McGuigan bemoans backdoor system

TYRONE legend Frank McGuigan has branded the provincial championships “meaningless” and predicts a dramatic drop in attendances next year when the four competitions resume.

The former All Star’s words echo those made by Mickey Harte in recent weeks but McGuigan’s insistence that it is not “sour grapes” after his county’s exit is buttressed by the fact that he has made similar statements about the back door before.

This is the first year in which none of the provincial champions made it into the All-Ireland semi-finals and that in turn followed a weekend in which all four provincial runners-up were eliminated in their subsequent qualifier.

“I was never a fan of the back door and I have said this before. When the guys who brought it in sat down to draw it up it was automatically flawed because only 28 teams were offered a second chance.

“None of the provincial winners got that chance. Anyone knows that you get that momentum through the back door it can be awfully hard to stop and we have seen that this year.

“Louth hammered Kildare, Tyrone hammered Down and yet Kildare and Down are the ones in the All-Ireland semi-final this weekend.”

The lack of a second chance for provincial champions has been defended by Croke Park on the basis that the All-Ireland series is a separate competition to the provincial campaigns but McGuigan doesn’t buy that.

“They are coming up with answers and I don’t agree with it. Look at it this way, who next year will go to provincial championship matches? They don’t mean nothing. They are absolutely meaningless.

“People are going to stop and say ‘it is €50 to get in to a provincial championship match and then maybe more again for my wife and kids but they don’t mean anything so why should I go?’ This is where the GAA is going to find out that they are wrong, next year when people don’t go to provincial championship matches, and I think that is going to happen.”

Tyrone’s ongoing success at underage levels continued last Sunday when the minors reached the All-Ireland final but Harte has been criticised for sticking with the core of players which has served him so well since 2003.

“I hear people talking about this conveyor belt but what has come through this last five years? How many minors have come through and claimed a permanent place on the team? There are none.’’