Time to drop pitch presentation plans
The presentation of the Jubilee All-Ireland winners is always a bit special and nostalgic as players from 25 years ago bring memories flooding back. Sunday was particularly special as not alone were we celebrating 125 years since the GAA was founded, but the Jubilee team this year was the centenary All-Ireland winning team from 1984, Cork.
Not everything went as smoothly though on Sunday. The attempt to present the Liam MacCarthy cup on the pitch had to be aborted as the call came out over the loudspeaker to implement Plan B.
Plan A was to present the cup on the pitch, with elaborate and costly plans in place to facilitate this process. We had a specially-designed stage wheeled onto the field, lots of young kids carrying flags, an orange-coloured net fencing and hundreds of stewards in yellow and red who marched to their positions all round the pitch to keep out the crowd. There was also a large Garda involvement. It cost a lot of money.
As well as that there were numerous appeals to the supporters not to come on to the pitch after the game. All this was fine and laudable but 125 years of history can’t be changed overnight and it was here that the GAA slipped up.
There is a tradition of people going onto the field to view the presentation in the Hogan Stand. It is uniquely Irish however, and not a tradition practiced globally.
It’s not legislated for in Ireland; health and safety authorities frown on it, and there have been some close shaves where people’s safety was concerned especially after All-Ireland finals. There would also be concerns about damaging the pitch surface.
For these reasons it was decided to end the practice in Croke Park. But the GAA went the wrong way about it.
There should have been far more consultation and the membership should have been given a say.
As a result, it was not a wise move to try to implement it last Sunday and it wasn’t surprising that it blew up in their faces. Plan A was aborted and Plan B implemented and the cup was present on the Hogan Stand and the adoring fans took over the pitch.
It might be far wiser ahead of the football final to forget about pitch presentations and put more thought and effort into ensuring that risks are minimised as fans come onto the pitch.
