Exciting U21 grade should be cherished, not destroyed

In football there always seems to be someone giving out about football, writes Kieran Shannon. 

While in hurling everyone was satisfied after a rollicking league semi-final double bill attended by less than 17,000 people, big ball commentators were bemoaning that ‘only’ 20,000 made it to its rather entertaining league semi-final fare, even questioning the rationale of the fixture.

While hurling is excited about a league final featuring an emerging Waterford team that didn’t even play in this spring’s top division, some football pundits have taken last Sunday in Croke Park as further advancing the case of scrapping league finals altogether, rather than mere and more proof we’re witnessing a very special team in Dublin.