Future looks dim for Friday night lights

The head of the GAA’s players body believes the concept of Friday night championship games is not yet dead in the water, despite Páraic Duffy’s assertion the experiment is “unlikely to be repeated”.

The decision to fix an All-Ireland football qualifier between Laois and Carlow for a Friday night last June was criticised for the demands placed on players trying to balance work commitments.

Duffy’s negative outlook for the Friday-night fixture stemmed directly from the thorny question of compensation for players, which the GAA would be unwilling to contemplate.