Aogan O Fearaill - the man to save Club GAA.

[rrhf]

Delighted to see the former Ulster president launch his campaign on the basis of putting club first and sorting the fixtures schedule for the silent majority of our members.   No longer can the vast majority of GAA playing members be treated as they are being.  In addition to that I think he needs to address the practices occurring in some counties now with youth players are putting their county training before club games and single minded managers appear to turn a blind eye if not presiding over this dislocation of loyalties.    Development squad routines, county minors and obviously seniors all steal from the talent that the clubs have brought through. These are the guys that will be looked to as leaders in their clubs and communities.   It has become obvious that our counties take the future stars away from the clubs in the same way that rival sports can.   I am of the school of thought that county players should be showing allegiance to their clubs as a prerequisite for breaking into representative football and be encouraged to be the leaders in their clubs for the good of their own and and their clubs future development.  Positive action to ensure the county player remains club focussed will only boost the attachment of the clubs to the county cause and club football continues to improve footballers development and improve natural skill levels in a less pressured environment.  This is the biggest challenge that the GAA faces as county boards wonder why they cant achieve fundraising targets from their people.  The attachment of player to club needs to be ring fenced and then representative football becomes an option if the talent is there and willing.   

[T Fearon]

And he did precisely what to promote club football during his term as Ulster President?

[thewobbler]

There is only one way in this world that the club game can rise to prominence, and that's to truncate the county season - both in terms of number of games, and time between games.

In terms of logistics, it wouldn't even be that difficult to do:

- Get rid of the play-offs in the National League.
- Play all rounds of any given Provincial Championship on one weekend i.e. all UFC Q/Fs take place on same weekend.
- Play all Championship matches to a close, with multiple extra times as required.
- A two week break between each non-qualifier game.
- Qualifier games played, in each instance, on the weekend following all participants are known.

Based on this year, that gives us a timetable of:

Provincial	Qualifiers	Weekend
Last 16		6th April
QF		20th April
	R1	27th April
SF		4th May
	R2	11th May
Final	R3	18th May
	R4	25th May
All Ireland
QF		1st June
SF		15th June
Final		29th June

So even after getting pissed drunk for a fortnight, players are back with their clubs from Mid-July until the end of the season.Which means the AI Club Finals could conceivably happen at the end of October, and actually end the season proper at that point.


/ / / /

The problem is that the traditionalists won't bite on this. The thought of an AI final being played in June will, for reasons unknown, fill them with dread.

But until they bite, we aren't going anywhere. If we want our players to play both county and club games, the something HAS to give on the county side. Small measures won't make a bit of difference.

[clarshack]

There is only one way in this world that the club game can rise to prominence, and that's to truncate the county season - both in terms of number of games, and time between games.

In terms of logistics, it wouldn't even be that difficult to do:

- Get rid of the play-offs in the National League.
- Play all rounds of any given Provincial Championship on one weekend i.e. all UFC Q/Fs take place on same weekend.
- Play all Championship matches to a close, with multiple extra times as required.
- A two week break between each non-qualifier game.
- Qualifier games played, in each instance, on the weekend following all participants are known.

Based on this year, that gives us a timetable of:

Provincial	Qualifiers	Weekend
Last 16		6th April
QF		20th April
	R1	27th April
SF		4th May
	R2	11th May
Final	R3	18th May
	R4	25th May
All Ireland
QF		1st June
SF		15th June
Final		29th June

So even after getting pissed drunk for a fortnight, players are back with their clubs from Mid-July until the end of the season.Which means the AI Club Finals could conceivably happen at the end of October, and actually end the season proper at that point.


/ / / /

The problem is that the traditionalists won't bite on this. The thought of an AI final being played in June will, for reasons unknown, fill them with dread.

But until they bite, we aren't going anywhere. If we want our players to play both county and club games, the something HAS to give on the county side. Small measures won't make a bit of difference.

i'd be happy enough with that. though the ulster council would probably cry about lost ticket sales if all UFC Q/Fs took place on same weekend.
it definitely could be done over 2 weekends without a serious hit to gate money.
something has to happen as it cant keep going on like this, as people are getting fed up and losing interest.

[johnneycool]

Clubs, club players, what are they?

3 months to run off the AI championship series, what would the Sponsors think of that, not to mention the media who've a load of column inches to fill until the Rugby and Soccer are up and running again?

[deiseach]

The problem is that the traditionalists won't bite on this. The thought of an AI final being played in June will, for reasons unknown, fill them with dread.

But until they bite, we aren't going anywhere. If we want our players to play both county and club games, the something HAS to give on the county side. Small measures won't make a bit of difference.

That's a really great post, and I would call myself one of the traditionalists when it comes to the Championship structure. But (you know there had to be a 'but') I would have some objections, none of which have anything to do with wanting to have the All-Ireland finals in September.

Get rid of the play-offs in the National League.

I would love to see a significant reduction in the amount of knockout weekends. Abolish playoffs in the League. The people who go to League matches will go and the people who don't go to League matches won't go no matter how many knockout games you play. The League is something for the nutter to do while waiting for the Championship to come around. If you abolish it, you'd still have to come up with something to take its place, so cut back the weekends where only a handful of counties play.

Play all rounds of any given Provincial Championship on one weekend i.e. all UFC Q/Fs take place on same weekend.

Great idea. Why can't (for example) both Munster semi-finals be played on the same day/weekend? Maybe it's because of television, but we'd need to have a related but separate discussion about what television is for. I want to see Waterford play and I'll do my best to get to see them. I don't need to see the other games at the same stage of the Championship. These days you don't even need to rely on Raidió Éireann to find out what is happening in any game, it's all over Twitter for anyone who is sufficiently interested.

Play all Championship matches to a close, with multiple extra times as required.

I'd agree that all games should go to extra time. Multiple extra times? This isn't baseball where players don't use up a lot energy and there are 162 games in the season so one ridiculously long game - a recent one between the Orioles and the Rays went to nine extra innings, effectively doubling the length of the match - isn't a big deal. I think one extra period is enough. After that, have a replay.

A two week break between each non-qualifier game.

At least. And this is where I begin to part company with you. If we started the Championship a bit earlier and compressed all the rounds so it doesn't take several weeks just to get to the point where we know who the provincial semi-finalists are, then we would have plenty of time in the non-Championship weekends to have club games. There might be some overlap due to my scenario where replays are required, but that just means a club will have to do without their star player(s) that weekend. Rugby clubs like Leicester Tigers regularly lose players to international duty, and they have to deal with the loss of players in specialist positions like in the front row. They just have to get on with it. The same should be expected of clubs.

To my mind, the great thing about your post is it isn't that revolutionary. I don't see why we have to rattle through the inter-county Championship season in a couple of months but I don't see why it has to be on somewhere every damn damn summer weekend either. All the GAA needs is some joined-up thinking to clear up the clutter in the fixture list. And it needs the President, the only figure in the Association who can claim a mandate, to demand that cleaning up. If Aogán Ó Fearail is that man, God speed to him.

[Bingo]

I would think a quickly run off Championship (If you consider 3 months quick to run off a knockout competition) would actually increase interest, as you'd have a series momentum behind it.

It is going to need something radical to pull the club side of things back into the fold. Clubs are struggling big time to keep players interested and to do any sort of planning. Its basically two seasons in one for them with a mid-season break in the months of June/July/August.

To see Meath announce their county panel/squad a week after the All-Ireland and the club championship only at semi-final stage tells you all you need to know.

[deiseach]

To see Meath announce their county panel/squad a week after the All-Ireland and the club championship only at semi-final stage tells you all you need to know.

Clare still have FIVE rounds of their county championship to go. Imagine trying to plan a summer holiday and play the game. Lunacy.

[deiseach]

An extra tangential thought. We can expect the draw for next year's provincial championships soon. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this is mad. Do it after the end of the League. A couple of weeks of hype and away we go.

[Syferus]

So what exactly is that in English? Anto Farrell?

[Bingo]

An extra tangential thought. We can expect the draw for next year's provincial championships soon. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this is mad. Do it after the end of the League. A couple of weeks of hype and away we go.

Always thought about that myself, give the thing a lift off. It starts with a whimper as it is.

They do the draw now, release the dates some time after that and then the TV fixtures sometime after that - thats alot of mileage and steak dinners on those meetings 

[deiseach]

They do the draw now, release the dates some time after that and then the TV fixtures sometime after that - thats alot of mileage and steak dinners on those meetings 

[thewobbler]

Deiseach, I know what you're saying.

But when you run county competitions parallel with club competitions, then the club game is going to lose out more often than not. There really is no point in a county board forking out the wages and expenses of a modern county team, to turn around mid summer and demand all players are released for club commitments. The longer gap you make between county matches, all it means (in most counties) is either clubs going longer without their county players, or club players waiting around in limbo for leagues to re-start.