'A real opportunity': Inter-county players tentatively back Friday night fixtures

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Inter-county players have given a tentative thumbs up to the idea of Friday night fixtures with Gaelic Players Association head Tom Parsons describing it as a 'real opportunity'. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

Inter-county players have given a tentative thumbs up to the idea of Friday night fixtures with Gaelic Players Association head Tom Parsons describing it as a 'real opportunity'.

But while Parsons maintained that players aren't the stumbling block to the idea of midweek fixtures, he insisted that some strict ground rules would be required.

Players would have to be compensated for time off work for starters, and also given a guarantee that the rest of their weekend wouldn't be used for camps, or training.

The GPA polled players on the issue for the first time and the responses are contained in their Annual Membership Survey 2026.

Almost a quarter of players said they'd be 'very supportive' of playing competitive games on Friday evenings - regardless of the work or compensation aspect.

A further 46 percent are 'only supportive if players are compensated for time off work' while another 17 percent want it kept to local derbies. That's a significant 87 percent of county players who would be happy to break new ground with Friday night fixtures, in the right circumstances.

It's food for thought for the GAA who finally have firm data on the issue to work with.

"It has never been put as a formal proposal to players, so this is the first time that we've asked the question," explained Parsons.

"At least we have data now. I think what's important is that, where is the stumbling block? Because if it's designed where players can take a day off work, and that will be compensated, then we have a real opportunity to actually go for it.

"Could we get a guarantee where if you play a Friday night game, the rest of the weekend is off? Because if you do a Friday night game and next thing it's, 'Alright, let's use this as an opportunity for a training camp all weekend', that's what could happen.

"So you could design it with the players body, bring in players and consult on it, with a view to understanding the mechanisms that make this work. And maybe one of those is that you sort out compensation, and you get a policy to guarantee that for everyone who plays a Friday night game, there must be no collective training on the Saturday or Sunday, so players actually get a bit of breathing space."

In attendance are, from left, GPA player development manager Aaron Graffin, GPA national executive committee co-chair and Dublin camogie player Aisling Maher, GPA chief executive Tom Parsons, and GPA head of equality and players relations Gemma Begley, during the GPA Member Survey Report launch. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile.

Over 3,500 players, male and female, were polled on a wide range of issues in the annual survey with Parsons pointing to five key themes that emerged.

Firstly, players said they support the use of their personal data for injury prevention initiatives or for commercial opportunities.

They underlined the requirement for a proper off-season, ideally six weeks, and noted how improvements are needed when it comes to reimbursing expenses for female players.

Recent efforts in Kerry to guarantee inter-county players between four and six weeks of a break between club competitions and the start of inter-county training came to nought.

"There probably can't be a blanket (rule) for every player because some players are getting to county finals, and other players are getting into provincial competitions," said Parsons, referencing the Kerry situation.

"The really good management teams are able to say, 'Listen, you've played right up until the end of October, I don't want to see you on a pitch until January. Your first game will be a National League game in round two, so you can manufacture a four-week break for players, even if they're involved in club competition.

"There are a lot of really good coaches in teams making sure that players get some sort of off season. We know Kerry do that, we know they do, but they have a big challenge because so many of their club players are playing club competitions into November."

The topic of rule changes came up too with 76 percent of male players saying they don't want any more sweeping changes, just minor tweaks.

Most feedback from male players around the rules came on the issue of handing the ball back after conceding a free.

According to the report, 'this creates ambiguity and overly severe 50m penalties'.

Players said they'd prefer to 'place the ball on the ground at the point of the foul' though this wasn't included in the list of rules trials currently taking place in third level games.

"The new trial rules came before we had this data from players, so we didn't get an opportunity to lobby for it to be included," said Parsons. "Now that we have this data, we'd be advocating to include it and we'll be investigating that more."