Gilroy calls for change

HIS county may have won six of the last seven Leinster SFC titles but Pat Gilroy believes that the provincial championships have had their day and should be replaced by a more equitable system.

The Dublin manager isn’t the first high-profile figure to state the need for a radical overhaul of the All-Ireland championship but he is realistic enough to know that the association’s adherence to tradition will prevent such seismic events in the foreseeable future.

“The provincial championships are struggling in terms of their appeal but you get used to the system and what you have to play,” he said yesterday. “So, from a Dublin perspective, I amreasonably comfortable with knowing how we want to navigate the year. But I do think that four groups of eight would make a lot of sense. It seemsunfair that some teams could play two games and make a quarter-final andother teams could play four and still not get there. So four groups of eight would seem to make sense.

“Tradition is an important thingwithin the GAA so it isn’t something that I see changing in the short-term.”

Voices from Ulster have been particularly scathing of that state of affairs in the past and, like Gilroy, their fingers have been more often than not pointed at Munster where Cork and Kerry can book their spots in the last eight after just 140 minutes of football. Yet, systems aside, Gilroy believes Kerry are still the side to beat.

“They are definitely the benchmark. We were just lucky this year and we’ll have to push it on next year. Kerry have been there for 10 or 12 years and they played one of their best finals against us. We just caught them at the death.

“There is a load coming behind as well that have really improved likeKildare, Meath, Donegal and Mayo. I know Tyrone haven’t won it for the last few years but I wouldn’t discount them from the equation or the likes of Derry. There are a lot of teams that have built up a large head of steam in 2011 but Kerry are the benchmark.”

Cork too, will have something to say about that next year and Dublin will learn some lessons from the Rebels’failure to go beyond the quarter-finals this year. Conformation that Gilroy will stay on is a significant first step.

“All the players wanted him to stay on and the general consensus was that one All-Ireland was great but we want more than one,” said midfielder EamonFennell. “We always dreamt of winning an All-Ireland. We achieved that, now let’s see what else we can achieve.”

Meanwhile Jim McGuinness has urged the Donegal county board to take more consideration when organising clubfixtures next year. The Donegalmanager requested a postponement in club championship in July as he readied his panel for the Ulster final against Derry. However, the CCC(Competition Controls Committee) stated the county’s calendar could not accommodate any delay and the club championship continued.

McGuinness’s concerns came to fruition when Naomh Conaill ofGlenties’ Leo McLoone sustained afractured eye socket in a first roundsecond leg tie against eventual county champions Glenswilly in an aftermatch brawl.

“I felt that the scheduling of the club championship wasn’t fair,” McGuinness said during his annual report that took place on Monday night in Ballybofey at a bi-monthly meeting of countycommittee.

“I asked for it to be called off and we could have played the league. That wasn’t given kudos from the CCC and, as a result of something that happened after the Naomh Conaill-Glenswilly game, we lost Leo McLoone. That was disappointing for Leo more so thananyone else. I’d like to meet clubs in the next number of months to sit down and, should it take four, five or six hours, work out a framework that everyone would be happy with. For next year, we will again propose midweek league fixtures when thecolleges are finished.”