Croke Park on Patrick’s Day trumps the lot for club players
The ad isn’t lying. The All-Ireland Club championship final is The Toughest, to win, or to even reach. Yet The Toughest is the most romantic too. Few GAA terms can stir the emotions quite like the mention and dream of “being there in September” but, for anyone connected to the club game, the image of “running out onto Croker on Paddy’s Day” trumps even that.
Of course both phrases and dates are under threat. Over the winter, a fixtures task force featuring big hitters like Paraic Duffy, Liam O’Neill and Donal Óg Cusack recommended that the All-Ireland hurling final be moved to August, and the club final be played in December to streamline all competitions into the one calendar year.
