Mc Hughs call for radical fix for club football

[haranguerer]

Benny, you are giving out about this thread leading onto posts debating professionalism. The point I made is that threads often develop so that the main debate is no longer the thread title; I referenced the robinsons thread to support my point. Not that hard to follow, surely.

Again, if you'd bothered to actually read and think about the posts, you might have been able to see how the debate led where it did; but I'll say most of it again:

There are problems with McHughs idea, as were mentioned by other posters: I made the point that a lot of these problems (fitting around IC fixtures, long season, etc) were mainly down to the fact that he suggested this system as an addition to the current set-up (probably so that it didnt appear too radical), i.e. basically an extension of the current season for successful clubs, rather than an alternative.

If there was a club championship like this, then I think its a certainty the county championships would be undervalued, given that the semi-finalists and finalists would all have entry into this competition anyway. So you might as well have those top clubs not competing in the county championship at all, but going directly into the Ulster club championship - which would solve the problems of extended seasons. Entry into the Ulster club could be by prior year league standings for eg.

After a few years I reckon the Ulster competition entrants would pick themselves anyway - those clubs who have not had any success are likely to opt to play in their co championship instead, while counties who have more than 4 clubs capable of playing at this level would be able to take up the extra spaces. This would leave a championship based on the best teams in ulster, rather than county boundaries, which is exactly what a competition like this should entail.

This clearly tiered club system is likely to lead to other issues - transfers and the like, as clubs seek to maintain their position in the premier competition, and it is from this situation that I see professionalism coming in. I think its inevitable that professionalism will enter the game - certainly that co players will receive payment in the near future. If the club game is developing as above, which is also likely, then there will come a point where the two clash - co players not allowed to play for clubs being the most likely issue. From there, I reckon clubs will match co payments to keep their players, and the club game will eventually become more powerful than the co game.

I said a few times, its crystal ball gazing, and not the near future, but just what I think - and it is related to mcHughs ideas of a club championship.

And professionalism is certainly one of the biggest issues in the GAA at the min - its absurd to suggest otherwise.

[Hardy]

I'll make a bold prediction here and this can be brought back up to haunt me if anyone wishes to do so - but there will never in any of our life time be a professional club football scene in the GAA! Its is not the biggest issue face our club players and this suggestion by McHugh was specifically a club based suggestion! So I feel its not relevant in this discussion - we should be focusing on the merits of the idea - how could we fit it in? Is there a demand for it? Would it add to the profile of the clubs? Would it cause burn out amongst our players? Would TV be interested? Would clubs treat it seriously? Would people attend it? Would it add to or detract from local rivalries? Will it produce new rivalries? Would one counties clubs dominate? When i first read the first post in this thread i never in a million years would have thought - will it lead to professionalism?

Just for clarity, I agree that when professionalism comes, it won't be based on the club structure. I was just making a narrow point about how it will be introduced by stealth. I've outlined elsewhere how I think structures will change to facilitate it.

Of course, the new professional entities will be called "clubs", but that's just marketing-speak and corruption of language. Manchester United, one of the biggest sports/entertainment conglomerates in Europe calls itself a "club".

[fitzroyalty]

Here's me thinking Martin McHugh couldn't possibly talk any more shite than usual...low and behold! I think I'd far rather win a county championship than reach a semi-final, lose but still get put into an Ulster Championship; takes value away from each county championship aswell as the Ulster club SFC itself. And I don't know about other counties but in Armagh it is possible to receive a bye; win one match, and get into the SFC semi-final. Imagine playing one championship match all year and finding yourself in a club championship! WTF! McHugh must have been up errigal smoking turf when he thought that one up!

[ha ha derry]

Here's me thinking Martin McHugh couldn't possibly talk any more shite than usual...low and behold! I think I'd far rather win a county championship than reach a semi-final, lose but still get put into an Ulster Championship; takes value away from each county championship aswell as the Ulster club SFC itself. And I don't know about other counties but in Armagh it is possible to receive a bye; win one match, and get into the SFC semi-final. Imagine playing one championship match all year and finding yourself in a club championship! WTF! McHugh must have been up errigal smoking turf when he thought that one up!

Don,t worry it,ll never happen.