Fogarty Forum: Fault on both sides in GAA-GPA row

The question is who is being fairer to the player? The GAA or the GPA

Tue, 15 Mar, 2022 - 06:30

TRUE to form, the GAA and GPA have fallen out again over expenses. Like two of his predecessors Dessie Farrell and Paul Flynn before him, the players body’s chief executive Tom Parsons has broken off negotiations with Croke Park.

The former Mayo footballer’s point that the GAA get “a very favourable deal” out of the championship is a strong one. There’s the €13.5m surplus in the 11-month financial year of 2021. As much as that covered two championships, one of them was behind closed doors. The GAA at central level stress they only subsidise the mileage rate, roughly to the tune of 27% in the 26 counties and 6% in the six counties and the boards pay the rest.

But it’s not as if counties are suffering hardship right now. All but one, Galway who included depreciation in their figures, returned surpluses last year and so many of them will again in 2022 as their largest attendances were recorded after the financial year concluded at the end of September. The question isn’t about whether the GAA can afford to pay the 65 cent per mile mileage rate beyond four training sessions a week. For those counties whose commercial income was less than €200,000 in 2021, Croke Park provides a €20,000 allowance and €10,000 for those whose commercial return was between €200,000 and €300,000.

The question is who is being fairer to the player? The GAA, in their attempt to put some sort of a cap on collective training sessions and possibly level up the playing field, or the GPA, who don’t want their members losing out financially because of the extra demands being placed on them by managers? The GPA claim the GAA originally wanted to retain the 50 cent per mile rate, although the 65 cent per mile rate signed off by Croke Park last week will be backdated to the start of the inter-county training in early December. The GAA acknowledge themselves they initially wanted the 65 cent per mile rate capped at three training sessions.

Parsons’ argument about the number of training sessions not “being the responsibility of the player” is one we have heard the GPA make before when they maintained it wasn’t the duty of inter-county footballers and hurlers to cry foul when training sessions breaching Covid restrictions were taking place. For the young player, it’s understandable if they are reluctant to shout stop; for the stalwart, there may be a sense that the extra effort may just earn them a final one or two pieces of silverware.

Parsons highlights that the players shouldn’t be the fall guys in what they feel is a cost-cutting exercise by the GAA but he also intimated the number of sessions players do is irrelevant — “if they are asked to train two, or seven times in a week, they just want to be treated fairly”.

There is a contradiction there. The GPA must ask themselves what are they concerned about most — their players being out of pocket or out of energy?

Nevertheless, Colm O’Rourke’s claim on Sunday that the GPA are seeking unlimited expenses and a move towards semi-professionalism is an erroneous one. What they want to ensure is players don’t have to pay to play. Before the fuel crisis, cash-strapped
students had been contacting the GPA about how financially untenable playing inter-
county Gaelic games had
become.

The famous ESRI reports, which highlighted inter-county players were spending up to 31 hours a week towards their commitments in 2016, were interpreted in different ways by the GAA and the GPA. The GAA’s decision to cut the length of the inter-county season may eventually lead to a better training to game ratio but the concentrated period is a challenge.

NEXT season, every county in the football championship will play at least twice as many games as before. There will have to be a knock-on effect at this time of year when there are only two break weekends in the league.

In this stand-off with the GPA, the GAA know only too well how intense the period is: should players strike this weekend, it will be a challenge to rearrange the games when there is only 13 days between the end of the league and the start of the provincial championships.

For the GPA, they regarded the ESRI’s findings as strengthening their hand at the negotiations table. However, ESRI senior research officer Elish Kelly, the lead author of the reports, spoke in February 2020 about the lack of movement from both the GAA and GPA to act on their findings such as the time commitments and alcohol consumption.

As they were embroiled in a previous expenses row, Kelly, a member of the GAA’s new strategic review group, said: “If that’s the case, my question is how much attention is being paid to what was in that actual report.”

Welfare isn’t always about the wonga.

It’s tough to keep a winning manager quiet

Notice anything similar between two of the three Division 1 managers who chose not to show solidarity with players in their expenses row and spoke to the media this past weekend? Aside from being good friends, both Jack O’Connor and Seamus McEnaney won. Not only that, theirs were historic triumphs.

O’Connor: “We are just putting emphasis on winning a few matches. Mayo have a fantastic record down here. I think I was involved the last time we beat Mayo (in the league) down here in 2009, that is 13 years ago.”

McEnaney: “We came up here on a mission. Donegal hadn’t been beaten here in 12 years. We have an experienced group of players that value the status of Division One, we won’t be letting go of that mantle easily.”

O’Connor and McEnaney are certainly their own men but they would also appreciate there is no better press than claiming a milestone result, especially when the expectations on the former are considerable and the other had been feeling the pressure after four games without a win.

Given their long associations with the Gaelic Players Association, it was no surprise that winning Armagh and Dublin managers Kieran McGeeney and Dessie Farrell elected to do the same as their players and turn down interviews. Farrell would have been thankful he didn’t have to face the awkward prospect of rejecting the opportunity to speak publicly in the wake of Dublin being relegated.

Pádraic Joyce and John Maughan, victors in Division 2, were happy to give their thoughts, the latter mentioning the positive messages he received from Offaly supporters on Saturday morning prior to travelling to Newry where they won their first game in the division. Another happy and relieved boss Andy McEntee gave a couple of words but only to confirm he was supporting the players.

Venue battle will motivate Antrim

Eight seasons without a home game in the Ulster senior football championship, it would be a terrible decision were Antrim’s quarter-final against Cavan to be moved away from Corrigan Park.

On the basis that the Belfast venue might not be able to accommodate the crowd, Cavan received support from all but Antrim, Derry, and Tyrone in their motion to have the game switched elsewhere. However, there is already a “Newbridge or Nowhere” sense of defiance emerging from Antrim, who were drawn out first and entitled to home advantage, and they are confident of the game being played there come April 23. Kildare and Roscommon’s stances in the past will give them cause for optimism and then there is the fact Cork are hosting Kerry in Páirc Uí Rinn in their Munster SFC semi-final on May 7 due to Páirc Uí Chaoimh being unavailable.

The Kingdom would have been open to the idea of renewing their arrangement with Cork when Páirc Uí Chaoimh was being reconstructed and staging this year’s clash in Fitzgerald Stadium but Cork were not for moving. At a time when they are in a massive rebuilding process of their own, home comforts are necessary for Keith Ricken’s side.

A division behind Antrim, are Cavan’s concerns about Corrigan Park’s suitability genuine or do they fear the prospect of facing Enda McGinley’s team on home soil? Either way, Antrim have their motivation.

Winning has a remarkable track record of loosening the tongue.