Boards set to face penalties if club weekends not used

A new oversight unit favoured by GAA top-brass will penalise county boards should they fail to schedule games on weekends where county players are permitted to line out for their club.

The fixture calendar review taskforce lamented how the short-term needs of the few — the county panel — are frequently being placed before the needs of the many — club players — at county committee level.

To remedy this inadequacy and ensure proper monitoring of club fixture programmes, the taskforce has recommended the establishment of a new oversight unit, consisting of full-time provincial personnel.

GAA president John Horan did not specify how exactly county boards would be punished in the event of they being found not to have utilised all weekends available to them to play games.

As part of plans to bring about greater governance and oversight, each county board will have to submit their club fixture programme for a given year in December of the year previous.

Moreover, inter-county challenge games are to be banned during April so to provide additional space for club activity throughout this month.

“In our view, a new oversight unit needs to be established in the Official Guide with specific responsibility on behalf of Central Council for implementation of the existing rules on monitoring of club fixtures programmes, policing of the club season, and other governance matters at inter-county level that affects club fixtures,” the taskforce’s report noted.

It is clear from experience and comments received that, in many instances, club games with county players are not being scheduled on all of the dates available to counties.

Connacht Council secretary John Prenty, a member of the taskforce, is hopeful this oversight body will deliver clarity for the club player.

“I was with a club team last summer, and as long as the boys knew what day they were going to be playing every round of the competition, they were happy. We’re saying that when you set your fixture programme for your clubs, you cannot change them without good reason.”

The GAA, for the moment, has given up on attempting to squeeze the entire club championship into the calendar year. The 2020 All-Ireland club semi-finals will be played in December of next year, but for the foreseeable future, the final will remain in January.

Cork GAA secretary Kevin O’Donovan, who was a member of the fixtures review committee, stated at a recent county board meeting that a December finish to the club season would “crush” Cork.

Taskforce chairman Eddie Sullivan said failure to achieve a calendar year finish to the club season is “not the end of the world”.

“To get the finals into December would mean [finding] another two weeks, and I think we’ve just squeezed things so much at the moment that that’s a little bit beyond us,” explained the GAA’s head of games administration Feargal McGill.

Committee member Conor O’Donoghue said thousands of club players would suffer if the club finals are brought forward to December.

“The trade-off to a December finish is that the club player, the vast majority, get shunted back and lose a fortnight at a key time [earlier in the season]. That’s thousands and thousands of players, for two teams. We have to try and have as big an impact as we can, in the most positive fashion, on the biggest number of club players.”

The eight counties whose senior club championship comprises of more than 16 teams will be asked to bring this number down.

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