Players speak out against Friday night game

The GAA's decision to break new ground by hosting a Friday night fixture in the first round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers next week has been criticised by some of the players who will be involved in the game.

Yesterday's draw for the qualifiers paired Carlow and Laois together and the GAA have decided to use the Leinster derby to make history, staging their first ever Friday night Championship game at Dr. Cullen Park on Friday week (throw-in 7.45pm).

However, Carlow captain Brian Murphy has blasted the Association for their fixture scheduling, telling the Irish Sun: "It just shows what they think of the match. We have fellas working up in Dublin, they have to try and get down for a 7.45pm throw-in.

"It's absolutely disgraceful, it wouldn't have happened to any of the bigger counties."

There are also concerns about the timing of the game. There are no floodlights at Dr. Cullen Park and fading light could become an issue if extra-time is required.

Leinster Council CEO Michael Delaney, who hails from Laois, has been an advocate of switching up the traditional summer schedule and looking at the option of Friday and Monday night ties.

Last year it emerged that the province were weighing up the possibility of holding the recent quarter-final between Kildare and Offaly on a Friday, but officials were unable to agree on a suitable date for the match.

Delaney explained: "Monday or Friday games could only apply to games involving counties which are fairly close together, but it wouldn't be too difficult to find them in the provincial Championships. Monday night would probably be the better option but Fridays could be tried on an experimental basis too.

"The public love Monday night soccer in England so it would be interesting to see how GAA supporters would react to Monday night Championship action here. I think they'd love it.

"Playing some games on Fridays and/or Mondays would generate more exposure for the GAA over a longer stretch of the week and enable us to show one game on a Saturday and Sunday, which has benefits too."

Meanwhile, a number of Laois players took to their Twitter pages to express their astonishment with the decision.

An inter county championship match on a Friday evening... That's hardly right is it???

— MJ Tierney (@Mjtierney13) June 17, 2013

That's absolutely ridiculous no regard for either set of players...

— MJ Tierney (@Mjtierney13) June 17, 2013

What about lads that work in Dublin?

— MJ Tierney (@Mjtierney13) June 17, 2013

Laois defender Mark Timmons suggested that some players will have to alter their working week to accommodate the game, tweeting: "That's the holiday balance from work minus a day anyway. No sense to it."

Peter O'Leary, a starter like Timmons in last month's Leinster SFC preliminary round loss to Louth, did not hold back as he gave his opinion on the historic Friday night clash.

"What a load of s***e by the GAA with a Friday night fixture. Shower of clowns running this organisation," tweeted O'Leary.