Revealed: How much does it cost to run an inter-county GAA training session?

Inter-county players’ mileage rate, which had been 65c per mile, is set to be cut to 45c for the first 100 miles travelled and 30c per mile thereafter. Picture: Brendan Moran 

In Croke Park, as well as in every county board and provincial council right now, 30 isn’t the magic number but the necessary one. For that is the percentage cut to costs that is being applied across the board as the organisation tightens its belt.

Inter-county players’ mileage rate, which had been 65c per mile, is set to be cut to 45c for the first 100 miles travelled and 30c per mile thereafter. Similar reductions will be applied to officers and match officials’ rates, which had previously stood at 50c per mile.

Where the greatest savings must be applied is in inter-county team preparations, which almost reached €30m in total last year. The figure will be a fraction of that this time around due to the shortened seasoned, and because counties have no money, leaving Croke Park to fund the season on the promise of Government help.

Old habits die hard, though, and there were accepted norms of spending only six months past. Three years ago, then Roscommon manager Kevin McStay admitted he would struggle to cut his weekly budget of €15,000. 

“My budget had to go in front of the Croke Park interim finance committee,” he said at the time. “Everything is being watched here.” 

Speaking to a number of county treasurers this week, the pre-pandemic cost of a training session for a leading county team ranged from €4,000 to €5,000, with mileage being the predominant spend in rural counties. Travelling or mileage doesn’t eat up budgets in city counties such as Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Kilkenny (the sheer size of Cork militates against that), but in the likes of Mayo it is enormous.

An inter-county training session costs about €4,300 to run. Picture: Irish Examiner Graphics

Last year, Mayo spent €927,444 on inter-county travel expenses alone with €696,890 (75%) of that ascribed to the senior footballers. It was explained that a midlands training session to facilitate those Mayo players in the capital could add as much as €2,500 to the cost of that session. Catering came to €390,877 with sports gear costing €291,366 and medical expenses €89,722. Bear in mind that travelling cost Mayo €596,068, catering €307,821, sportsgear €122,060 and medical €141,857.

In 2019, Cork GAA’s travel expenses were €486,777, catering €301,080 and between sportgear and medical €586,480 with sponsored gear from O’Neills costing an additional €159,000. Team administration expenses came to €33,890.

Of the €1,387,154 Kerry spent on their teams last year, €534,883 was spent on the senior footballers’ training expenses. Aside from that, medical expenses were €206,733 across the various county teams. For meals, accommodation and travel across the Allianz Football League, Munster and All-Ireland SFC, the figure was €135,667.

In 2019, Tipperary saw their total team administration expenses rise by 54% to €1.77m. Breaking it down, travel expenses came to €410,221, team administration €119,648, team transport and accommodation €78,569, team catering €281,532, team medical expenses €212,293, sports gear €232,181 and team support expenses €354,281. Last year, Dublin spent €1,370,807 on their teams and €87,034 on match expenses.

Not that all counties have Dublin’s advantages or are as well run. In his autobiography “The Pressure Game” published last year, McStay revealed he twice had to pay the hotel costs of his team as the board’s credit card was unable to do so. He also covered gym membership and bought extra tickets for some of the players. 

When the board struggled to pay some of the backroom staff he had recruited he was embarrassed. “I have asked people to join our backroom team, professionals who are providing a service. We agree a fee — it is never slaughterhouse money — and then they find after they have done the (job) that they don't get paid at the end of the week.” 

The pandemic has ravaged this country in more ways than one but if it has cried stop on the spiralling costs of preparing teams that aspiring counties like Roscommon simply cannot afford.

Taking a grip of management inter-county team expenses for the remaining four months of the year, it is reported the GAA’s central powers are providing €250 per session (three a week) for medical and physio treatment to each county and €200 for post-match training meals. Travel and match-day meals are also being supplemented heavily.

Anything extras have to be paid for by the county boards, but Croke Park last weekend warned their Central Council delegates not to come crying to them if they find themselves in dire straits as a result of spending on their teams these coming weeks.

Yet in these strange times an All-Ireland title will never have felt closer for some and the urgency to speculate to accumulate never as strong.