Cooney says hurling top flight won’t be expanded

GAA president Christy Cooney has ruled out the possibility of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 being expanded for next year.

Speaking at the AIB provincial club player awards ceremony in Dublin yesterday, Cooney explained Croke Park are not planning to revert to the enlarged top-flight of the mid-Noughties.

It had been intimated the Central Competitions Control Committee would endorse a 12- or 14-team league, possibly split into two groups, as had previously been the case.

However, Cooney flatly dismissed any suggestion the GAA are looking to change the make-up of the current eight-team top flight, aside from recommending semi-finals in 2012.

“The intention is that we would hope to have semi-finals in hurling and football (in Division 1),” said Cooney. “We haven’t gone beyond that yet, we haven’t any massive suggestions about a 14-team Division 1 and changes in the structure of the divisions.

“After Congress we will be coming forward with a fairly significant hurling plan and the development of hurling.

“We have to finalise it yet, it has to go back to Coiste Bainisti again for approval at Central Council. Pat Daly, Liam O’Neill and the committee are doing some more work on it.”

Cooney explained they are especially looking for the introduction of semi-finals in Division 1 after the number of dead rubbers in the final round of the league proper last year.

Cooney also expressed his hope the forthcoming Central Council motion to bring an end to time-based suspensions at inter-county level and replace them with match-specific ones might also be considered at club level if it is passed and then deemed a success.

“While it’s the intention of the motion to put it in place at inter-county, there’s a challenge for putting it at club level if it works well. We’d like to have our suspensions uniform in the rule book and not have it that it’s one for inter-county and one for club.

“Let’s see if Congress make a decision to make a change and if they do so then we’ll try it for two years probably and then see can we adopt it at club level.”

Despite the modest attendances at this past weekend’s hurling league games, Cooney anticipates crowd numbers will be up this year due to the Dublin Spring Series in Croke Park.

“Overall, I’m not too sure whether the trend is any different to previous years. It’s a bit early to say that but by and large with the sale of our season tickets we’re not expecting a drop in numbers, in actual fact.

“Probably with the success of the Dublin initiative, the numbers will be up at the end of the year.

“We haven’t had 35,000 or 23,000 at an early season National League match so overall I would say our numbers will probably be up but how they break up between hurling and football I don’t know.”

Cooney also dismissed calls for the Sigerson Cup to be played off before Christmas to cut the fixtures jam.

“It is not practical to play it before Christmas. It is just not possible, in my view, to run the competition any earlier than it is.”

Cooney also said the GAA have yet to decide when Hawk-Eye will be trialed, although he pointed out it would probably be “one of the Dublin games”.

*Cooney was speaking at the 15th annual AIB club provincial player awards in Dublin’s RDS yesterday. The winners were: Football — Ulster (Oisín McConville, Crossmaglen, fifth award); Connacht (Frankie Dolan, St Brigid’s); Munster (David Niblock, Nemo Rangers), Leinster (Brian Kavanagh, Kilmacud Crokes). Hurling — Munster (Kevin Moran, De La Salle); Leinster (Mark Bergin, O’Loughlin Gaels); Ulster (Liam Watson, Loughgiel Shamrocks).