Is the earlier Championship a success or failure?

[Eire90]

ive seen people say club and inter county should play at same time makes no sense too me

[blasmere]

There is still an element of ebb and flow at county level. Take Tyrone's first 3 All Irelands, that was an exceptional group of players that hasn't been repeated since for them despite last year. Same with Armagh too. The money helps but you need the players too and population is much more of a factor at county level obviously.

[Franko]

I think you'll find the 3 or 4 big County games a year people make a good sized € to GAA coffers.
100,000 of them to 3 bigger games @say €30 average is €9m.
It's the hoors who sit at home and want every County game on free TV that get my goat. They're usually the same ones who'll be spouting about the "Grab All Association " etc.

You're making 2 erroneous assumptions here;

1.  Everyone that attends county games is a seafoid type armchair man

2.  If the seafoids of this world stayed at home, nobody else would replace them

[Rossfan]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

[Franko]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There is no 'certain cohort' who contribute this funding.

This comes from across the entire spectrum of the GAA.

Seafoid and his 'cohort' only make up a small percentage of that

[seafoid]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There is no 'certain cohort' who contribute this funding.

This comes from across the entire spectrum of the GAA.

Seafoid and his 'cohort' only make up a small percentage of that

Club does not generate the vast majority of the GAA's money, Franko. Get real.
I like club matches as much as anyone but don't pretend that it is something that it is not.

[seafoid]

I'm sorry, but that's exactly what they are.

The funding provided by the "4 county games a year" brigade would be fairly negligible.

And although somewhat intangible, it absolutely pales in comparison to the contributions to the association of the thousands of club players and volunteers.

So my advice to you would be to take your money and watch Man Utd and Leinster all you like.  Don't kid yourself - the association will be absolutely fine without you.

It'll probably be a help actually, as when the big games roll round, some of those deserving folks will be better able to get a ticket.

You and the other armchair lads will love Old Trafford.

I used to be all snobby about the value of people to the GAA. I hated sunshine supporters, people who went to club finals, went to intercounty games only, but had no involvement or interest in the local club. I hated to see them (what i thought) undeserving of tickets etc. But there is no magic formula for fairness. And that goes down many levels in any club.

You see many people in an area drift in and out of the local GAA club. They drift in as a underage player, Senior Player, Mentor/coach, Parent and sometimes as a supporter. Most are only passing through when things are relevant for them . Every club have a core of Families who run the club. I know our local club has 7 or 8 families that are steeped in the club. They hold the power in the club and influence the standing of their children and grand children in the club. Blow-ins may join their inner circle for a while. But they move on as their connect to the club lessens.

The fortunes of clubs ebb and flow. Ballygunner got relegated in the 80s. Dunmore are intermediate. My club and Portumna are senior B. Teams come and go.
It's the same at county level. I remember when Longford beat Mayo. People will tend to follow success .

It's not the same at county level. Not remotely.
A tiny village can win the all-Ireland club off the back of a generational player and a well timed supporting cast. As you say, they'll be back at their historic level again by the next generation. Caltra are an example from your own county.
A generational player isn't going to do that at county level. The gap is too wide.

Club is about how good your weakest players are.
County needs fruiting plantations in several parishes simultaneously eg Offaly hurlers in the 90s. Plus some dirt. And belief.

But teams do ebb and flow at county level too. It happens in all sports imo.

Club is absolutely not about how good your weakest players are. And that's what makes it different. There have been many all-Ireland club winners who have carried lads who wouldn't get in an assess roar of a well balanced club team like Crokes or Ballyhale. You can win in different ways.
Team don't ebb and flow at county level in anywhere close to the same level. There are counties that have never been anywhere close to the top, and there are counties that have never been away from it.
Club level - take your own county again. The 5 football clubs with the most championships in Galway. Only 1 of them has won a championship in the past 25 years. That's ebb and flow. Now do Kerry and Dublin. Yaaawn.
Also "Dirt and Belief"? Try money. I've been involved in 2 intercounty senior setups in the not so distant past. One with money , one without. The difference was ridiculous. They may as well be playing different sports.
The club game beats it every day of the week.

At all Ireland level it is about weaknesses, imo. County players can't do everything.

[Franko]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There is no 'certain cohort' who contribute this funding.

This comes from across the entire spectrum of the GAA.

Seafoid and his 'cohort' only make up a small percentage of that

Club does not generate the vast majority of the GAA's money, Franko. Get real.
I like club matches as much as anyone but don't pretend that it is something that it is not.

I didn't say that?**

What I said was that you are assuming that everyone who attends county matches is someone like yourself - ie. someone who couldn't give 2 fecks about the club

That's just not true.

Your 'cohort' is only a small percentage of that.


**Although I would point out that my own club costs about £140k p/a to run.  Almost all of this is raised through local fundraising, with only a tiny proportion (usually big capital outlays) being funded from central coffers.

Now, we are by no means a huge club, but we have good facilities, which we own ourselves.

But if we are to lowball it and say that it costs on average £50k to run a GAA club for a year

There are about 2000 clubs

There's £100million to start with

[johnnycool]

I'd say most County boards main source of revenue (barring Dublin maybe) would be gate revenue from their club championships which then funds their county squads, no?

[seafoid]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There is no 'certain cohort' who contribute this funding.

This comes from across the entire spectrum of the GAA.

Seafoid and his 'cohort' only make up a small percentage of that

Club does not generate the vast majority of the GAA's money, Franko. Get real.
I like club matches as much as anyone but don't pretend that it is something that it is not.

I didn't say that?**

What I said was that you are assuming that everyone who attends county matches is someone like yourself - ie. someone who couldn't give 2 fecks about the club

That's just not true.

Your 'cohort' is only a small percentage of that.


**Although I would point out that my own club costs about £140k p/a to run.  Almost all of this is raised through local fundraising, with only a tiny proportion (usually big capital outlays) being funded from central coffers.

Now, we are by no means a huge club, but we have good facilities, which we own ourselves.

But if we are to lowball it and say that it costs on average £50k to run a GAA club for a year

There are about 2000 clubs

There's £100million to start with

You would have to start with a distribution of where clubs are at and work from there.
Say there are 500 clubs in Ulster. Less than 50 are competitive and spending serious money.  You can't assume the same  level of spending for all clubs. Or even for clubs by county.

[trueblue1234]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There is no 'certain cohort' who contribute this funding.

This comes from across the entire spectrum of the GAA.

Seafoid and his 'cohort' only make up a small percentage of that

Club does not generate the vast majority of the GAA's money, Franko. Get real.
I like club matches as much as anyone but don't pretend that it is something that it is not.

I didn't say that?**

What I said was that you are assuming that everyone who attends county matches is someone like yourself - ie. someone who couldn't give 2 fecks about the club

That's just not true.

Your 'cohort' is only a small percentage of that.


**Although I would point out that my own club costs about £140k p/a to run.  Almost all of this is raised through local fundraising, with only a tiny proportion (usually big capital outlays) being funded from central coffers.

Now, we are by no means a huge club, but we have good facilities, which we own ourselves.

But if we are to lowball it and say that it costs on average £50k to run a GAA club for a year

There are about 2000 clubs

There's £100million to start with

You would have to start with a distribution of where clubs are at and work from there.
Say there are 500 clubs in Ulster. Less than 50 are competitive and spending serious money.  You can't assume the same  level of spending for all clubs. Or even for clubs by county.

We're a small rural div 3 club in Tyrone. Our spend hasn't been under £100k in years. The costs of keeping a club open at the minute are astronomical. I'd be surprised if any club operated with a spend of under £50k tbh. I'd imagine the average is much higher.

[Franko]

Didn't make any assumptions,  merely pointed out that a certain cohort pay around €9m in admission fees to County games.
Never said they were the only types who go to County games.
I'll let Seaf answer your characterisations if him

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There is no 'certain cohort' who contribute this funding.

This comes from across the entire spectrum of the GAA.

Seafoid and his 'cohort' only make up a small percentage of that

Club does not generate the vast majority of the GAA's money, Franko. Get real.
I like club matches as much as anyone but don't pretend that it is something that it is not.

I didn't say that?**

What I said was that you are assuming that everyone who attends county matches is someone like yourself - ie. someone who couldn't give 2 fecks about the club

That's just not true.

Your 'cohort' is only a small percentage of that.


**Although I would point out that my own club costs about £140k p/a to run.  Almost all of this is raised through local fundraising, with only a tiny proportion (usually big capital outlays) being funded from central coffers.

Now, we are by no means a huge club, but we have good facilities, which we own ourselves.

But if we are to lowball it and say that it costs on average £50k to run a GAA club for a year

There are about 2000 clubs

There's £100million to start with

You would have to start with a distribution of where clubs are at and work from there.
Say there are 500 clubs in Ulster. Less than 50 are competitive and spending serious money.  You can't assume the same  level of spending for all clubs. Or even for clubs by county.

I didn't assume the same level of spending for all clubs.

I assumed an average value, which I set at 35% of the known cost of running our own club - which I will repeat is not a big club (rural community of <1000 people)

We could go lower again if you want

If we said 25% and a figure of £35k per year

We are still at £70 million.

Your £9million gate receipts are starting to look like chicken feed as Boris once said

[Armagh18]

I'd say most County boards main source of revenue (barring Dublin maybe) would be gate revenue from their club championships which then funds their county squads, no?

Would be a whole pile put in from sponsors, I don't think championship ticket sales would cover it these days.

[Rossfan]

I'd say most County boards main source of revenue (barring Dublin maybe) would be gate revenue from their club championships which then funds their county squads, no?

Would be a whole pile put in from sponsors, I don't think championship ticket sales would cover it these days.

Galway get pretty large receipts from Ckub Championship - mainly hurling I'd suspect.
Ros CB would only get around 10% - 15% of its income from club championship games.

[johnnycool]

I'd say most County boards main source of revenue (barring Dublin maybe) would be gate revenue from their club championships which then funds their county squads, no?

Would be a whole pile put in from sponsors, I don't think championship ticket sales would cover it these days.

Do Armagh not go for the round robin/backdoor like a lot of other counties?