Cats question wisdom of bank holiday game
Like Cork and Tipperary, the All-Ireland champions have just two home games in Division 1A next year and the first of them falls on Monday, March 18, when they entertain Waterford.
“It’s the reverse of last year’s fixtures and we knew that was coming,” acknowledged Kinsella. “The only point I’d make about it is purely from a financial point of view. We have one of the best home attendance records and having our first game at home on a bank holiday Monday is not a great way of generating revenue.
“When you’re constantly looking for funds locally, two games at home in the whole year is not a help.”
Kinsella reiterated Kilkenny’s opposition to the current league format, which guarantees five of the six teams in Division 1A a minimum of six games.
“Our view hasn’t changed in that regard. We believe there should be two groups of eight. We all want to make hurling a better community but that can be done without making it even smaller than it already is.”
St Patrick’s Day weekend next year will see three days of top level GAA action, with football and hurling league games taking place the day before and after the All-Ireland senior club final on the Sunday.
GAA director of games administration and player welfare Feargal McGill explained the reasoning.
“A number of fixtures have to be played that weekend as well as the hurling and football club finals which take place on the Sunday because the 17th falls on it next year.
“The Saturday is predominantly football and the floodlights have a lot to do with that and it’s not necessarily something you can do in all prominent hurling counties.
“Monday has a lot of hurling games but as it’s not a bank holiday in the North the games involving those teams take place on the Saturday.”
McGill said Croke Park will wait to hear what venues Kildare propose for their home games and talk to the GAA’s safety and infrastructure committee before deciding if Newbridge is fit to stage the footballers’ Division 1 games.
Kildare chairman John McMahon said he is hopeful their four home fixtures will be staged in St Conleth’s Park despite them having to move their qualifier against Limerick this year to Portlaoise due to revised capacity issues.
“It’s our intention to hold our game in Newbridge,” said McMahon, who added that the county board aim to increase the venue’s capacity back to over 8,000 but warning it “has to be within the realms of health and safety”.
McGill added the league fixtures plan is still a draft one and they will wait for feedback from counties before finalising them.
Central Council are also set to make a decision on the future of the Inter-provincial Series.
Like last year, a week’s gap has been left in the inter-county calendar in February although there is speculation the competition could be moved to the autumn.
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