Éamonn Fitzmaurice: The football championship format I’d like to see

Looking at gaelic football's new championship proposals - and how to make the preferred option palatable to all

Mon, 05 Jul, 2021 - 07:00

“Revolution devours its children” — Jacques Mallet du Pan

The second weekend of the football Championship and we are down 14 teams who will, all going well, get to return to competitive action in six months. Cruel doesn’t cover it.

While I have previously highlighted that football got a raw deal this year in comparison to hurling, it is pointless moaning about that now. We knew this was the way it was going to be for Championship 2021 — which absolutely was an opportunity missed — but it is what it is. Let’s continue to enjoy the football we are being treated to while also moving the conversation forward and look towards Special Congress later in the year to decide the future of our blue riband competition.

The importance of this decision cannot be overstated. As an organisation the GAA needs to get it right to ensure the football championship regains its position at the heart of Irish sporting life. When the qualifiers were ushered in for the 2001 season, many of us were unsure how it would work out, but for a long time, it was fantastic. Now, as we face another big change, we need to be informed and ready to allow us, the members, to be proactive rather than typically reactive. We need to accept that there is no magic bullet that will fix all the problems associated with football. A Division 4 team is not going to suddenly win the All-Ireland, but as a starting point can we give more teams more football against sides of a similar standard, while also allowing them the chance to win Sam Maguire?

While the Blue Monster distorts the current conversation, that wheel will also turn.

The split season has been a good start. Going back to when I was playing, I have long thought this solution best in terms of catering for both inter-county and club players. It isn’t perfect though. I don’t like the fact that the All-Irelands have moved out of September and I would question if all club competitions will be finished in their five-month window, particularly in dual counties.

Two significant issues are where the Sigerson Cup fits in and if a close season of at least a few weeks can be built into the calendar. Both of these are of paramount importance and I feel new rules would need to be introduced to ring-fence time for both.

If we don’t legislate for these situations, the player will be pulled and dragged, often to his detriment. If the Sigerson was to be played in the usual January and February slot, a rule stating that players had to play with their college teams rather than their county teams could be introduced. This would protect the player from awkward decisions and conversations and safeguard the integrity of the Sigerson Cup. Similarly, a rule should be introduced stating that a player cannot be picked for a competitive fixture for a minimum of four weeks after his last game from the previous season.

If most are like me, they will have a vague awareness of the two proposals before the Special Congress later in the year, without understanding the nitty-gritty. I would encourage everyone to do as I did and read the report on gaa.ie to educate yourselves around the detail of the options, as I am merely summarising here.

Option 1 proposes retaining the league in its current format and time slot, running the provincial championships on a round-robin basis with the top teams contesting the provincial finals, the teams in second and third position going into the qualifiers, and the team in fourth contesting a straight knockout Tailteann Cup. Crucially, though, this involves one team leaving the Ulster Championship to play in Connacht, and three teams leaving Leinster — one heading for Connacht, two others playing in the Munster championship.

My feeling is that no supporter, player, or manager would want to leave their own to compete in a different provincial championship. There is significant history and tradition associated with these competitions, particularly the Ulster Championship, and while they may now be past their sell-by date in terms of deciding Sam Maguire, they still have a place and still have value.

Option 2 involves moving the National League to the summer as a basis for the championship. The provincial championships would be moved to February and March and act as a standalone competition. The Tailteann Cup would also proceed on a knockout basis. There is a sizeable amount of scenarios built into this option but for me, it makes most sense. It maintains the provincial championship which places some value on the history and tradition associated with these competitions. Crucially there is no requirement to relocate counties to other provinces.

There may be a worry that the provincial championships would go the way of the FA Cup in England but I think they will merely switch places with the National League in terms of significance, in that they will still be important, just not as important. The league has been an outstanding competition for some time and it will now have the gravitas of the Championship attached to it. The refrain “it was only the league” will be consigned to history.

A huge factor in either option fulfilling its potential is the success of the Tailteann Cup. Players have to want to play in it, counties have to want to win it, and supporters must want to go and see it. If it is marketed properly it will have a broad appeal.

I won a Junior All-Ireland Club medal with Finuge and it remains a unique memory for me. Winning an All-Ireland with my own people and the lads that I grew up with was special. Did it matter to me or my friends that we didn’t beat Dr Crokes, Nemo, Crossmaglen or Corofin to win it? Not a jot. We competed against teams at our level in Kerry, Munster, and in the All-Ireland series and came out on top.

For the Tailteann Cup to succeed, live television will be central as will the games played on the big days as curtain-raisers to matches in the Sam Maguire competition. I feel the Tailteann Cup final has to be played on the day of the All-Ireland SFC final.

All-Ireland final day is an exclusive and special day and if we are serious about a secondary competition, we have to give it an appropriate stage. I would have the minors first, the Tailteann Cup second, and the Sam Maguire decider third.

Croke Park is well capable of taking three games in a day, especially at the height of summer.

I accept ticket-wise this would be a nightmare and if it proved unmanageable, as a compromise we could have an All-Ireland weekend, with a doubleheader of the minors and U20s on Saturday evening in Croke Park, and the senior deciders on Sunday.

Either way, I’m excited about what’s coming down the tracks, both in terms of this year’s Championship and future championships played under a new structure that is more about evolution than revolution.

The most popular sport in Ireland is in a good place.

Galway perfectly positioned ahead of decider

Pádraic Joyce will be delighted to have his maiden Championship win under his belt and looking forward to a Connacht final in three weeks.

While Mayo, who should overcome Leitrim next weekend, are still widely regarded as being a step ahead of Galway, I feel Joyce’s men are coming into this final in a great position. They have played Division 1 teams all the way since the resumption of action in May.

Both management and players will have learned hard but invaluable lessons along the way. You can’t play Kerry and not lay a glove on them, you can’t turn over the ball against Dublin as they will kill you and when five points up with five minutes to go, as they were against Monaghan, you have to manage the game out.

These lessons will stand to them and they came through another tough physical battle in unforgiving conditions yesterday in Dr Hyde Park. They are battle-hardened and have three weeks to improve the detail of their game plan and to work on injuries, particularly that to Shane Walsh.

Contrast this to Mayo who have competed against Division 2 or lower teams so far this season. They hammered Sligo and will do the same to Leitrim. They won’t learn too much from either. We won’t know exactly where they are at until the gun is to their head in a tight, straight knockout game. Critically they don’t either. There is a real danger that they will be undercooked. To be fair to Mayo they are usually excellent at raising their standards as the opposition stiffens, but minus Cillian O’Connor, this may not occur as organically as usual. James Horan’s experience will be vital in this regard but unless his players oblige he is powerless.

Joyce is happy to give youth its head and it is paying off. He has strengthened his panel with the addition of some quality rookies including some of the successful U20 squad from last year. There are similarities with his own debut season in 1998 when a cohort of young players came through together to supplement some veterans that had been there for some time, but had lived in Mayo’s shadow.

They won two out of the next four All-Irelands and I am sure Joyce harbours similar ambitions and is planning to repeat history. Dylan McHugh, Seán Mulkerrin, Paul Kelly, Rob Finnerty, and in particular, Matthew Tierney impressed yesterday. His frees in a low-scoring game and in tough underfoot conditions were excellent and his goal finished any hope for Roscommon.

Conor Gleeson did what was asked of him in goal but Mayo’s kickout press will pose some new problems for him the next day. Joyce and his management will work on some sloppiness that kept Roscommon in the game and I thought they were extremely ponderous at times in possession. For a spell in the first half, the man in possession was playing with the head down and soloing the ball pointlessly and to death. These are little areas that they can work on for the final.

There was little of value for Roscommon in this defeat. They competed gamely but a combination of their ultra-defensive setup and turning over possession short-circuited any chance they had of winning this game. Galway scored 2-6 of their 2-11 from turnovers (kudos Johnny Bradley and RTÉ for stats.) They have plenty of good footballers but they are starting to push on and could do with an infusion of youth. As a group they have plenty to ponder for the next six months, both from a playing approach and a personnel point of view.