John Fogarty: Help referees and you help the game

Colm Cooper had enough reason on Twitter to claim on Sunday that 'the standard of refereeing in Gaelic Football at the moment is very worrying'

50 AND OUT: Maurice Deegan officiating the Munster SFC semi-final between Tipp and Limerick in 2020. Deegan had to step away from refereeing after reaching the age limit of 50 last year. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

For all his impassioned oratory about the underage grades at Congress on Saturday, one of, if not the most noteworthy statements by Cork GAA chief executive Kevin O’Donovan was his claim that every Division 2 football team that weekend were effectively playing a championship game.

O’Donovan was making the point in relation to the demands being placed on Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup players' time as they toggled between two masters.