Gooch testimonial fuss: How long would it take some managers to pocket the same?
I’ve had an image in my head since the day I heard about Colm Cooper’s impending testimonial event.
He’s wearing a tux, sitting at a table on his own with a big can in front of him. His picture is on the side of it, with big bold writing; “First ever GAA testimonial — open with caution”.
Inside the can, probably even unbeknownst to himself at the time, were more worms than you’d find in a fisherman’s bait box.
Testimonials are a funny business. The original idea was where a club would host a ‘friendly’ game in honour of a player who had given 10 or more years’ service to the same club.
It began when professional soccer players in leagues in the UK and South America weren’t making even remotely close to the kind of inflated money they are raking in now, and the testimonial was an opportunity for the club to say ‘thank you’ by giving all proceeds raised on the night directly to the player as a type of parachute payment for their fall into their non-playing afterlife.
The emphasis has shifted dramatically in more recent times, and with the influx of big money into of soccer and rugby, the big-name stars now tend to donate their testimonial money to a worthy charity who are much more desperate for the funds.
Niall Quinn for example, donated his entire testimonial proceeds to charity. The vast majority of more than £1 million raised went directly to children’s hospitals in Dublin and London.
England’s World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson had his testimonial match at Twickenham back in 2005, and again, the monies raised went to children’s and cancer charities.
Ronan O’Gara had no less than two testimonial dinners, one in his native Cork and another at the Hilton Hotel in London. Proceeds raised were given to charity, and with close to 900 tickets sold for the London event with tables of 10 ranging from £3000-£5000, it was a nice touch for worthy charities involved.
Effectively, testimonials have become opportunities for clubs and high-profile, well-paid sports stars to display their philanthropy after a career of earning a hefty wage off the back of their sporting prowess.
Colm Cooper is the first amateur we’ve seen in the GAA world to venture into this territory and he’s getting serious stick from some quarters for it. As a general concept, I should say I don’t really have much of a problem with him doing it.
And that’s not a Kerry thing, if it was Henry Shefflin last year, I’d have said the same. We’re not talking about your better than average inter-county players here — these are the icons of the modern GAA.
Sure, it may be perceived by some as being greedy on his part, he’s had plenty of endorsements down through the years and so on.
But it should also be pointed out, that after consultation with Croke Park, it is clear that he’s doing absolutely nothing wrong under the laws of the association (Rule 1.10 — addressing the amateur nature of our games).
The only real issue I have with the whole thing is the ambiguity surrounding exactly how much is going to the two charities associated with the night.
I’m sure it will come, but his handlers, or whoever is giving him counsel, should have had that squared off before the initial announcement of the event.
In my view, there should be no blurring of the lines between charity and accumulation of personal wealth. In today’s Ireland, people want transparency when it comes to events associated with charity, and rightly so.
There are very few GAA figures in the modern era who could attract the type of corporate audience that will fill the tables for the expensive dinner.
For me, the testimonial is just the next level up from the high-profile GAA players cashing in their chips at the end of their playing career with a tell-all (or at least tell-some) autobiography of their football life. Like flying in business or first class, there are levels to everything.
How many books do we get every Christmas from retiring players? In most cases, those books are written by professional journalists who take their cut, while the player pockets a chunk of the rest.
Not quite testimonial money, granted, but what’s the difference?
Gooch is getting flak because his testimonial is being perceived to ruffle the feathers of the GAA’s ethos of amateurism.
But do the autobiographies not do the same? And while I’m on it, this rather idealistic notion of the GAA remaining true to its original culture of pure volunteerism is laughable at this stage, especially (though not exclusively) when it comes to the inter-county game.
Let’s just say, for argument sake (and I have absolutely no idea what he’ll take home), Gooch pockets €100,000 from his black-tie event celebrating his iconic career.
That’s a lot of money by most people’s standards. But think about it, how many years do you reckon it would take some of the managers on the inter-county circuit to make that kind of tax-free cash? Three or four years? Maybe less?
Of course, not all managers, coaches, and strength and conditioning guys are getting paid for doing the job, but if you genuinely believe the myth perpetrated by some, that they all do it simply for the love of the game, I would respectfully suggest you need to go to a library and rent a copy of Little Red Riding Hood.
Are those managers and coaches, some of whom are taking county boards for a ride, more deserving of money than Colm?
A guy who has given more to the game and the association than most, by virtue of the incredible talent and football intelligence he displayed most every time he wore the green and gold and lit up Fitzgerald Stadium, Croke Park or beyond? How many kids did he inspire to play the game, or to practice to get better?
If I was in his position, I think it would be a fantastic gesture, and great PR, if he was to cut a cheque to his club as a thank you for the endless hours of work that went into helping him to become the player he did.
And also, given the exposure afforded to him while playing with Kerry, it would be a wonderful touch to throw some money towards the new state-of-the-art centre of excellence in Currans, specifically designed to enhance the development of future Kerry footballers.
It’s impossible to quantify in monetary terms just how much he has meant to Kerry and to the association in general throughout his time playing.
Cooper made the game more attractive for everybody to want to watch and play, and I have no major misgivings with his people tapping into corporate Ireland to secure whatever comes his way.
If he can take one of those worms and put it on a hook, and go make a significant amount of money for himself, to help pay off his mortgage or to put towards anything else he sees fit, I say good luck to him.
And for two worthy charities to benefit off the back of it, better again.
Far be it from me to begrudge a once-in-a-generation player a once-in-a-lifetime catch, especially when plenty of others are doing something similar under various guises in the GAA without a word about it.
