Fogarty Forum: Homegrown management teams aren't cheap either
JOB DONE: Manager Colm O’Rourke celebrates Meath’s Tailteann Cup final win last July.
Showing exactly why he was an enduring pundit, Colm O’Rourke pulled few punches in his report of his Meath senior footballers to the county board.
To claim that one of the worst first-half performances by a Meath team came under his watch in this year’s Leinster quarter-final loss to Offaly was typically forthright of O’Rourke. It “brought us to rock bottom,” he wrote.
Describing Meath’s Division 2 campaign as having “started very well but finished with a whimper”, he might as well have been penning a column about a team with whom he had no association.
Later in the report, O’Rourke admitted he was certain “there were plenty of times during the early part of the year when some were wondering if we knew what we were doing.” After winning a Tailteann Cup, that might come across as a humblebrag but then he suggested he expected to win it – “we must also remember that we were playing teams from the third and fourth divisions, so we were entitled to win such a competition.”
O’Rourke was also revealing in the money spent on the squad in 2023, believing it to be “quite high” in part to the three overnight stays in the league compared to just one in 2024 and foresees there will be “substantial savings” overall in the upcoming season.
Of the €1.296 million spent on team administration across the codes and grades, Meath’s accounts showed there was €100,826 spent on the team manager and selectors this past accounting year in contrast to €27,150 in the previous 12-month period. Backroom team personnel expenditure also increased from €275,592 to €347,313.
Mayo last week revealed that of the €809,872 senior football expenditure in 2023, the outlay for team management was €83,213 and backroom team €211,166.
When most counties chose not to break down such numbers, both Meath and Mayo should be credited for illustrating how much homegrown managers in O’Rourke and Kevin McStay and largely homegrown management teams cost.
Not that you get the impression that either manager look for a whole lot beyond mileage and what they are permitted to claim leading groups that are becoming ever more professional.
Expertise does come as a price, though, especially when it has to travel. Donie Buckley coming from Ennis to Castlebar and in Meath’s case this past year Paul Garrigan travelling from Wicklow are entitled to mileage not to mention those management figures who make various scouting trips to games involving future opponents.
When people are so time poor, there is a general unwritten understanding that it comes at a premium. Being retired, O’Rourke and McStay are exceptions but there are others too. Announcing Meath’s new team doctor John Holian, O’Rourke commented: “He regards it as an honour to be involved with the Meath team and does not want anything for it.”
How many, be they natives or not, can state the same? As total inter-county team preparations look set to break the €35m mark this year having passed €32m in 2022, only the few.
Led by their own, Dublin and Kerry’s footballers and Limerick and Cork’s hurlers are among the biggest spenders in the country. They are all high performance environments but a local figurehead goes a long way in convincing supporters these large sums being accrued are acceptable.
It’s patently clear the split season isn’t the cost saver it was made out to be either. Introduced as much as an attempt to cut down on expenses as giving clubs an exclusive championship period, any savings made by the condensed inter-county season have been offset by inflation.
But what exactly is being set aside as a result of the split season? The healthier training to games ratio would suggest a saving but the concentration of games is such that physios have never been working harder. For one, Kerry’s physio and medical expenses increased by over €17,000 from 2022, their senior football training costs climbing from €523,534 in an All-Ireland winning year to €628,810 this past season.
Upon returning to the helm of Tipperary in 2019, Liam Sheedy joked that the biggest change from his previous spell that ended after the 2010 All-Ireland success was the need for a second bus on match-day. Keith Rossiter, Wexford’s first native manager since Liam Dunne, is believed to have put together a management/backroom group of 27 people.
As Jim McGuinness gets ready to don the bainisteoir’s jumper for the first time in nearly 10 years, he realises like Sheedy that winning costs more. A proven fundraiser, he has worked hard these past few months to ensure the supports required will be there. Donegal London look set to bankroll his vision for the centre of excellence in Convoy.
A homegrown hero, he can command such backing. But just because he is one doesn’t mean things will be any cheaper.
Email: john.fogarty@examiner.ie
Seeing as three of both Clare and Tipperary’s Munster SHC games this past year ended up on GAAGO, their followings know all about how Cork supporters feel right now.
It will May 19 at the earliest in their final round game, the penultimate round of the provincial championship, that Pat Ryan’s hurlers will be seen in live championship action on terrestrial television when they face Tipperary in Thurles.
Consider that a potential Kerry-Cork Munster SFC semi-final in Killarney will also be on the subscription platform and the first live sighting of a Cork team on RTÉ won’t be until May 5 and that’s if they beat Limerick and then end a 28-year gap to their last SFC victory over Kerry in Fitzgerald Stadium.
Members of the county executive were keeping their powder dry yesterday but at least one has previously indicated support for GAAGO. "Free to air screening of all games is simply not practical or financially prudent,” Cork GAA chief executive Kevin O’Donovan wrote in a response to Cork county councillors last year.
“That said, key GAA games throughout the championship season which are of national importance and play a huge role in the promotion of our games, such as Cork V Tipperary this year, would perhaps be best screened on free to air to ensure the maximum exposure.
"Of course the importance of these games can vary depending on the current status of the respective teams and decisions must be made on which games to screen without the benefit of hindsight.”
Pushing Limerick to the brink of a championship exit this past May, a rematch with Cork would seem exactly the type of game suited to terrestrial TV. However, RTÉ are obligated to show the Leinster and Ulster football finals the following day and Cork requested that the game be played on Saturday so that Páirc Uí Chaoimh would have an extra day to be ready for the Bruce Springsteen concert on May 16.
A game of give and take.
Wednesday sees the release of the GAA’s 2024 master fixtures but most, if not all of the details are known. And because of the recent Munster Hurling League and Walsh Cup draws, it’s clear there are teams who are going to be seeing a lot of each other in the coming months.
Example A: Just as they will open the Munster SHC on April 21, Clare and Limerick will start the new year in their Group A pre-season game on January 2. They met three times this year, four times in 2022. At least they have been spared each other in the round stages of Division 1 as they have split into separate groups.
Example B: No two Munster teams are guaranteed to face off more in 2024 than Clare and Cork as they lock horns on at least three occasions in 2024 – January 14, February 4 and April 28. All of those fixtures will be in Cork.
Example C: Limerick and Tipperary only have each other for Munster company in their Allianz Hurling League Division 1, Group B. But between those competitions, Waterford and Tipperary will duel on January 7, perhaps an early chance to lipread a Liam Cahill-Davy Fitzgerald handshake, and May 4.
Example D: Kilkenny travelled to Wexford at the start of this year to christen Chadwicks Wexford Park’s new floodlights and their paths will cross again either on January 14 or 21. They are in each other’s crosshairs on day one of the league on February 4 too as well as the final round of the Leinster SHC on May 25.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
