John Fogarty: Tailteann Cup must not be a pity party

The establishment of another committee is the GAA’s equivalent of Derek Beeching’s constant calls for 'another mass' in the comedy classic Father Ted.

When there was a clear mandate for change at last Saturday week’s Special Congress, the last thing progressives wanted to hear were plans to create another think tank.

Such concerns are understandable given that the national fixtures calendar review taskforce sat for almost seven months and produced two championship structures, which were both rejected. Players are unlikely to wait as long for another format to be recommended even if it will be 2023 at the earliest before it would come into force.

There is one guaranteed change next year as the Tailteann Cup will finally get its debut and as a result the qualifiers will be cut in half. It appears that the stripped-down Championship will last 13 or 14 weeks between April and July with the new competition pencilled in for six weeks from the middle of June.

The semi-finals and final are set to be televised live with an All-Stars scheme for the 15-game competition. The winners will be exempt from the competition the following season and guaranteed a qualifier spot. That’s if the backdoor system is retained in 2023, which looks unlikely at this stage.

The balancing act couldn’t be more acute for the GAA. On one hand, they have to sell it and hard; on the other they can’t turn it into a sop. The Tailteann Cup is long overdue, inter-county Gaelic football’s welcome for itself is ridiculously inflated but if it turns into a pity party it is done for.

And could it be too much of a crutch? For all the talk about Division 3 and 4 teams finding it easier than a Division 1 or 2 side to reach the knock-out stages of the All-Ireland under Proposal B, is it fair if a player from the lower divisions has a better chance of an accolade and a trip away than one in the top tiers.

Few bodies achieved more than the late Eugene McGee’s Football Review Committee (FRC), the black card being its crowning glory. That’s not to say they didn’t have a couple of faux pas in the second part of their report. Recommending a national strategy for what they termed “less successful counties” was akin to The Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can't Read Good And Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.

However, the sentiment behind the idea was right. “It has been clear for many years that there is a serious disparity in standard between counties involved in the All-Ireland football championship,” read the report. “Opinions vary as to the extent of this but records show that at least half the counties are much less successful than the remainder. During the past 50 years, 10 counties have not won a senior provincial championship while five have just won one over the same time period.” In the eight seasons since the report was published only Tipperary have removed themselves from that first list. Provincial titles are not the most accurate metric for the state of inter-county Gaelic football but there is already recognition in Tipperary that their feat against Cork 12 months ago is not going to be repeated any time soon.

A Tailteann Cup type second tier competition had been considered by the FRC but rejected on the basis of indifference. “We had in mind that the All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship ran its course, as did the Tommy Murphy Cup. Even a better supported and promoted competition than either of these could not be viable without enthusiastic support from the players. That support does not appear to exist.” Listen to Tipperary captain Conor Sweeney who made history in lifting the Munster Cup and his backing for the Tailteann Cup seems completely genuine. It’s the fate that awaits David Power’s side next summer should they fail to reach the provincial final.

The Gaelic Players Association’s endorsement of the Tailteann Cup doesn’t seem to be as watery as it was a couple of days before Special Congress in 2018 when 60% of respondents to a survey voted in favour of it. Two years before that, they were threatening a boycott if a second tier championship was introduced.

To depend on players to promote the Tailteann Cup when those in Division 2 and 3 will be all out to avoid it next spring is an ask. Expecting managers won’t have them out before the training ban elapses in the middle of next month in order to escape it is too.

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Many GAA trophy rules are for show

Club final season hits its peak in the coming weeks as will the realisation that the GAA need to review their protocols around cup presentations.

The ill-advised and ultimately failed attempt to ban joint captains earlier this year lacked rationale - it had nothing to do with Covid. On Sunday, Pádraig Pearses co-skippers David Murray and Emmett Kelly received the Fahey Cup in Roscommon.

In August, Cork’s minor football captains Rory O’Shaughnessy and Hugh O’Connor lifted the Tadhg Crowley Cup. Cork also adopted co-captains with the minor hurlers although it was Ben O’Connor who raised the TWA cup that same month - James Dwyer was the other leader.

The Covid measures pertaining to the cup remaining with the county board and not going home with the winners are slightly more understandable. The recent advice from Croke Park read: “For the remainder of 2021, where trophies are being presented, the winning captain should lift the trophy directly, rather than it being presented to him or her.

“Trophies should remain in the presentation area once the Captain has completed the winning speech. Arrangements can be made for the winning players to have their photos taken with the trophy; but all trophies should be retained by the County Committee or other organising body until a later date.” 

The GAA learned to their cost last autumn just how much silverware can be focal points for mass celebrations. But exactly what difference is being made by the winning captain not being handed the trophy by the county chairperson is a mystery, especially as the microphone is being freely passed from one to the other.

In Dr Hyde Park, Pádraig Pearses co-captain Kelly brought the trophy onto the pitch to pose for photographs with his infant son Cillian. Also contrary to the protocols, the players congregated with the silverware outside of the presentation area. Who could blame them? And who will?

Age is only a number

At the age of 46, Ciaran McManus lines out in midfield for his club Tubber as they go down to Clara in the Offaly Senior B championship final.

Also at Bord na Mona O’Connor Park in the Senior A decider later that afternoon, Niall McNamee, 36, earns Rhode a replay with a last-gasp goal to deny Tullamore. His brother Alan, 39, lines out in midfield.

The same afternoon, Kilkenny great JJ Delaney, 39, lines out for Fenians as they are defeated by St Lachtains in their intermediate semi-final. 40-year-old Donncha O’Connor also suffers a reverse as Clonakilty’s finish is too strong for Duhallow in their Cork PSFC quarter-final. His old Cork team-mate Paudie Kissane, 41, was on the Clyda Rovers side that lost their Senior A quarter-final to Bèal Átha an Ghaorthaidh.

Turning 39 next March, Kieran Donaghy plays at both ends of the field for Austin Stacks on Saturday in their surprise Kerry SFC round one victory over defending champions East Kerry.

The previous weekend, former Kildare captain Eamonn Callaghan, 38, kicks six points to guide Naas into their first senior county final in 30 years - he is also acting joint-manager. Former Longford star Paul Barden turns back the years at the age of 41 to score two second half goals to ensure Clonguish retain their senior status. Conal Keaney, now 39, helps Ballyboden St Enda’s into the last four of the Dublin SFC.

Evergreen. Ever players.