Inter-county managers call for pre-season competitions to be reinstated 

Pádraic Joyce, Kieran Donnelly and Paul Shankey all believe that the competitions are needed to allow teams become properly acquainted with Gaelic football's incoming new rules. 

At the launch Allianz Inter-Provincial Football Series: Dessie Dolan, Leinster manager, Padraic Joyce, Connacht manager, Kieran Donnelly, Ulster manager, and Paul Shankey, Munster selector. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Three inter-county football managers have lamented the GAA’s decision to scrap the pre-season competitions.

Kieran Donnelly (Fermanagh), Pádraic Joyce (Galway) and Paul Shankey (Waterford), who are responsible for interprovincial teams in this Friday and Saturday’s Allianz Football Review Committee-organised interprovincial tournament in Croke Park, would like the January competitions returned for 2025 so that their teams can experiment and become more acquainted to the experimental rules.