League matters

ANOTHER Allianz Football league practically over, and what have we learned?

Just nine short weeks ago, 33 teams set out at the start of the front-line competitive season and phase one of same will end for three quarter of those teams tomorrow. For the eight teams — Dublin and Roscommon being the only absolute certainties — that will contest league finals in a fortnight’s time, the spring series can already be deemed a success yet we brace ourselves for the “it’s only the league” chorus over the next few days.

The existential debate brought about by the beginning and end of the national football league each year is one of the great curiosities of the GAA world, yet the integrity of NFL 2011 cannot be questioned, with 23 of the top 24 teams left with something to play for this weekend.