Kit clashes like green v maroon could be outlawed by new GAA colour-blindness rules

The GAA is working on a new colour blindness policy document.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: Aidan O'Connor of Limerick gets away from Tiernan Killeen of Galway during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A match at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The likes of Cork, Kerry, Galway, Limerick and Mayo wearing their traditional jerseys against each other could become a thing of the past as the GAA consider a new colour blindness policy document.

The Central Competitions Control Committee, along with the organisation’s medical, scientific and welfare committee and the GAA commercial department, are currently preparing a paper aimed at assisting patrons and viewers with the condition.

As present, the GAA’s colour blindness policy relates only to players in the teams involved who are affected by the condition. The team have the option to wear their alternative jersey providing they don’t clash.

A number of Armagh footballers are colour-blind and in games against Fermanagh and Kerry they change to their black kit. Previously, Limerick’s footballers wore white when facing teams wearing red.

Now the GAA are looking to expand that consideration to those watching the games. 

“The GAA are currently working on a new policy around jersey clashes in advance of the 2027 season, which will consider teams wearing red and green, or variants of them, a clash due to colour blindness, similar to other sports, and where possible will aim to avoid them,” the GAA’s national games administration manager Bernard Smith told the Irish Examiner. 

“We would hope to have a report submitted to Central Council before the end of the year.” 

The changing of shorts and socks may also have to be contemplated. At the moment, all but 10 of the 32 counties – Clare, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tyrone and Waterford – wear white shorts.

For people with red-green colour deficiency, the two colours appear as brown/grey. The maroon of Galway and Limerick’s green would also be confusing for some.

Speaking before the Munster SHC final, Limerick manager John Kiely said the similarity of colours was something they had to factor in for one of their players. “One of our players has that particular condition,” Kiely told RTÉ.

“For our in-house games or training sessions, the colouring of the bibs became an issue, so we had to choose two distinctly different colours to help him distinguish from the opposition, not to be passing the ball to them when he was playing. It’s obviously an important consideration from a player’s perspective.” 

Popular Mayo GAA website MayoGAABlog’s John Gunnigan has written extensively on his colour blindness and the challenges he faces when Mayo’s green and red jersey opposes a team donning either colour.

“Where colour-blindness hits me particularly badly is at matches,” he admitted in 2023. “If two teams are wearing – to my afflicted eyes – broadly the same colour tone on top and the same colour shorts, I’m in bother.

“This problem gets worse the more alike the two colours are and when the sun is shining brightly or if the game is being played under floodlights. A team in a red top with white shorts playing a team in green and red with white shorts is a particularly egregious example of the problem I face.”

Before last month’s meeting of Mayo and Meath which forced both counties to change kits, he wrote on the website: “A simple rule would work here: one team wears a dark top and light shorts, the other wears a light top and dark shorts. Job done.” 

Simply for a colour clash, there will be a change of jersey in the All-Ireland SFC final on Sunday week. The altered colours have yet to be confirmed – Kerry and Mayo’s alternate kits are blue and navy/multicoloured respectively and likely to be considered as clashing.

For the league game against Kerry in Tralee in March, Mayo wore a white kit to commemorate the colour they wore when they won their last All-Ireland SFC title 75 years ago.

In their previous championship meeting in Killarney in 2023, Kerry wore navy and Mayo changed to a predominantly red jersey. Four years earlier, when Mayo ended Kerry’s unbeaten home SFC record going back to 1995, they sported navy blue and luminous green, while Kerry had a gold version.

Kerry donned their last alternative blue jersey as they defeated Donegal in last year’s final, while Donegal changed to their white second kit. It was the first jersey chance in an All-Ireland SFC decider since 2010 when Cork and Down wore their second white and gold jerseys.