Confirmed: Galway become first GAA county to go over €2m in team spending for one season

Approximately €1.7m of this year’s €2.1m total was spent on the county’s two flagship senior teams, both of whom made it to the business end of the Championships in July

ON THE MARCH: Galway manager Padraic Joyce arrives at Croke Park with his squad for the All-Ireland SFC final. 

GALWAY have become the first GAA county to break the €2m barrier for inter-county team spending in a single season.

Despite the shortened inter-county campaign, Galway’s team expenditure for 2022 hit new heights, coming in at an eye-watering €2,161,497.

The figure represents an 83% increase on last year’s €1.17m team spend total.

Approximately €1.7m of this year’s €2.1m total was spent on the county’s two flagship senior teams, both of whom made it to July. Pádraic Joyce’s footballers bridged a 21-year gap to the county’s last All-Ireland SFC final appearance, while the hurlers were beaten by eventual champions Limerick at the semi-final stage. The two teams played a combined total of 14 Championship and 13 League games.

In 2018, when the Galway hurlers reached the All-Ireland decider and the footballers the semi-final, the county’s team spend for that year was €1,842,230. That figure, which broke new ground for Galway team expenditure at the time, is still more than €300,000 shy on its 2022 equivalent.

HIGH: Galway’s manager Henry Shefflin during the All-Ireland SHC semi-final against eventual champions Limerick. 

In his annual report ahead of next week’s convention, Galway secretary Seamus O’Grady said the ever-increasing costs associated with their inter-county teams is a “concern”.

“While all our teams must be adequately resourced to compete at the highest level, it should not be at the expense of other areas of development like the upgrading of training facilities and facilities at our county grounds which are also in need of ongoing investment.” 

Despite the record team expenditure, the county board’s end-of-year accounts show an operating profit of €410,768. This surplus is more than double the 2021 profit of €202,936.

Club fixtures, through gate receipts and streaming income, brought in €1.5m.

Elsewhere in the accounts, the amount owed by Galway to Croke Park, as of September 30, stands at €1.44m. The county board is working towards being debt-free by 2028.

The Galway executive will bring a motion to next week’s county convention calling for the Galway minor hurling team to be entered into the 2023 Leinster or Munster MHC.