Time to get to grips with fixtures headache
Throw in a demanding county manager under pressure to deliver results and the job becomes virtually impossible.
It’s something often criticised but the solutions are never properly debated because it’s a minefield. Fixture scheduling at club level, like many other things, is a problem within that has been allowed to ramble on. Fingers point at fixture secretaries but everyone must share the blame for this perennial headache.
Every county fixture committee draughts up a master fixtures schedule every year that, if left alone, would likely run to plan. Difficulties arise when clubs, individuals and county managers serve their own interests and use leverage to get fixtures changed when it suits and if we all look within our clubs we can recall times requests for fixture changes were put in.
Using any by-law or excuse available, clubs frequently request changes and complain they are still playing when Santa is preparing his naughty or nice list.
The GAA strategic vision and action plan 2009-2015 puts forward some excellent initiatives. Unfortunately in the Games Schedule section there is little recognition of the actual problems which, unless addressed, will prevent this impasse from ever being resolved.
It’s hard not to sympathise with Donegal’s Jim McGuinness after Leo McCloone’s horrific injury in the club championship when the manager had requested they be called off.
However, in order to facilitate Jimmy and his 30 players, the efforts and consideration of around a dozen clubs and 300 club players would have to be discounted.
Similar conflicts arose in Monaghan in recent years. Extended championship runs rendered the fixtures booklet useless and league football in November and December became the norm. Speaking with many club players during that time, while they fully supported the county team, there was an element of discontent and resentment.
It was an impossible task for the fixtures committee. They wanted to meet deadlines but did not want to jeopardise the county team’s progress that had such a positive impact on the development of the games in Monaghan.
Players don’t want to get involved in conflicts between managers and county boards. But they want to give the same commitment to their club as to their county. It’s not unreasonable to expect they could focus on one competition at a time.
Rugby gives us the example to follow. The IRFU balances country and provincial competitions so players are not compromised.
How? It’s quite simple. Both seasons never overlap. Autumn internationals and the Six Nations bookend the group stages of the Heineken Cup. After the Six Nations is completed, players return to the clubs. No conflicts of interest, no fixture scheduling problems, an adequate number of meaningful competitive games for both codes and a season that starts and finishes within 12 months allowing adequate time for rest and recuperation.
Is there any reason why the GAA can’t adopt rugby’s approach? I have outlined a blueprint of how I think a master schedule, encompassing both club and inter-county competitive structures, could look. It’s not the finished article but it goes a long way to address the problems that exist within the game at present.
* January is dedicated to pre-season training for all teams and competitions are scrapped. Winter training ban upheld and enforced.
* February to mid-April provincial championships retained and played on round robin basis. Minimum groups of four teams, culminating with knockout system. Ran over 10-week period. Finishing place determines your seeding rank for the All-Ireland series.
* Inter-county players return to clubs once their participation in the provincial championship ends (see club season).
* Beginning in June the All-Ireland round robin system is based on seedings from provincial championships. Six groups of six teams, single league with each team guaranteed at least two home fixtures. Group games played over six-week period with two-week gap after the third round.
* Top 16 teams, ie top two in each group plus four best third-place finishers qualify to compete in knockout series for Sam Maguire.
* Bottom 16 compete in secondary knockout competition.
* All-Ireland series runs uninterrupted from June until finals in mid-August.
* All club competition structures are standardised. Championships are run on a round robin basis with groups of four to five teams.
* Final stages of competition are run off in knockout format based on group placing as are relegation deciders.
* Between the end of provincial championships and beginning of All-Ireland series, clubs play at least three rounds of group stage games.
* Whenever county team is eliminated from All-Ireland series remainder of the championship can be completed.
* Club leagues are ongoing throughout the year independent of inter-county season. Promotion and relegation between divisions is only determined by your championship performance. Leagues do not finish with semi-finals or final, just final table standing and are to be completed by the end of October.
* Provincial and All-Ireland club competitions are run off on a week by week basis and completed by early December with finals played under lights in Croke Park
* U21 and minor grades are scrapped and replaced with U19 grade with players not allowed to play with senior team until they are over 19.
* Inter-varsity competitions completed before end of December. Finals reverting to traditional weekend format.
* No replays except finals. All group stage games finish within 70 minutes. Knockout fixtures go to extra time and penalties if required.
* Extra point awarded in group stages for scoring three or more goals.
* All inter-county players provided with a minimum of at least 10 meaningful competitive games, half of which to be played in summer months.
* Eliminates club and county fixture conflicts.
* Clubs provided with workable schedule and full access to inter-county players for championship fixtures. Uninterrupted league schedule will keep ‘Joe Club’ with regular competitive activity throughout the year.
* All competitions completed within calendar year.
* Adequate break for both county and club players.
Obviously there are anomalies and gaps in the above proposal but due to the confines of space in a column we can’t go into them. But this system could run trouble-free in most counties and would go a long way to answering many problems facing the modern-day player.
