There was no winner of the South Tipperary football final last year.
In actual fact, the final for the 2017 championship took place on January 8 2018 but after Clonmel Commercials and Moyle Rovers drew that day, the replay never took place despite a number of attempts to re-fix the game.
“It makes a mockery of the whole competition and of Tipperary football,” said a Clonmel player to SportsJOE at the time.
“It makes a mockery of Tipperary football and of the whole competition” – 2017 final in 2018
Fast forward 12 months and there’s a case of deja vu about the whole thing again.
The Tipperary football championship was completed a month and a half ago when Moyle Rovers defeated Ardfinnan in the final but the divisional final, between Clonmel Commercials and Ardfinnan, still has not been played.
It would make sense to play the divisional championship before the county championship has been finished, you would think, when teams are still really in full preparation and when they’re still really hyped up for it.
But that isn’t the case in Tipperary.
And it’s not as if there are too many teams in south Tipperary not to have this competition ran off by now and it’s certainly not as if there wasn’t a spare weekend in the year to have it played.
With the ties between the south Tipperary championship and the county championship severed in the football, the rich history and tradition that the divisional championships hold is being made a mockery of and the whole competition is suffering because of it.
The final was fixed to have been played on Sunday afternoon but Clonmel Commercials, who were knocked out of the county championship two full months ago didn’t show up to play this weekend and so the final has been put off again.
No South Tipp football final today! Ardfinnan were available and ready but Clonmel Commercials made it clear in advance that they weren't available to play this weeekend. #TippFootball #gaa
— Stephen Gleeson (@StephenGleeson_) December 2, 2018
Will the south Tipperary football final ever be played again?
