John Fintan Daly: Nobody involved in Cork football could consider the year to be a good one

Daly has called for greater investment in coaching at post-primary level and a greater emphasis on skill development within the development squad system.

MORE INVESTMENT NEEDED: That is the view of John Fintan Daly who has called for greater investment in coaching at post-primary level and a greater emphasis on skill development within the development squad system. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Cork football falling “behind the curve” at post-primary and development squad level is affecting the quality of player coming through the underage ranks.

That is the view of John Fintan Daly who has called for greater investment in coaching at post-primary level and a greater emphasis on skill development within the development squad system.

The Cork seniors’ one-point defeat away to Louth in Sunday’s hard-on-the-eyes preliminary quarter-final brought the curtain down on the county’s football year.

And while John Cleary’s side scored a rousing win over Ulster champions Donegal during the All-Ireland group series, the team failed to achieve their stated league ambition of promotion to Division 1, lost to both Division 1 outfits they met in championship, and were ultimately knocked out by a side that finished below them in Division 2.

At underage, meanwhile, the U20s lost the Munster final to Kerry by six points, with the minors losing the provincial decider and subsequent All-Ireland quarter-final by a combined total of 32 points.

“I don't think anyone involved in Cork football could consider the year to be a good one,” said Daly, a multiple county championship winning coach with Duhallow and his native Knocknagree.

Daly, who has also successfully coached at inter-county level, is adamant that Cork is not maximising the participation numbers at their disposal. The quality of player coming through for senior consideration, he added, is not what it should be.

The first chink in the Cork football chain, as he sees it, comes at post-primary level. A Cork school last won the Corn Uí Mhuirí 13 years ago, while it is 2016 since a Cork school last captured the Frewen Cup (Munster U17A).

“Our bigger schools in the Corn Uí Mhuirí have the same student numbers as the Kerry schools, but we are not competing with them. And that has to have an impact because it follows through to minor and onwards from there.

“At second level, we are not producing the top players. It is very rare now that a Cork school beats a Kerry school in a knockout Corn Uí Mhuirí game. When we are not doing it there, how do we expect our minor teams to suddenly be top level and be able to take on and regularly beat Kerry.”

An area of focus, he insisted, has to be on getting more coaches into secondary schools.

“There is probably not as much voluntary work being done in schools as there used to be, and that is just modern life. And so, have we got enough coaches county-wide in our secondary schools? If not, we are losing out as a result.

“If we want to promote Gaelic football in schools, we have to invest more in it and we have to get more coaches in there. It has to start there.

“This is running side-by-side with development squads. The development squads are there for a positive purpose, but they still don't seem to produce the quality and the skill levels that we need to be successful.

“If you don't pick it apart and find out what's wrong, you are not going to get success by accident. We don't have the follow through of players. It is not a criticism of those running the squads, but an observation of someone looking in.”

Daly’s concern is the level of emphasis being placed on skill-development within the academy structures.

“Our aim should be to produce more rounded footballers, but we are not. I don't think we work enough on developing skills. The quality of skills coming through from the underage players is not good enough. I still see players playing with Cork at the top level that can still only kick with one foot.”

A last point of Daly’s is one he has made before, and that is for the county board to change the grading of their competitions so the winners of the third-tier county championship in Cork are not meeting the second-tier Kerry champions in the Munster Intermediate Club and the fifth-tier winners in Cork are not meeting the third-tier champions from Kerry in the Munster Junior Club.

“As a result, we rarely beat Kerry teams and so rarely get our clubs into the All-Ireland series and exposure to that level of football.”

2024, in summation, was a “watershed year” for the lack of impact made at minor and U20.

“Our seniors, the win over Donegal gave us hope going forward. But if you are not competing in Division 1, it is harder to make it in championship.

“We have got to the last two All-Ireland quarter-finals, which is positive progress. But for a county of Cork's size, and the amount of football clubs in Cork and the amount of people participating in the game, you would expect that we'd do better.”