Proposal to limit third-level students' involvement in pre-season fixtures to go before Central Council

Eddie Healy, MTU Kerry Campus and Hugh O'Connor, UCC, in action. Pic: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus LTD,

A proposal will go before Central Council later this month recommending that third-level students cannot line out in pre-season fixtures that fall within 48 hours of a Sigerson or Fitzgibbon Cup game.

The proposed eligibility criteria, driven by the GAA’s higher education committee and the four provincial council secretaries, is to prevent third-level students being overburdened with college and inter-county commitments during the busy January games period, as well as ensuring that players are allowed to prioritise third-level championship fixtures over the returning pre-season competitions.

The 48-hour window, which applies on either side of a third-level fixture, pertains to all third-level grades, not just the top-tier Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup competitions.

As well as facilitating unhindered third-level participation for inter-county players, the proposal is also designed to address potential player welfare concerns in the context of inter-county players who may not have had the full recommended on-field contact training block before participating in pre-season competitions.

Suggested penalties for counties who use players inside the 48-hour window include expulsion from the relevant pre-season competition and loss of a National League home fixture.

Ahead of pre-season competitions returning in January after a two-year hiatus, top-ranking officials are clearly determined to avoid young players being subjected to congested games schedules that run the risk of injury.

The 48-hour eligibility proposal is viewed as a first step in establishing zero overlap of third-level and pre-season competitions.

Back in 2022, then cruciate victim Tommy Conroy called for clear separation of third-level competitions and the Allianz League.

His rationale was that young players trying to impress county managers are not concerned with “overplaying” and putting themselves at risk of injury. 

They will serve as many masters as is necessary so as not to compromise their inter-county ambitions.

The Mayo forward, two days after lining out in a League fixture for his county, ruptured his ACL during NUIG’s Sigerson Cup quarter-final against Letterkenny IT.

He said the “optimum solution” for overburdened young players would be zero crossover of the Allianz League and third-level competitions.

“In terms of scheduling, it needs to change because there is probably too much going on around that period,” Conroy insisted.

“At my age, all you want to do is play football, and it can be difficult to have that conversation and say you want to play X and you don’t want to play Y.” 

That same 2022 saw the most perfect illustration of what this new proposal is attempting to avoid repeat of.

Tony Brosnan and Jack Savage, over the course of the same day, lined out for MTU Kerry in a Sigerson Cup match at Tralee and then traveled to Templetuohy in Tipperary where they came off the bench for Kerry in a McGrath Cup fixture.

MTU Kerry manager Aidan O’Mahony, when asked at the time about player welfare, said it is “very hard to put the shackles on players”. 

Kerry boss Jack O’Connor, for his part, did later concede that he should have told the pair not to travel the 200km from Tralee to Templetuohy.

The 2026 third-level championships are expected to throw-in on Tuesday, January 6. Fixture dates will be firmed up when the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup draws take place on December 1.