Flanagan urges GAA to share wealth with weak

Former Westmeath star Martin Flanagan believes Dublin’s financial clout could see them dominate Gaelic Football for years.

And Flanagan, one of Westmeath’s finest ever players, has urged GAA chiefs to provide urgent financial assistance for struggling counties.

Flanagan is alarmed by the staggering gulf between Dublin and many of their opponents – particularly in Leinster.

The Dubs signed a multi-million euro sponsorship deal with AIG last year and have already romped to Allianz League and Cadbury All-Ireland U21 success this season alone.

Flanagan admitted: “It’s probably an unfair advantage but is there much you can do about it?

“I don’t see any way out for the smaller counties, I don’t know how it’s going to be improved upon. Croke Park are just going to have to give more money to the smaller counties to develop.

“Dublin are just a machine, between the sponsorship, calibre of players and pick they have. And their senior club championship is so competitive. They’re just streets ahead of the weaker teams.”

Flanagan, who retired from inter-county football in 2010, admitted Westmeath’s relegation from Division 1 should have come as no surprise.

He added: “It didn’t matter who took over this year – whether they needed anyone or not is another question – going into Division 1 was always going to be tough.

“It’s going to be hard for them to come straight back down again but they would have learned from playing good teams.”

Flanagan, who is still playing club football with Tyrrellspass, is in charge of the Westmeath ladies football team contesting Saturday’s Tesco Homegrown Division 2 National League final against Galway at Parnell Park.

Promotion to the top flight beckons for a side that won the Division 4 crown just three years ago and Flanagan believes his players would cope with jumping up another division.

He said: “If you win the final, you have to be ready for it. Would we want another year in Division 2 for progress? It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen.

“You can’t turn around and say you don’t want to be in Division 1, playing against the top teams. Maybe we’re not ready for it but we’ll take it if we get it.”

“But Galway are a Division 1 side as far as I can see. It’s going to be really tough. They beat us by eight or nine points in the group phase so we have that gap to try and make up.”