McCloskey says college links have driven standards

Renowned Gaelic football coach John McCloskey believes the game is advancing significantly because of the strong links between third level institutions and county teams.

The 2002 All-Ireland winning coach, who is again assisting Joe Kernan with Ireland’s International Rules team, feels the relationships puts it far ahead of soccer in terms of evolution as a sport.

“The game at home is benefitting from a lot of research at university level and there are close ties with some of the counties. What goes on in professional sports tends to seep into our game. In the last few years though, what has been great is that research specific to our game through PhD and Masters is now informing the professional game.