Growing number of counties insist FRC rule changes be restricted to inter-county only in 2025

RED FLAG: Umpire Ben Woods waves the red flag, for a two point score, during the Allianz GAA Football Interprovincial Championship. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

A growing number of counties are insisting the proposed Football Review Committee (FRC) rule changes be restricted to inter-county only in 2025.

Counties contacted by the Irish Examiner in all four provinces have spoken about the logistical and personnel difficulties that will be faced at club level should motions passed at Special Congress in Croke Park on Saturday apply across the board.

As some counties meet this week to discuss their stance on the FRC recommendations, others have privately agreed their support for them is contingent on them being trialled across the 2025 inter-county season alone.

Longford chairman Albert Cooney did not confirm if they will request any FRC rule changes be postponed at club level until 2026. However, he has highlighted the consequences of them passing across the board next year.

“We’re generally in favour of the new rules,” he said. “There are concerns around the shortage of referees and you will have to have neutral linesmen at all club games. Linesmen will have to play more active rules with the halfway line.

“The rules themselves, most of them will certainly improve the speed of the game. I don’t think there has been a huge debate about them but the implementation of them is a concern where you have a shortage of referees.

“For a Division 2 or 3 game, that might be a problem. The pitch mightn’t be marked out properly either and the referee might have to do the sidelines himself as well. Having pitches marked out correctly will be important.

"Some clubs want to see the rules brought in for inter-county first. It’s difficult to know if you should phase them in or bring them all in gung-ho.”

Leitrim secretary Declan Bohan echoed some of the concerns mentioned by Cooney.

“There are some reservations coming back from clubs as regards certain aspects of it. I suppose overall there is a lot of positives in it but if they do pass, they’re going to leave quite a few challenges, particularly from the point of view of match officials in club games where you may only have one official looking after a game.

“Not every club game in the county is going to have seven officials and there’s no denying that. If we were to put seven officials at every club game in Leitrim, the show would grind to a halt very quickly. It just wouldn’t happen.

“We do have the seven officials for club championships. That demands huge sacrifices and efforts. It just wouldn’t be practical for that to happen in the run-of-the-mill league games. Generally, we would have referees, linesmen and umpires at every game but they would involve people from the opposing teams. I just see the rules being quite difficult to implement.”

Bohan would prefer that the rules be bedded in and refined at elite football before they are implemented at all levels.

“Personally, I would like to see it coming in for inter-county in year one and then see what might happen. I would like to see the pause button pressed on implementing it for the club game until at least 2026.

“If these rules are passed, I do know a county has within its gift to implement whatever rules they see it at under-age level in 2025, which is fair enough. But I would prefer if club players and counties have a decent view of what they entail.”

The FRC have stated they will revisit the rules between next year’s Allianz League and the provincial championships. Another Special Congress will take place before the end of next year where delegates will vote whether to introduce the new rules on a permanent basis.