English: battle to pass new championship format

FORMER Tipperary star and All-Ireland-winning manager Nickey English fears that it may be ‘a struggle’ for the amended structure of the senior hurling championship for the next three years to get through next weekend’s Special Congress in Croke Park.

Speaking as a member of the Hurling Development Committee, he said yesterday that it was ‘the right thing’ for Galway — and Antrim — to do.

The obvious benefit, he said was that the two counties would have competitive games around the same time as the other counties in the running for the Liam MacCarthy Cup. “As always in the GAA you have lots of people who think about their own sphere of activity first and what impacts on them and that’s disappointing. I hope it goes through, but to me it looks like it will struggle.