John Fogarty: Action needed as refereeing shortage mirrors decline of priesthood

John Fogarty on the shortage of referees in the GAA, the subjectivity of the All-Stars, and the awkward marriage of hurling and floodlights

Ref Jerome Henry is escorted off the field as Mountbellew/Moylough’s Michael Daly attempts to remonstrate after the AIB Connacht SFC semi-final at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

The GAA can’t say they weren’t told. An anticipated nationwide recruitment drive for referees and suggestions the age limit of 50 will be lifted at inter-county level indicates they are prepared to do something but the hope is it won’t be too late.

The warning signs have been blinking from their units for the best part of a decade at this stage. In 2013, Tipperary had to cancel a young referees course due to poor uptake. Former Leinster secretary Michael Delaney spoke at the time of how “it is alarming to see how difficult it is to come up with sufficient match officials, particularly in hurling, to cover our programme of games”. Around the same time, then Tyrone chairman Ciarán MacLaughlin said clubs “need to change this or be faced with games being called off”.

But there was no improvement and three years later, the county’s referees committee chairman, current PRO, Eugene O’Connell said: “In the next three years, if we don’t collectively work towards ensuring a steady supply of new recruits we will have a serious problem in the numbers of experienced officials available to take charge of our games.”

In 2017, Clare recruited just one referee. That same year, Donegal referees administrator Shane Toolan bemoaned the fact their numbers had dropped to 42. Also in 2017, Limerick secretary Mike O’Riordan felt compelled to highlight the issue in his annual report: “This year, we have seen a number of referees retire and at this moment in time we are in drastic need of new referees. I would urge clubs to seriously look at former players and others who may have an interest in that side of the game.”

In 2018, Kerry GAA referees tutor Maurice O’Sullivan spoke of the lack of young blood taking up whistles. “Let’s be honest, we’re heading in a crisis direction. The age profile of the referees we have is obviously increasing and also the number of people staying on as referees is decreasing.”

With reports of referees doing two, sometimes three, games a day, if comparisons aren’t already being made with the priesthood they should be. Taking charge of games shouldn’t have to be so much trouble but it is.

The GAA can be doing a whole lot more. Former Meath footballer Donal Smyth, a long-established referee in his county, remains the only person employed by the GAA specifically dealing with match officials administration. He is assisted by the games department in Croke Park but while Limerick’s O’Riordan rightfully pointed out four years ago that there are no games without referees, at central level they are going a strange way of demonstrating that they actually care.

It is an oversight that the GAA hasn’t seen fit to call more on the expertise of excellent former inter-county referees such as Brian Gavin, Barry Kelly and Pat McEnaney. McEnaney did serve as referees development chairman but his knowledge should be called on regularly. Instead, he is now devoting his energies to returning the minor grade to U18.

An obsession with recruiting former players to become the people in the middle doesn’t appear to be fruitful either. More can also be done to make refereeing worthwhile in a monetary sense, obvious things like improving the mileage rate of referees from 50 cent a mile, meal allowances (for umpires too) and bumping up the match fee at club level.

Then there’s the rulebook. Under Jarlath Burns’s chairmanship, the playing rules committee had set their sights on simplifying it but nothing came of that ambition in the end. Maybe it was too aspirational but the tackle in football has still not been fully defined and the rules of hurling have fallen so far behind the game. For example, the size of the hurley bas, thrown hand-passes, swarm tackle, steps, the solo hop are all major failings.

Sunday’s Munster club senior hurling semi-final in Fraher Field saw simulation again raise its ugly head. Although a referee is empowered to show a yellow card to a player for feigning injury, it is still considered a subjective matter in Gaelic games.

Remonstration, however, is considerably easier to cut out. Johnny Murphy’s umpire wasn’t the only match official we have seen accosted by a player about an incident these last four weeks - there was an unseemly one in the Cork premier senior hurling final too.

As GAA president, Liam O’Neill raised the idea of only captains having speaking privileges with the referee. It may have been on the extreme side but O’Neill’s intentions were right. Referees should be compelled to communicate their reasoning for decisions but they and their assistants should be spared mass protests.

This past weekend’s incidents in Dungarvan and Roscommon have provided us with prime examples of how difficult it can be to get it right as a referee and how ugly it can be to be one. Neither game will do anything to persuade more to sign up.

You could be led to believe the pandemic has exacerbated low refereeing numbers when in fact it has only exposed the shortage for what it is: a full-blown crisis.

Subjectivity a beauty of the All-Stars

Doing something as subjective as picking the best All-Stars teams of the last 50 years in last week’s column was always going to raise an eyebrow or two. It wasn’t anticipated there would be as much divisiveness created later in the week as part of the All-Stars hurling selection committee.

The decision not to include a Cork hurler in the best 15 of the year wasn’t a decision taken lightly. For the record, this writer picked two Cork players, Seán O’Donoghue and Seamus Harnedy, in our 15 but as part of the 13-strong committee on the day choosing the team I take responsibility for my part in the process that didn’t include any of the All-Ireland runners-up. In the end, their claims weren’t strong enough.

Back to our best All-Star teams in the 50-year history of the scheme and some of the feedback was constructive and some simply critical. We include some of those that fell in the former category here:

Alan Nelson wrote: “Seamus Moynihan is an automatic at either 5, 6 or 7, I’d play him 7. You left out the greatest forward in the last 50 years Matt Connor. John O’Keeffe at full-back not in the top 5? I’m from Meath and we have had unbelievable footballers in that time with Colm O’Rourke our best.”

Declan O’Dea offered: “Agree with most selections, allowing for a clear Munster bias. Seanie McMahon for Padraic Maher, definitely in my opinion. Matt Connor won All Stars in different forward positions. A better player than any of the six forwards you picked. Back to the drawing board on that one.”

Charles Cronin emailed: “Maurice Fitzgerald won an All-Ireland for Kerry single-handedly in 1997 and likewise in 2000 when he saved them in Thurles off the bench against Dublin. Stephen O’Neill was a lovely player who was both play-maker and scorer in one. These are the players that would make my team but it is very subjective.”

And therein lies the beauty.

Hurling and floodlights an awkward marriage

Coming almost a year to the day after the first All-Ireland final to be played under floodlights (we know, we know, replays have been staged under them), the suitability of them was called into question again on Sunday by Loughmore-Castleiney manager Frankie McGrath.

”I do have a bit of sympathy for the officials,” he said in relation to the sendings off of his nephews, Noel and John. 

“If the biggest games of the season are going to be played under floodlights then the potential for errors is going to be there.

“For me, we’ve been the victim of a very incorrect decision that might not have happened in daylight. Is it necessary to play those games under lights? Is it for the benefit of the people at home or the players? The people who make those decisions need to do a bit of soul-searching.”

Noel McGrath himself is on record as questioning the compatibility of floodlights and hurling and while the quality of floodlights in Croke Park mean they are rarely an issue in bad weather, like that in Dungarvan on Sunday, the light at provincial venues often bleeds and blinds.

Fógra — A remarkable 28 of the 30 starters for Ballygiblin and Skeheenarinky in the Munster junior club hurling semi-finals this past weekend are past students of Mitchelstown CBS. Surely another, Mark Keane, will be granted permission by Collingwood to line out for Ballygiblin in the final between the border clubs on January 8/9?

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