'Tradition' seems to be a dirty word nowadays. "Oh you can't have it the way it is, we need to move with the times. We can't do it the way we used to." Well, to me, that's just a bunch of 'stuff' to put it politely. And I get annoyed when I hear this clamour to change things without broader thought of the consequences.
Take one of the proposals down at GAA Annual Congress this weekend, which is to move the All Ireland Hurling and Football Finals back to August, which would leave a 4 month calendar at the end of the year for Club fixtures. I am not a Club GAA player, so maybe I cannot speak with authority, but I have been to 36 All Ireland Finals in Hurling and Football in the last quarter of a century and I have been a national media editor for over a decade.
In other words, I am as passionate about GAA as the next man, even if I don't play during the winter. I recognise that without the Club player and volunteers, there would be no GAA. They are the foundation stone of the Association. So they have to be heard and it's great that there is now a Club Players' Association.
However, the GAA's wide appeal all comes down to the latter stages of the Championship. On St Patrick's Day, when the All Ireland Club Finals are held, the average attendance is around 30,000. For All Ireland inter county deciders in September, 82,300 is the minimum that will look to attend. I say minimum because Dublin and Mayo last year could have filled Croke Park twice over.
In my opinion, the GAA should hold a comprehensive inter county Championship between May and September, merging the League and Championship into a new, major, singular competition. If this includes Round Robin home and away games and extra fixtures, great. Instead of removing September as a decisive month for inter county action, Club Fixtures could take precedence over the National Leagues.
Do you know who won the National Hurling League last year? Clare. Did it matter in terms of evaluating their year as a success or a failure? I don't think it did. It remains a warm up competition for the 'big show' - the Championship. And if the big show is wrapped up by the end of August, Soccer and Rugby, the other beasts in the Irish sporting publicity triumvirate, have a free rein. I have been at more than one All Ireland Football Final in September when the Croke Park extravaganza has completely overshadowed a Sunday Premier League fixture involving Liverpool or Manchester United. Why give the Premier League a free pass?
If September is no longer part of the GAA inter county picture, sports coverage will be dominated by Premier League soccer and the Republic of Ireland team. People may say that moving the All Ireland Finals back a few weeks will have no negative impact, but I think it will. The GAA will lose promotional time and as somebody pointed out to me on Twitter, there will be no jersey days for kids or even a buzz in the classroom around the big match either before it or after it. Remember that many families also holiday in August. There has to be a better solution to maximise exposure for the Championship without truncating it, while also improving the lot of the Club player. In 2018 the Republic of Ireland soccer team may be part of the World Cup in Russia, which would pose serious publicity challenges for the GAA in June and July. Soccer seasons seem to be getting longer and longer as it is. The Champions League Final is on June 3rd this year.
Maybe I am wrong with this view, but less oxygen and promotional time for the GAA when it really matters could mean less revenue, which would mean less money to be redistributed to the grassroots, for whose benefit the schedule change would be for. Not an easy solution, but nothing in our beloved GAA ever is.
