Players would support tiered All-Ireland football championship

The appetite for a tiered All-Ireland football championship grows as the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) has recorded a shift towards the format.

Players would support tiered All-Ireland football championship

The appetite for a tiered All-Ireland football championship grows as the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) has recorded a shift towards the format.

As a motion to transform the competition looks likelier to be voted on in February next year, the majority of inter-county footballers — 60% — are now backing its introduction.

The information was sourced from surveys, focus groups, the recent AGM and general feedback from GPA player representatives.

Among the other key finds were the players in support of more Championship games although almost three-quarters of players said they were satisfied with the format of this year’s competitions, which saw the introduction of the Super 8 All-Ireland quarter-final stages in football and the provincial round-robin structures in hurling’s Liam MacCarthy Cup.

Although, more hurlers (90%) reported themselves as ‘satisfied’ compared to footballers (53%).

The lack of a meaningful off-season was cited as a major annoyance for players, while over 50 squads were expected to train with their counties as well as their clubs in the designated club month of April.

The GPA informed the Central Competitions Control Committee of their findings last week along with three recommendations: the establishment of a task force involving all relevant bodies with a mandate to deliver change quickly, that the GPA be kept in the loop prior to any future change to the All-Ireland senior football championship and an urgent review of the closed-season policies in the GAA.

That latter call comes as Kildare’s footballers are remarkably expected to commence their O’Byrne Cup campaign on December 8 — the same day they are officially permitted to return to collective training. The Leinster Council have decided to go with a pre-Christmas start to their pre-season competition.

“The fixtures conversation is an important one and players are at the heart of it,” said GPA chief executive Paul Flynn. “We wanted to hear the players’ experience of the 2018 season so that we could bring it to the attention of the GAA and push hard for player- centred change.

“We now have a strong mandate from our members to demand real and meaningful change to the fixtures schedule to allow players to better manage the intense demands of the modern game.

“We all want to ensure that the game flourishes into the future. It’s essential that the players’ voice is heard and respected by the decision makers in the GAA and the GPA will be focused hard on ensuring that this happens.” Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy feels the GAA are forgetting clubs. Giving the example of his Glenmore, he said: “April was planned to be a club month. We were given a couple of weeks to go back to the club, I think we played two or three games within that month. Because the (National) league was extended, we missed a couple of weekends because of the weather. Now I know there’s nothing you can do about that but we only played one game.

“We didn’t play our next game ’til July – 15 or 16 weeks later. So for club players, they have as much passion as us. We’ve as much drive to win an intermediate championship in Kilkenny. But they are being forgotten about by the GAA. Something needs to be done.”

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