'I’d oppose that at every forum' - Cork chief against completing club championship in calendar year

Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan is opposed to the All-Ireland club competitions being completed within the calendar year.

It was decided earlier this year that the All-Ireland senior club finals, from 2020 onward, would be brought forward from their traditional St Patrick’s Day slot to mid-January.

O’Donovan, who is a member of the Fixtures Calendar Review Task Force put together by GAA president John Horan, said there is a growing consensus the club finals will be played earlier and earlier and could eventually come within the calendar year, a move he is vehemently opposed to such is the negative impact it would have on Cork’s club competitions.

Cork have restructured their hurling and football championships for 2020, but O’Donovan believes it would be impossible for fixture-makers in the county to meet Munster deadlines if the All-Ireland club finals are brought within the calendar year given the knock-on effects that would trigger.

“There is a growing consensus now that to put the All-Ireland club finals into December is a lovely way of wrapping things up, that to get it all done in the calendar year will mean a nice tidy end to the year.

"Not for Cork, it wont,” said O’Donovan. “Because if they go moving those [club final] dates further forward, we have to move our games, and there is no county with our number of games. I’d oppose that at every forum I’m at.”