Patrick Kelly may switch clubs to continue playing with Kerry
Star Kerry midfielder and former All-Ireland medallist Patrick Kelly remains ineligible to play for his adopted county just weeks away from the start of the season.
New Kingdom boss Ciaran Carey may have fancied building a team around the Clare man, who played a key role in their Christy Ring Cup triumph as well as promotion to Division 1B of the Allianz League.
But having effectively been on loan from Clare, something allowed under Rule 6.9 of the GAA’s Official Guide, he is no longer permitted to play for Kerry after being promoted to the same league and championship status.
Banner boss Davy Fitzgerald confirmed a 34-man provisional Clare panel back in October, and Clarecastle club man Kelly wasn’t included.
Kerry sources indicated that while no club transfer has yet been applied for, Kelly has considered the idea and could yet apply for a switch to a Kingdom side in January.
“The situation at present is that unless he transfers, he cannot play for Kerry,” said the source. “As regards transferring in, nobody knows of anything concrete but a lot of those things are dealt with in the new year anyway. As things stand though, yeah, he is ineligible.”
Clare GAA chairman Michael McDonagh has previously stated he had no problem with Kelly continuing to play for Kerry, as long he hadn’t been called up in Clare.
Also set to miss out next season is exciting Waterford U21 goalkeeper Billy Nolan, who will not be allowed continue with the team next year because of a new GAA rule set to come into operation on January 1. At the age of 16, prodigy Nolan lined out between the sticks for the U21s’ in the Munster championship quarter-final win over Cork in June but was injured for the semi-final defeat to Clare. He has since turned 17 but from next month, all U21 players at inter-county level must be over 18 years and U21.
The motion, recommended by the rules advisory and minor review committee, was passed at last February’s Congress. At club level, players over 16 and under 21 are eligible for U21. Only over 18s will be permitted to line out at adult inter-county level; for clubs a player must be over 17 to play adult. Several players will face similar predicaments to Nolan next year. Already, a number of board officials have questioned their repercussions such as the impact on rural clubs.
Speaking earlier this week, Limerick chairman Oliver Mann feared the introduction of the rule prohibiting U17s from lining out at adult club level could cause difficulties for divisional competitions. “Will we see more clubs looking to field combined teams and perhaps others reducing the number of adult teams they field?”
Former Kerry star Pat Spillane recently condemned the same rule, reasoning it will negatively affect rural outfits: “An U16 not being able to play senior football – that to many little, small rural clubs means they’re unable to field a team because sometimes you have to put an U16 on the senior team.
“The rule which limited girls playing with boys up to a certain age was a death knell for a lot of little juvenile rural clubs because it meant when your four or five girls were gone after U12 or U14 or U16 you lost them and then it meant you were amalgamating. Rule changes, which probably came in for health and safety grounds, are sometimes counterproductive and are destroying little rural clubs.”
