Players leaving and dwindling crowds won’t change until the Championship is reformed

Colm Parkinson

During my own football career, Laois went from division 3 no-hopers to division one finalists and Leinster champions. As we progressed, the difference in our motivation was very obvious.

When we had no realistic prospect of winning anything, playing for Laois and maybe getting to Croke Park kept us going. Back then, we only trained two nights a week so there wasn’t too much asked of us which was just as well as our season was always going to peter out.

From 2003 to 2008, things changed. In those years, our realistic goals were to win a Leinster championship, or even the All-Ireland. Then we were happy to go the extra mile in training, even if it meant running the endless laps under Micko, or weights under Liam Kearns because we believed it would stand to us in Croke Park that summer.

There was a possible reward for all that training, but now weaker counties are asked to train up to five times a week, just like the big teams, even though they’ve no chance of winning anything. Still the weaker counties make the commitment. I don’t know how they do it.

Clare’s manager Colm Collins spoke out about the current system after losing to Kerry on Sunday.

“I think the provincials are dinosaurs and they need to be abolished. I think that there’s a bigger issue here, attendances are down, people are not going to matches and the whole product needs to be upgraded and create a bit of excitement.”

There are so many issues with the current system, but one that stands out, for me, is that not enough teams have a chance of winning anything at the start of the year. What are players actually training for? Where does the motivation for the commitment required at inter-county level come from? The honour of playing for your county is wearing thin.

There is a misguided idea out there that the provincial championships are weaker counties’ only chance of winning anything. Where is the evidence of this? How often do a division 3 or 4 team win a provincial championship?

Without this motivation, players find other ways to spend the summer. So many players have no realistic chance of winning anything so they are tempted to go and make a few quid by playing in America.

Tipperary lost three young players – Liam Casey, Jason Lonergan and Kevin Fahey – to America before the championship started. I’m sure they regret it now, but Tipp needed to beat Cork and Kerry to win the Munster title. When you see that, who wouldn’t think, “No chance, we’re off”.

When the weaker teams are knocked out of their province the only competition left for them to win is the All Ireland. No chance again. Players usually wait to play the provincial championship before heading off to America and who could blame them?

I have been one of those students who had a deal done with an American club before the championship ended. I’ve spent five summers in America playing football and working and it’s a great experience. Bunking off the job for trips to Lake Michigan, Central Park, The Empire State building, Six flags or Cape Cod with new lifelong friends was special. Experiencing a new culture beats hanging around a rainy Ireland waiting to exit the championship.

We played Derry in 2001 in the qualifiers, and in the week leading up to the game a club in Philadelphia contacted me through a friend who was playing with them.

We played Derry on the Saturday night and lost which wasn’t surprising because, as I said last week, things were not good under manager Colm Browne. I had a plan B though and was on a flight the following Tuesday. I played badly against Derry and was taken off. My natural competitiveness would not allow me to slacken off, but maybe mentally I wasn’t where I should have been, who knows.

Would I have done a deal if I thought we had a chance of winning something? Probably not.

Laois lost a few players this year, Offaly too. Sligo, Derry and many more counties are losing players to America during the championship. Why? Because they have no chance of winning anything.

Championship restructure talk has been everywhere this week – here's @Woolberto's plan for the future of GAA https://t.co/iu1E1Epzj6

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 30, 2016

Sligo manager Niall Carew spoke about trying to prevent county players going to America this week.

“When a county panel has named their 32-man squad for their National League campaign, these men should not be eligible for America. At least both parties will know where they stand by the first week in February. We have five or more students that receive either a text or a call from GAA teams in America two days before we play Clare stating ‘If you lose we will fly you out to say New York or wherever and offer you great expenses, accommodation, work etc.’ So what do you do? You try to put this to the back of your head and concentrate on the game ahead.”

Carew’s idea of banning amateur players from travelling to America is a shocking one. Who on earth does he think he is? Between drink bans and travel bans, the inter-county player might be better off in North Korea!

A small perk players from weaker counties enjoy is the option of spending the summer in America earning some money playing football and working. My trips financed my many failed college adventures and took pressure off my parents.

The bigger picture here is that if players have a chance of winning something they will more than likely stay around. That’s what players want – more meaningful games and a chance to lift a cup at the end of the year. It’s actually not much to ask.

I don’t want Tipperary’s fantastic win and story to distract from what should have been a serious wake up call for the GAA at the weekend. The fans voted with their pockets and decided not to show up to Croke Park on both Saturday and Sunday. Surely the GAA will have to look at its structures now?

Fans don’t want to see mismatches anymore, they have had enough. They want to see the top teams playing each other all the time. That’s why next Saturday’s semi-finals between four divisions one teams sold out immediately. Do we really need to wait until we’re down to the last six to sell out Croke Park?

On Saturday I could hear the players shouting on the pitch. There was just over 27,000 in attendance but the majority of Donegal fans, understandably, left after their game to get back home. After all, Mayo, a top three team were playing Westmeath, a division 4 team. Who in their right mind, facing into a four-hour homeward journey, is waiting around for that one?

One thing the GAA understands is money and when two All-Ireland quarter finals draw a crowd of 29,000 alarm bells must be sounding in GAA headquarters. I’ve been sounding the alarm for change for six or seven years now. Maybe now they will finally listen.