poor Joe...he saw the light....is he a cousin of Michael Stone. No sloutch our Joe ...he knows that this issue is one of the touchest subjects in GAA...so as is his need for courting controvesy, he keeps writing about it.

[behind the wire]

i think joe is spot on, he makes some very good points and looks at it realistically from both points of view, players and non players.

he is definitely right about the voluntary work, too many people want paid for everything nowadays. in the past when people had much less everyone seemed to give much more to the local community. (im too young to remember those days but i wish they were back) we cant even get anyone to run an u14 team this year, but if we mentioned there was £50 a week for it id say there would be a queue.

joe is doing something which we all should do, he is advocating the good of voluntary work for the good of not only the gaa community but also the wider community. it is this that the gaa survives on and more of it would make our local communities a better place.

[lynchbhoy]

while 99% of us all want players to be looked after
the gpa are not the vehicle for this, at least not in their current guise.
we know that they have thinly veiled designs on semi professionalism.
They have dubious leadership both morally and intellectually.

if players make the choice to forgo their career in order to play football, fair play to them, and most are given jobs that ordinary joe bloggs would not get
but those that choose the path of giving up on the football to concentrate on their careers - thats part of our GAA tradition and culture too.
The Club is the grass roots of the GAA, the county is the icing on the cake as someone else put it on here.
rugby and soccer cant or couldnt sustain professionalism, so in such a small economic marketplace - so how the hell can the GAA do so - esp if we start to factor in all the players who give as much time and effort to their clubs (and counties) - some may be borderline cases for county level etc.
You cannot measure the fairness or time/effort against money/loss of earnings and how much existing county players are 'looked after ' etc.
It aint exactly broke, so it isnt worth fixing.
A few wee bits of written policy on what county players should get is all that needs addressing.
imo
so gpa
not on your nelly.if you cannot volunteer your self and your time, then give up. There's plenty to take their places.

[Lone Shark]

I scribbled this for Uibhfhaili.com - may as well throw it in here as well. Excessively wordy perhaps, but my own thoughts on it all the same, no more than that.


There's been an interesting symmetry about the last four All Ireland football Championships. In 2003 Tyrone won their first ever All Ireland title, but they took eight games to do so, scoring a meagre three goals in those eight games and playing some of the most cynical and unattractive football ever seen. Fast forward two years and more or less the same panel sat proudly on top of the tree after knocking off Kerry in the final in one of the best displays ever seen in Croke Park, having vanquished their fierce rivals Armagh in a wonderful semi on the way.

Ditto the Kingdom – in 2004 they capitalised as other counties took out all their main rivals. Limerick knocked Cork out of the Munster Championship for them, while the big bad Ulster boys were taken out at the quarter final stage. Finally Mayo lay down before them in the final, giving them the title of champions, albeit while not many people would have called them the best team in Ireland. Again, move on two years – the Ulster bogey was slain as Armagh were crushed in a glorious quarter final display and from then on they were imperious.

The reason for contrasting these years is simple – the supporters of both teams saw what it was like to win All Irelands good and bad. Now here's the nub – did they care? Did they heck. Sports change over time, they get faster, more powerful, and in many cases they lose other things along the way. We can't be afraid of evolution. However supporters don't care about that – they just want their side to get to the final whistle with at least one more point than their opponents, anything else is just garnish.

And so, 250 words later – we get to the point. The recent letter from the Tyrone County Board exhorting Central Council to stand up to the GPA, and the subsequent comments from Sean Cavanagh, Dessie Farrell and Joe Brolly among others have truly ignited the GPA versus GAA debate. One of the key points of the GPA crusade is that the modern county player puts in an unprecedented amount of effort and commitment, and that drive for excellence is what keeps the turnstiles clicking. The pretence that they don't want "Pay for Play" is maintained, however seeing as the demands have ranged from tax concessions for players to fixed sports grants for players, I think we can all accept that looking for money in exchange for playing Gaelic Games at intercounty level is one of their main aims.

This is why the time has come for the GAA to stop fire fighting and start making pro-active moves to ensure that these demands can never be legitimate. It is noticeable that when the GPA claims that their players are subjected to huge demands on their time, they never look for those demands to be reduced – as a result this is the path the GAA must follow. Obviously a reduction in training and match commitments is likely to lead to a slight drop in standards, and in the GPA world, where people flock through the turnstiles to see top class athletes do their thing, that can't happen. Well here's the thing – it can happen, and it has to happen. As we pointed out above with Kerry and Tyrone, supporters don't care how you win, as long as you do – and they will follow their team as they always have, sparsely in the winter, robustly in the summer and in huge numbers should the team make it to the autumn. The GPA will never concede this, but the players wearing the jersey will never draw a crowd to a game – the concept of the home county being represented will, even if the players available are unlikely to challenge for honours. And funnily enough, even if players cease to be superhumanly fit and come back to the standard we were used to some years ago, there will still be a winner, and that winner will bring untold joy to their county and their supporters just as much as if they had been full time and training for 200 days consecutively in the run up to the final.

If modern players are forced to cut back on their training commitments, thus giving them some of their life back, the understanding that financial recompense is not on the agenda nor will it ever be will be much more legitimate. Ireland can barely sustain 4 professional rugby teams at the height of rugby obsession – there is no way that once we start paying players we will still be able to carry 33 counties with two panels each, assuming Kilkenny will resume playing football when there is money on the table to do so. And this is before the inevitable claims from Ladies teams for comparable pay are made, claims that will stand up in any equality case before a court of law, whatever your view on the issue. The first payment to any player, whether it be a tax break or a "grant" will be followed within two decades by the winding up of several county teams. The GAA is a great organisation, but it is not exempt from freedom of labour law where no GAA rules can stop players moving to where the rewards are better – and in that environment, the Offalys of this world cannot survive against Dublin, Cork and Kerry.

In order to copper fasten the amateur ethos, the zookeeper must also be called in to usher out the elephant in the room that we dare not mention – paid managers. Your writer, not having any wish to bring a lawsuit on his head, is not going to name names, but managers receiving up to €100,000 per annum while players go unpaid is not uncommon, and is a gross perversion of what we stand for. Investigations must be carried out, and if that requires the GAA carrying out sting operations to out these managers (and some players) who are willing to join any squad if the price is right, then that is what must be done. These people are a blight on the association and seeing them hung out to dry with a public suspension, irrespective of their career to date would serve as a warning that this conduct is not acceptable. In some cases the money comes, not from the county board, but directly from a sponsor. This too must me explicitly barred and policed vigorously.

Once managers trying to justify huge fees are out of the picture, it becomes a lot easier to enforce limited training schedules. The GAA's idea to ban challenge matches in November and December is a good one, and a shorter intercounty season and longer off-season would both reduce the demands on players and be welcomed by clubs. Indeed if the under 21 inter county championship must be set aside for this to happen, then so be it. (Personally this writer feels it should be run concurrently with the senior in the summer and restricted to players not on senior panels, but that's another debate) Additionally, if all team and mileage expenses were dealt with from a central source, suddenly it would reduce the temptation on the county board to accede to the wishes of the manager who wants four or more sessions a week – they could merely state that he's welcome to, but that no claims for mileage from himself or any of his "trainers" would be accepted. A gut feeling tells me that these requests would cease very quickly in this environment.

There are many reasons why your writer dislikes the GPA, their claim to represent "the Players" when 99% of players in the association – i.e. club players – are not allowed join being top of the list, but their aims are, in the main, laudable. Proper medical cover, reasonable mileage rates and provision for meals after training are all examples of causes that people can get behind and support with unanimity. If it took a players association to pursue this aggressively, then that association is doing some good work. However one of their goals is to take steps down a road that will lead to our county teams being merged, rampant intercounty transferring and sponsors paying wages while demanding a Champions League like structure over a longer period of time to increase exposure in return. This is not somewhere we want to go and if the GPA is too short sighted to see this, then the GAA must read the tea leaves and do what it takes to take the association down another road – a road where players play because they want to, where an injury costs them time in hospital but no more, and a road where the junior B club player is subject to the same rights, responsibilities and entitlements as the multiple All Star winner. Indeed, if the GPA forces the GAA to step back and take these actions, they'll have done the organisation more good than they ever could have thought possible themselves.

[Hardy]

Well done Shark, for taking the debate to the next level and specifying what the GAA needs to do to counter the malign influence of the GPA. I think you take the prize for being the first to come up with such (or any) proposals - the first I've seen, anyway.

I agree 100% with your three key actions that the GAA must take to pull the teeth of the GPA - reduce the time input by county players in county training and playing, tackle the paid managers issue (resolutely) and address the real issues of player welfare. Spot on.

Now another suggestion. The way to make these things happen is through the normal decision-making process of the GAA - club AGMs, county conventions and congress. The members of this discussion board must represent hundreds of clubs around the country. If every member who supports the fight against creeping professionalism started to canvass support within their club for a set of proposals based on the three key actions, we could have a 'kill professionalism for good' package before every county convention next December and before congress at Easter.

[believebelive]

An excellent post Lone. I have been saying the same things on this board and on the last since I first joined. Only with a shorter inter county season can the club issue be addressed. Personally I would like to see two seperate seasons for club and county but i understand that that is perhaps too radical.
For the beginning I would propose that in order to condense the inter county season we play all first round games in the provincial championship on the one day. Taking Ulster as an example and using fictious dates you could play the preliminary round on the 20 may - the four first round games two weeks later on the 3rd of june - the two semis on the 17th of june and the final two weeks later o the 1st of July. I would have extra time in each game to cut the number of replays.
If this was replicated across the contry then the whole All Ireland championships could be ran off in under four months freeing up more time for the club season.
It would also have the added advantage that the GPA would find it more difficult to argue for monetray reward/compensation for players as - lone pointed it out well - county players  would not be as committed to the county season for as long a period of time.
It would also allow county players to dedicate more time to their clubs who are losing out on the services of their best players.
If the GPA were really interested in player welfare then they would be lobbying hard for a reduced season - but of course they are not because it goes against their long term aim, which I believe is to create a top tier of semi professional athletes.

[Lone Shark]

I have been saying the same things on this board and on the last since I first joined. Only with a shorter inter county season can the club issue be addressed. Personally I would like to see two seperate seasons for club and county but i understand that that is perhaps too radical.

I don't see why it would be a problem at all. Play the county leagues when we do now, start the championship on the first week in May and have it wound up by the first week of August. Clubs play their leagues while the county championship is going on (without county players) and then start the club championships all over Ireland in the last week of July or first week of August. Club championships played over 10 weeks, finished by the middle of October. In the Offaly case at the moment clubs play one game on the first week in May, another in the middle of June and another in july. Clubs have to peak so early that average club players are back training in December. This way club players can start back training in January or February, safe in the knowledge that they know when they have to peak for.

We would have to get very used to teams playing in consecutive weeks, but I don't see this as a problem - I don't know of a single player who isn't fit to play 7 days after the last time out, club or county, injuries notwithstanding.

[LaurelEye]

Clubs play their leagues while the county championship is going on (without county players)

I will quote from the particular on this one and then generalise

I come from a very small club with a population of <500.

We currently have:

2 players on the County Senior panel,
2 players on the County Under-21 panel,
3 players on the County Minor panel (one of whom is also on the Under-21 panel and could yet be on the Senior panel before the summer is out).

We play in our division of the league against a set of clubs, all of whom have larger populations than ourselves (mostly much larger populations than ourselves) and all of whom bar one (the current County Senior Champions) have far fewer players involved with the County than ourselves.

This proposal would screw us into the ground. We're able to more than hold our own at the moment - narrowly missed out on promotion last year, finishing a close third behind the very recent County Senior Champions and the said current Senior Champions - but if we had to field without those 6 players in the league, we'd be struggling to avoid relegation.

Now you may consider me to be whingeing on a level that would do the GPA proud, but I can see where the proposal would take us and it ain't pretty.

and then start the club championships all over Ireland in the last week of July or first week of August.

They already do that in Longford - the system in Offaly seems crazy to me. But then Longford are usually out of the Championship by the end of June never mind July

I sympathise with your ideas in general. But that particular one needs more work not to hugely disadvantage clubs in our situation.

[Mike Sheehy]

Even if you reduced the number of games counties would still seek an edge and would continue with the training schedules they have in place. Supporters would bay for blood if their team is not training to the same extent as their rivals.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

I have been saying the same things on this board and on the last since I first joined. Only with a shorter inter county season can the club issue be addressed. Personally I would like to see two seperate seasons for club and county but i understand that that is perhaps too radical.

Clubs have to peak so early that average club players are back training in December. This way club players can start back training in January or February, safe in the knowledge that they know when they have to peak for.

Why do club players need to be back training for months before the championship when your advocating cutting training for county players???

To my mind the biggest problem with regards training for both club and county is the total emphasis by most teams on having a team of athletes who can run all day, can handpass 10 yards and run and run and run and run and run and run......

I personally wish that more emphasis could be placed on skill - kicking accurately over a distance with both feet, kick scores from distance etc....its amazing how you get away with doing far less running if you can kick a ball accurately to someone 30/40 yards....

The championship and clubs survived with the All-Irelands being on in Sept for decades (only change now is the backdoor system)...

As for crowds going no matter the standard and whether counties would win - I certainly don't remember 70k for Ulster finals etc......

[believebelive]

Seek the edge all they want Mike - and of course any forward thnking team will do this - but if the season is shorter then the lenght of time training would be shorter - simply put in an additional rule that states that players are not permitted to train with the county during the county off season and while still involved with their club.
The present system is robbing clubs of their best players and robbing county playrs of their best years as they try to stay on the never ending treadmill of matches, training and more training for practically 12 months of the year. The GAA has to make big decisions to solve this one and I do not think they are ready to make them yet.
The simple fact that there is more demand placed on players of all levels in todays game and unless we address the issue of over playing and over training then we will see an even more chronic case of burn out occurring in five to ten years time.

[Lone Shark]

Even if you reduced the number of games counties would still seek an edge and would continue with the training schedules they have in place. Supporters would bay for blood if their team is not training to the same extent as their rivals.

First of all to this - I firmly believe that if no players or management are getting expenses for this, (payments are coming from a central source, not the county board by the way) that this wouldn't be long about getting policed. Ironically, the GPA could step in here to stand up for players rights. Secondly if it's so widely known that opposition supporters are aware of teams breaking the rules, then clearly someone could step in. Remember too it's not like we're enforcing one session per week here - just enough to cut down on the ridiculous excesses managers use to justify their existence.



As for the Mullinalaghta situation, I appreciate that it would hit some clubs a lot harder than others, and that is unfortunate - however it is the league after all - I'm going to refer to a quote of yours here:

We're able to more than hold our own at the moment - narrowly missed out on promotion last year, finishing a close third behind the very recent County Senior Champions and the said current Senior Champions - but if we had to field without those 6 players in the league, we'd be struggling to avoid relegation.

You're in a very small county, and yet two clubs who were county champions in recent years are in division two? Surely this tells you something about how seriously clubs take the league. Perhaps ye're different, but even so it's instructive all the same.  

I'm aware that it's not perfect, and it militates towards clubs that have greater strength in depth. However I do think the fact that the average club player has a defined season and that season is in the height of summer is most definitely a good thing, and overall it's the greater good. But as I said at the start of my own article, that's only my opinion. (For what it's worth I'm currently with a junior club in Galway, but my home club is Ferbane who would be neither half a rural parish nor a big urban team with a huge pick - somewhere in the middle. Just in case you think that influences my opinion - I don't know myself whether it does or not!!   )

Why do club players need to be back training for months before the championship when your advocating cutting training for county players???

The championship and clubs survived with the All-Irelands being on in Sept for decades (only change now is the backdoor system)...

As for crowds going no matter the standard and whether counties would win - I certainly don't remember 70k for Ulster finals etc......

Like it or not clubs tend to want to be back six months before championship starts, at least that's my experience. At least this way they would be able to do that and still have Christmas for themselves - in Offaly right now you need to peak in both May and October.

The backdoor system is a huge change. Previously only eight counties were still involved by the first week in July - now most counties are. Ditto the hurling, which counts double in dual counties.

Granted crowds are marginally bigger now, but just as Ulster football is fashionable and popular, with all due respect an Ulster final never used to be a clash of two of the top four or five teams in Ireland - now it always is. For the increase in popularity there, you could just as easily look at the decline in Leinster Hurling.

[LaurelEye]

We're able to more than hold our own at the moment - narrowly missed out on promotion last year, finishing a close third behind the very recent County Senior Champions and the said current Senior Champions - but if we had to field without those 6 players in the league, we'd be struggling to avoid relegation.

You're in a very small county, and yet two clubs who were county champions in recent years are in division two? Surely this tells you something about how seriously clubs take the league. Perhaps ye're different, but even so it's instructive all the same.

Abbeylara were in crisis in 2005 (even they were surprised to come back so far as to win the Championship last year), and Clonguish got caught on the hop in 2005 through complacency and came straight back up - we were the only team to beat them. Neither would normally be expected to be in Division 2. It was certainly taken seriously enough by both of them this year. The other eight clubs in Division 2 have two Senior panellists between the lot of them. Talking about it not being a problem because people don't take the league seriously is all very well 'til you end up in Division 3 

However...

The other effect that I could see it having is that County panellists would have even less connection with their clubs than they do at present if they only played club championship matches with them. Might that not have drawbacks in itself wrt elitism?

[Dell Boy]

I disagree with the notion of a players union theoretically but I can see where they're coming from, and we are in no position to knock anyone who puts in the effort they do especialy when the cause is on our own doorsteps.

The root of the problem as I see it starts at club level, where many clubs, mainly those with very large memberships, are paying ousiders to run their senior teams. This is reflected at county level where most managers are receiving generous "expenses", some even taking extended leave from their 9 to 5. Why can't clubs find 1 smartass/no-all to run the team in house instead of spending the lotto funds on a mercenary.
Club teams are becoming mini county teams in terms of training schedules, diet, bonding sessions etc. and the era of football/hurling for all members within the club scene is disappearing fast. If you aren't single, under 28, over 5 10", can run non-stop for 60 mins and don't have any sort of life outside football or hurling, then you are not wanted on your club pitch.

This is because winning at all costs is everything! Every club has a few "he would have beens" for this very reason because it's all got too serious and every "grassroots" member who voted in, or sat on, (or refused to complain about their own) committees who pay managers, have no room to have a go at the GPA. Understandably, they are professional in all but pocket and want a slice of what they see people getting in junior clubs nevermind the sauasge roll eaters in Croker.

As for the "money goes back to the grassroots brigade" - How many can say they have actually seen any Croke Park money coming into their club? Seems to me fund-raising at club level has got more intense since Croke Park was built! and this dough is going to pay the mercenaries as well as the Brolly's of this world to tell a few yarns at a £100 plate dinner dance.

The anti GPA lobby should sort out their own glass houses first.