Criticism of GPA misplaced, argues Flynn

Gaelic Players’ Association head Paul Flynn reckons the Club Players Association has performed a service of sorts by quitting the GAA’s task force on fixtures reform.

The CPA quit the Fixtures Calendar Review task force last week, claiming it was ignored throughout the process of drawing up potential new football Championship structures.

The CPA also said it fears that of three proposals which are due to be presented shortly by the committee, the GAA favours the one retaining a mildly tweaked version of the status quo.

The GPA is also represented on the task force and Flynn said they too disagree with retaining the ‘as is’ version though backed the other two recommendations; a championship comprised of four eight-team provinces and a Championship based on the current league structure.

“What they have done by leaving is really shine a spotlight on this (taskforce) group,” said Flynn. “It is going to be very difficult for administrators to go with the ‘as is’ version, when they can see that the club players don’t want it and the county players don’t want it. Yet they could do it. They have done that before, they have gone against the players time and time again.

“The CPA and GPA, we don’t fully agree on all aspects of what they are looking for and what we are looking for. For instance, we have to protect the welfare of the players, one of the things that the CPA were looking for was for the league to be run off seven weeks in a row.

“And that is just not possible with the demands of the current game. That was just not possible.

“But we agree on a lot, we agree on a restructure of the Championship and there are two options in there that we will be advocating strongly for, we will let the players decide which one.

“That is where we feel the change should be and not just settling for a conservative ‘as is’ model.”

Speaking at the announcement of UPMC as official healthcare partner to the GAA/GPA, Flynn took the opportunity to address a number of misconceptions about the GPA.

It followed criticism of the players union, the most recent of which came from pundit and former Meath star Colm O’Rourke who, among other things, hit out at the staging of the Super 11s games in New York and the GPA’s fundraising activities in the US.

“There was 11,500 in a baseball pitch in the middle of New York and it was a great day, it was a great event,” said Flynn.

“There was a great atmosphere. Where the criticism is coming from, is it warranted? I don’t believe so.”

The former Dublin football star claimed that the GPA is generally misunderstood.

“There is one big misconception out there at the moment, with the players (group), that we’re out of control, that we are trying to drive this to professionalism,” said Flynn. “When I finish up in this job, the biggest thing, I don’t like using the word legacy, is around changing the culture around how inter-county players deal with their careers.

“I would love to see a time that we get to when inter-county players don’t have to retire because their job has got too demanding. That ultimately would be what I would see as being success. That is not professionalism, that is purely about their professions.”