One-club rule must be applied across the board

THERE are several compelling reasons why UCD, or indeed any other third-level college, should not be involved in club competition of any kind.

The overriding reason is the most obvious, they are the only team in the competition whose players are allowed to play with different clubs in different counties.

UCD won the Dublin senior hurling championship without a single Dublin player on the team; every one of their players also played in their home county championships. In no other instance is that allowed.

UCD went on to defeat Birr and Oulart-the-Ballagh, two outstanding but genuine club teams; for the latter win, on Sunday last, UCD’s starting 15 was made up of six from Tipperary, three from Kilkenny, one each from Laois, Cork, Limerick, Offaly, Waterford and Wexford; they brought on two subs, one from Wexford and one from Limerick. They had several other inter-county stars warming the pine, every one of those players, on and off the pitch, just coming into their prime. As coach, they can afford to have Tipperary manager Babs Keating, one of the most respected hurling men in the business; on campus, they have every facility, facilities most genuine clubs can only fantasise about.

There was a time, decades ago, when third-level education was the exception rather than the rule in Irish society; that is no longer the case. Now, student numbers having increased out of sight, the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups (latter stages especially), are played at a level that would match the inter-county championship at its most intense, teams from most colleges made up almost entirely of inter-county stars. With the influx of new blood every year, ready-made stars, they have a massive advantage over the ordinary club side, who must make up the numbers from within their own ranks. More galling is the fact that even when their college days are over, their hurling days with the college are not, as is the case with Stephen Lucey with UCD, currently doing his internship.

There is no doubt the college teams, have the usual club spirit, that they train as hard, work as hard, commit as much, die for each other, etc. etc. That’s not the point. The crux of this problem is that there is one rule for the colleges, another rule for everyone else. Remove that aberration, have the college players make a choice, home club or college, and then let them play; the current practice, however, is patently, blatantly, wrong. Level the playing field, apply the GAA one-club rule across the board; then let’s see how the colleges fare in the club championship.

Startling (but possible) scenario: UCC meet UCD in both hurling and football All-Ireland club finals. Croke Park? You wouldn’t fill a bus to the place.