Fermanagh inter-county and Irish League star calls for change to GAA calendar

It's fair to say Ryan McCluskey probably knows what he's talking about when it comes to this subject.

The Fermanagh native is one of a select few who has experienced first hand the demands of playing inter-county football and top-flight soccer. Somehow, he managed to navigate leading the Erne men to an All-Ireland semi final whilst upholding an Irish League career where he won league and cup honours with Portadown. He persevered through it but, in an era of increasing professionalism, that's probably becoming more and more difficult for the modern GAA athlete.  Heck, it's becoming more difficult to balance playing club and county never mind another sport. So McCluskey, still understandably upset from his place on the bench in our Republic of Ireland GAA Select team, has come up with a solution to revamp the calendar. In an attempt to tackle the "little to no rest" element which he says could be contributing to the decrease in the average lifespan of GAA players, the Fermanagh man has put together a proposed fixture list encompassing some of the major competitions to allow a rest and transition period throughout October, November and December. One key fixture of the change would be the running of club games in between the county league schedule and the respective county panels then being selected on a game-by-game basis to reflect the form players, replicating the international set-up at soccer. Have a look at this proposal.  In fairness, he's tasted both schedules.  He knows what it's like.  

Thought I would have a bit of fun with re - vamping the Gaa calender . What you think folks ? @SportsJOEdotie pic.twitter.com/2FGiMDZldC — Ryan Mc Cluskey (@clucker60) December 1, 2014