Until the fixtures calendar is properly structured these issues are going to continue to flare up.
The Tipperary footballers had it, Donegal football has had it, Dublin football avoids it by playing a straight knockout and, in pretty much every county in Ireland, club players bear the brunt of it.
The battle between club and county will never be resolved until a proper and defined patch of time is set aside during the spring, summer and autumn for club matches to be played.
As it is the inter-county season has swollen into a year-gobbling, nine-month behemoth that leaves little or no wiggle room in the more successful counties.
Either condense the season or separate Gaelic games into two strands, club and intercounty, and decide that never the twain shall meet – you are either a club or a county player but you cannot be both.
Neither of these are palatable to the delegates that make up Congress – one is financially disastrous and the other goes against the structures and ethos of the GAA. But they are two possible solutions to a problem that is not going away.
Just ask the Mayo club players who put their lives on hold when last week the county board assured them that this weekend’s third and final round of Championship group stage matches would be going ahead – regardless of the outcome of Mayo’s All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary.
The players who held off on booking holidays, the players who swapped shifts to be sure they were off work, the players who were simply looking forward to their first meaningful game of football in two months.
You are allowed to have sympathy for those Tipperary footballers who saw their clubs ejected from the intermediate club championship because they refused to play without their county stars, you are also allowed to have sympathy for the club player who sees the 13-day rule ignored and flouted to suit the intercounty team.
You can have sympathy on both sides because this is an intractable situation that shows no sign of being resolved.
.@mayoGAA star turns up heat on county board as fixtures row looms #GAAhttps://t.co/Rhb5ih8d7b
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 23, 2016
Ger Cafferkey was one Mayo player, currently injured, who spoke in favour of this weekend’s round of matches being cancelled and the club players I have spoken to have no major issue with the cancellation – but rather with the insistence of the county board last week that the games would be going ahead.
It is the inconsistency that grates.
Now the solution is to play the games on the weekend after the All-Ireland final… Let’s see how that works out.
Sam Maguire returns to Mayo for the first time in 65 years and six days later everyone plays a nice sober game of football? Or Mayo lose their third final in five years and six days later the county players are super motivated to play football?
Below is the statement from Mayo County Board, which does acknowledge this was “not been an easy decision for all concerned as we were faced with a Catch 22 situation”.
“Following discussions since Mayo’s victory over Tipperary in last Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final, it has been decided to postpone next weekend’s round of Mayo SFC games.
“All IFC games will go ahead as scheduled except the following which involve members of the Mayo senior panel: Bohola Moy Davitts v Swinford; Westport v Shrule-Glencorrib; and Belmullet v Burrishoole.
“This has not been an easy decision for all concerned as we were faced with a Catch 22 situation. Everyone involved in Mayo GAA wishes to support the senior football team as effectively as we can in the run-up to September 18 – and, equally, everyone is fully aware of the impact a postponement at such late notice will have on club players and managements.
“However, after carefully considering the various issues involved, and acknowledging that there was no simple solution, we feel that the best interests of Mayo football will be served on this occasion by postponing the above games so that the team can prepare for the All-Ireland final.
“The primary reason for doing so is to allow the team the four weeks of preparation between now and the final so that they can represent all of us in optimum condition on September 18.
“We hope all Mayo GAA people will understand the well-founded motivation for our decision and rally around the team for the next few weeks.
“It is proposed to now hold the next round of SFC games on the weekend after the All-Ireland final (Sept. 24/25th). The IFC games mentioned above will also go ahead on that weekend also.
“The quarter finals in both the SFC & IFC championship will go ahead on 1/2 October.”
Credit to the county board for at least solving a problem of their own making in a timely fashion. It could be a lesson to other counties because we all know this problem is going to arise time and again until the root cause is addressed.
On the latest GAA Hour we look back at Mayo-Tipperary and chat to Andy Moran about his incredible, never-ending career. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
