Black card is here to stay

Managers have succeeded in beating away changes to the playing rules going back to 2005, but there’s nothing experimental about the black card.

It’s here to stay unlike the ill-fated sin bin in 2005 and the updated “yellow peril” version of it in 2009, which died a death in both codes.

The latter effort by director of games development Pat Daly and current GAA president Liam O’Neill, then head of the task force which proposed the disciplinary measure, was just 2% shy of being passed at Congress that year.

At the time, Daly pointed to concerns about consistency among referees and the fear of junior clubs about it being implemented properly as the reasons for its failure to receive the necessary two-third support.

It was a marked improvement on 2005 when the 10-minute rugby-like sin bin lasted only for the pre-season competitions before being ditched after an outpouring of opposition from inter-county managers in both codes.

Instead, for that year’s National League players who were yellow carded could be replaced (basically what was reintroduced in ’09) but that alteration was scrapped following the competition, never making it to the Clár of that year’s Congress.

In 2010, a variety of experimental changes in both codes were introduced for the leagues which included in football the mark from restarts, the end to the open-handed hand-pass, penalty kicks being taken from 11 metres out as opposed to 13m, all kick-outs being taken from 13m line, the alteration to the square ball rule and half and full time not being called until the ball had gone dead. Only the penalties and kickouts were passed at Congress.

A clearer change to the square ball rule was later passed following the creation of a standing rules committee who can propose changes annually.

2015 is an experimental playing rules year, which might afford the GAA to chance to trial the black card and advantage rule in hurling.