John Fogarty: End of the football league as we know it?

This April 17 of the 32 teams participating in the league are in provincial action seven or eight days after league deciders

REIGNING CHAMPS: David Clifford lifts the Allianz League Division 1 trophy after their win over Mayo in 2022. Kerry always taken the league seriously under Jack O’Connor but some counties have other priorities. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Tue, 24 Jan, 2023 - 07:15

John Fogarty

John Fogarty is the Irish Examiner’s GAA correspondent, with unique insights into the action on the pitch and in the Gaelic games’ corridors of power.

Last August, Connacht secretary John Prenty went on a run dragging behind him a big kite. One of the most respected GAA officials and a member of the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC), Prenty questioned the need for finals in the Allianz Football League.

“Who is interested in winning it?” he opened to the Irish Independent. “If you look at the way Mayo treated their league final (they lost to Kerry by 15 points three weeks out from their Connacht opener v Galway). It is too close to playing the first round of the championship. How many leagues in the world finish up with that?”