Dermot Earley says football format unfair

GPA president Dermot Earley has claimed the current “unfair” All-Ireland senior football championship model would be rejected by Congress if it was put in front of them now.

Describing Friday’s decision by Central Council to withdraw their “B” championship motion as “a victory” for the official players’ body, the former Kildare player said the status quo is unacceptable and must change.

“If you took the championship in its current format and brought it to Congress today and said, ‘let’s vote on this’, there is no way it would pass.

“It’s an unfair system where even if you keep winning one team wins the All-Ireland by playing less games than another.

“The competition starts for one team at a certain time of year and then a month later starts for another. It’s not fair.”

The GPA’s Champions League-style format was rejected by Central Council as it did not include a second-tier championship and proposed more games than the current number. The idea of a “B” competition looks dead now after this past weekend although Earley admitted the GPA might have to return with a more palatable championship blueprint that incentivises the provincial competitions.

“We’re all for keeping the provincial championships and our proposal had that but not linking it to the All-Ireland the way it has been traditionally. Maybe that’s something we might have to look at again because if you take away that there is a want to keep the provincial championships and the leagues so we’ll have to look at that as well but there is a need for change.”

Earley said Carlow’s call for a seeded qualifier system, which received 40% support at Congress on Saturday, “has a lot of merit”. The GPA’s next proposal, he acknowledges, may have to carry less games than their original and avoid the potential for more one-sided matches than is currently the case.

“We never said this was the one that had to be used but we did think about it an awful lot and the Division 4 teams do want a shot at the big team and that’s the way we are. Everybody is entitled to that shot. We provided that.

“Possibly, there was maybe a round too many – the round to see who plays the top eight. It was another 16 teams. It’s something we could look at again. We’re certainly not finished with this. We will put a working group together. Maybe we need to get a little bit of feedback from administrators with regard to structures because they are the ones that have to fix these club games.”

Meanwhile, Earley has welcomed the introduction of the mark. “As a midfielder personally myself, I’m delighted to see it. I think the midfield over the last six or seven years has become bypassed. We’re seeing a lot of the short kick-outs and as a result midfield has become bypassed. As Jarlath Burns said, it is one of the best skills of the game. It is something the crowds love to see.”