All-Ireland winning manager Dr Pat O’Neill says home and away league model way to go

Dublin’s 1995 All-Ireland winning manager Dr Pat O’Neill says it’s time the GAA considered incorporating a home and away league model into the All-Ireland senior football championship.

As Central Council today contemplate withdrawing the All-Ireland “B” championship proposal and with uncertainty about support for the Carlow and Roscommon motions, attention is already being turned to the alternatives to the current system. O’Neill shares the GPA’s concerns about the training-to-game ratio and argues there should be more matches in the championship without impacting on club fixtures.

“I think the championship format with the backdoor has got a bit tired now. I look at the European club rugby and soccer competitions and pools of four with home and away is a structure that has worked in those capacities.

“A league championship and then going back to a knockout for the All-Ireland and bringing in the four provincial winners against the winners of these pods may work.

“It would give more games and balance. It’s certainly worth thinking about it but, as they say, it’s only an opinion.”

Adding more games would work to combat the grossly one-sided training-to-game ratio that currently exists, says O’Neill. “By increasing the number of games, you will bring it (training) down because all this has to take place within a timeframe. I think it’s been highlighted by commentators we need a structured calendar for games. They always make this argument in soccer and rugby and other sports that they have a calendar and say ‘right, I’m going to be involved on this day and that day’.

“This particularly applies to the club sides, which is of course the biggest side of the GAA. It’s not all about the top six or seven inter-county teams.”

O’Neill’s native county are faced with the prospect of senior and intermediate football championships being run off over a small period of time later in the year. It’s far from ideal, being put off for so long, but O’Neill believes the footballers will enjoy playing several games over a shorter timeframe.

“It’s obviously being done to facilitate Dublin’s participation in the championship but it used to be structured, certainly when Kevin Heffernan was around, that the championship was run early in the year and it was down to semi-finals before Dublin were involved in the business end of the championship. That was a knockout championship as well. The players love playing so maybe it might be a good thing. If you’ve two matches in a week, you won’t be able to train. Certainly nothing serious anyway.”