Floodlit games point the way for future

PRESIDENT Sean McCague believes floodlit games could soon be an integral part of the GAA season.

Speaking at yesterday's launch of the Allianz National Football League, he said that the idea of floodlit games had already staked a firm foothold in GAA circles.

“Pairc Uí Rinn may set in motion a new mode of playing games in the future in all four provinces,” Mr McCague said in Dublin. “I feel it may be the way forward for many of our games in years to come.”

McCague added that should a Special Congress be held at the end of the year, he would like to see the issue of fixtures high on the agenda. With the leagues being run in the one calendar year for only the second time, the fear is that poor weather may again force postponements and lead to a backlog of games being run off in a limited amount of time.

Dublin manger Tommy Lyons backed McCague’s statement and warned of the problems ahead. “I can see more club games than county games under lights maybe on Friday nights,” he said. “Lights have been used in soccer for about 12 years now and we have a been a little slow. The downside is the weather in Ireland is not conducive to playing matches at this time of year. You can’t get that many pitches that are playable and that’s another issue.

“Games will hit a crisis point fairly soon. You have lads going away to Australia in mid-October, the qualifier series in hurling and football and it’s a very difficult process to get it all together. We have to keep windows open for clubs because clubs bring players to the counties.”

Lyons also said that the GAA’s disciplinary system was in need of a rethink, pointing out that Ray Cosgrove will be unable to line out this Sunday after being sent off in a club match before Christmas. With the opening of the league programme being moved from October to January, such a system is outmoded, Lyons claimed.

In an open, entertaining and frank discussion on a wide range of issues at yesterday’s press conference, Lyons and Armagh manager Joe Kernan were also asked their views on the perceived imbalance between Divisions 1A and 1B for the league.

The former featured the managers’ own two sides, plus Roscommon, Tyrone, Cork, Kerry, Galway and Donegal. 1B is made up of Kildare, Cavan, Mayo, Sligo, Meath, Laois, Fermanagh and Down - sides with a lot less silverware between them in recent years than those in Division 1A.

“I said it last year and the year before, all Division One teams should be thrown into a hat and drawn out,” Lyons said. “Wouldn’t it be lovely to bring Armagh to Sligo or the Dubs to Enniskillen or Sligo? We need to be energising the league and having teams playing the same sides every year isn’t doing that.”