National Leagues should go ahead, says Waterford GAA treasurer John Jackson

File photo of Walsh Park, Waterford. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Waterford treasurer John Jackson says county boards can’t tighten their belts much more than last year but maintains the Allianz Leagues should go ahead.

As reports indicate some treasurers want the secondary competitions shelved because of financial constraints on counties to prepare teams, Jackson readily admits the challenges are considerable. 

“It’s going to be a challenge full stop, unfortunately. We can’t really do much more than we did last year. There is very little more we can tighten. If Waterford get to an All-Ireland senior hurling final as they did last year then everything possible has to be made available to them.

“The hope we have is that by August we will have Covid under control and people will be able to go to the club championships. So that would be some stream of income for county boards. Until then, it’s about looking at fundraising and hoping that we can raise money for our teams.”

Without the €80,000 operating grant this year, several counties are struggling but Jackson doesn’t see it as a reason not to stage the Allianz Leagues, due to commence from the end of next month. 

“I personally think they should take place They will take place behind closed doors meaning there will be no gate receipts but they are ideal preparation for the Championship. The football groups are small and Waterford is one of only three in Division 4 because it doesn’t look like London will be taking part.”

Counties had to submit yesterday their budgets to Croke Park broken down into National League, Championship, and operational. As of yet, none have heard if the GAA centrally have applied for loans on behalf of the counties, although that may now happen on the basis of the information they have received from the units. 

At last Thursday’s convening of county treasurers, a couple of them put forward the idea of counties applying for loans individually should Croke Park not be in a position to do so. However, that suggestion was shot down by central GAA officials who maintain any borrowings will be sought for counties on a collective basis.

There remains disgruntlement among some treasurers that they weren’t consulted by their county chairpersons when they endorsed a county before club calendar model for 2021. However, the fact remains club matches can only take place when there are Level 2 Covid restrictions, which would appear to be a long way off.

It’s expected that the GAA will again shortly approach the Government about subventing an inter-county season. If there is an opportunity to garner gate receipts it will only transpire at the earliest in the latter part of the second quarter of this year. Advice from the GAA’s finance committee is expected to be presented to Central Council later this month.

Croke Park are again expected to manage the expenses of county teams this year and Jackson believes the system brought in before the resumption of the 2020 season last October has worked well. “We had no problems, no issues, in fairness. Once expenses were submitted, they were reimbursed and that was it.”

Meanwhile, the 2020 PwC GAA-GPA All-Star nominations will be revealed later this week. The 45 football nominees along with the shortlist for footballer and young footballer of the year will be revealed on Friday morning followed by the best 45 in hurling and the three hurler and young hurler of the year nominees on Saturday morning. As previously reported, the GAA and RTÉ are looking to organise a televised event for the awards next month. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the All-Stars scheme.