Clancy: Seeding a kick in teeth for minnows

Former Clare defender Seamus Clancy says a return to a seeded Munster SFC would be “a kick in the teeth” for the province’s smaller football counties.

The 1992 Munster winner was responding to confirmation that the provincial council have asked counties to consider returning to the system of keeping Cork and Kerry on different sides of the draw.

Munster chairman Seán Walsh explained counties have been told to discuss it at their monthly meetingsbefore a vote is taken in August or September, ahead of the 2013 provincial draw in October.

“It came up for discussion in relation to our budgets. When Kerry and Cork aren’t in a Munster final our budgets are very different for the year.

“It came about by way of a discussion in relation to that and the amount of monies that are going to be available to the counties if we keep up with this practice of not separating Kerry and Cork.”

Hoping to repeat the heroics of the team Clancy was part of in ’92, Micheál McDermott’s Clare have reached their first Munster SFC final in 12 years and face Cork on July 8.

Clancy admits the Banner County’s task of winning a Munster title is already onerous without the prospect of having to beat both Cork and Kerry.

“We are in Division 4 in the league and our goal this year was to win a Munster title. To do that this year, we had to beat Cork or Kerry. The chances of us or any team in Ireland beating Cork and Kerry one after another are long.

“Could you imagine Donegal, for example. As good as they are, what would their chances be of beating one of them and then the other a few weeks later? Slim enough.

“Clare have got to a Munster final this year on merit and they believe they have one crack at it. If they play well on the day and have a bit of luck they can pull off a Munster title.

“But if they were to play Kerry a few weeks later, it would be difficult. I think the whole championship should be an open draw, anyway. Give everyone a fair chance.”

Walsh stresses the decision is entirely one for the counties to make but pointed out counties’ funding is dependent on big-draw Munster finals — namely Cork and Kerry.

“There’s no question about it. We had 41,000 people in Killarney last year. At this point in time, we haven’t a clue about what we’re going to have for this year’s Munster final between Cork and Clare. From that point of view, for planning and budget purposes, we’re asking counties to discuss it and then come back to us and we’ll all discuss it together.”

Both Leinster championships are already seeded, with Dublin in football and Kilkenny in hurling earning byes to the quarter-final and semi-final stages respectively. However, Clancy argued gate receipts shouldn’t be a determining factor in how a provincial championship is structured.

“Money seems to rule everything. Why does it have to rule our own true sport, our native game?

“Money is ruling soccer, it’s ruling rugby but why can’t we stay clear of that? Why do we have to be ruled by it?

“You’re paying €30 for a stand ticket into a Munster final and no player on the pitch is getting paid. All the grounds are owned by the GAA.

“In England in the Premier League, you pay £30 or £40 and most players are getting between £50,000 and £150,000.

“I know the costs of running inter-county teams are big but the attendances haven’t been great this year. It would be much better for the GAA to have bigger crowds than less money.”

The Munster SFC draw had been seeded before 1991 and was restored for the 2007 and ’08 seasons.