Extend All-Ireland championships by 'two to three weeks' says outgoing Munster chief

Ger Ryan believes a balance can be struck to ensure there isn’t a big knock-on effect on the exclusive club window.

CLUB AND COUNTY: Na Fianna bunting on a house near Croke Park before the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Outgoing Munster GAA chairman Ger Ryan believes the All-Ireland championship should be extended by “two to three weeks”.

In his final address at the provincial council’s rescheduled convention in Tralee on Saturday, the Tipperary native said a happy medium can be reached to ensure there isn’t a large follow-up effect on the exclusive club window.

“The spilt season has become embedded in our structure and is generally well accepted throughout the Association at present," said Ryan. "The focus of the debate in terms of scheduling has switched to two areas – whether we have too many games at inter-county level and whether the All-Ireland senior inter-county championships should end in July or August.

“There will be motions to Congress to consider some reorganisation of the football championship which will focus on reducing the number of games in the post provincial stages of the competition. I believe this would be of benefit and make the championship more competitive.

“On the scheduling side, I know that there is a strong view among some counties in Munster that the current end dates for the championships should not change because of the time required to run club championships particularly in large dual code counties.

“My view is that we need to have a serious look at the opportunities to extend the inter-county championships by two to three weeks. I believe a model can be developed to support this change without massive impact on club game scheduling and I think it is worth exploring to see what realistic options might emerge.” Following on from the Gaelic Players Association’s reporting earlier on Saturday that four to five counties broke the inter-county training ban before December 7, Ryan expressed his disappointment in the breaches but stressed there’s a collective onus on the GAA to adhere to it.

“I supported the deferral in the interests of inter-county players’ welfare as I believe players need some downtime after busy inter-county and club seasons. In supporting this change, I was also voting for no intercounty collective training until December 7.

“I am disappointed that this decision was not supported and implemented in all counties but I do not blame our county boards for this failure. Collectively administrators at county, provincial and national level need to work together in a consistent way to implement decisions such as this. Support is also required from team managers and the GPA as inter-county player representatives to ensure that these decisions are implemented.

“Ultimately, we must prioritise long-term player welfare over the perceived short-term benefits of breaching training regulations. I would prefer that a collective evidence-based approach would be used to address this issue but if that does not work, impactful sanctions should be applied.

"On the player welfare front it is most disappointing to see county underage squads training in some counties before January 1. It is unwarranted and unnecessary and reflects poorly on us all that we allow it to happen. These players should be focused on their schools and colleges in this period. We know for a long number of years that excessive activity for underage players with multiple teams increases the risk of players not developing to achieve their full potential as adult players.” 

Ryan reiterated his call for counties to curb their spending on teams after the Irish Examiner last week revealed a record €43 million plus outlay for the 32 counties in 2024.

“I called last year for us to review where we were heading in relation to inter-county team spending and activities. I think the ASRC (amateur status review committee) work will address this requirement. However, it is worth calling out that the 'runaway train’ a phrase attributed originally to my colleague Weeshie Lynch in describing inter-county team expenditure, is running away faster than ever.

“Inter-county team expenditure in 2024 hit a new record level of €43m, €3.2m and 8% more than in 2023. Here in Munster the €11m barrier was broken for the first time. This level of spending is not sustainable and it must stop.

“It is compromising many counties ability to foster the development of our games and the provision of necessary facilities to support participation in our games at club and inter-county level. I also believe that the GPA is a key actor in addressing these challenges as I believe doing so will be in the best long-term interests of inter-county players.” 

Ryan has been succeeded by former Kerry chairman Tim Murphy of Brosna. In Saturday’s vice-chairman election, Seán Michael O’Regan of Waterford defeated Limerick’s John Cregan 30 votes to 21.