“When different lads from different clubs come together they have the huge honour of wearing the county jersey. It’s a source of pride for them. But the GAA is built on the club, the community and the locality and that’s the brilliant thing about it.” - Brian Cody
IT might not have been a JFK moment, but I’ll never forget my first ever visit to Derrymacash. Not only for the courageous second half comeback by St Pius, or the how well the immaculate pitch on the shores of Lough Neagh dealt with the deluge of rain.
Twitter was in overdrive - it was the morning GAA officialdom told us exactly where we stood.
On a wet morning there were women selling tea as parents filed into watch their sons bid for a place in the St Patrick’s Day final. The groundsman went out of his way to get me hooked up to the wifi and he ensured the referee was shown to his dressing room. It was a vintage GAA club.
The same members we find the length and breadth of the country. When covering the All-Ireland Quarter-Final in Greenford this year I witnessed the same hand of kindness. Gaels giving every ounce of what they have.
Speaking to Drum manager Kieran O’Kane about his charity fundraising drive gives an insight into the inner workings of a club. A squad of players putting something back into the community.
All the same club members who get spruced up, get the glad rags on for the night of celebration at the club dinner dance. The special guest, usually a high ranking GAA official, will tell us how well our club is doing, how much of a challenge it is to keep clubs going.
Then will come the punchline – “The club is the lifeblood of the association.” Is it really? It should be, it is but it’s not. It’s only a distraction to the commercial power of the inter-county game.
Some 90 miles south in Drumcondra county delegates voted emphatically in favour of the new ‘Super 8’ round-robin structure for the All-Ireland championship.
Producing a ‘more exciting’ championship was one of the selling points and to an extent, it does need revamped. But at what cost?
The new structure will see the county scene streamlined and condensed into an 18 week season from early May until late August. If Derry, from the preliminary round, were to win the All-Ireland through the front door it would take nine weekends.
The problem being that county managers would have the monopoly on county players for the other nine weekends. This would render the club leagues a county player free zone, the very players that club members have pumped their time into coaching – almost from the cradle.
An All-Ireland championship run through the ‘back door could take 11 weekends. With county players now strangers around their clubs, a natural divide will begin to exist – if it hasn’t already.
In some clubs their county stars will still report for the odd training session but by and large, they won’t appear until August or September, depending on their county’s fortunes.
Diarmuid O’Donovan of Cork county board and the GPA’s Dermot Earley were the only parties who spoke out against Motion 4 on Saturday in headquarters.
“The players oppose changes to the quarter-final stages for a number of reasons. Firstly, the lack of consultation with the players. Secondly, the format offers little in the way of changes for the lower-ranked counties,” stated Early.
Earlier in the week the CPA confirmed their right to speak was shot down by President Aoghan Ó Fearghail. Chairman Micheál Briody wanted the proposals parked until there was proper dialogue among all interested parties.
I do agree that the change to the format will make some attractive fixtures but they won’t be knock-out games.
The abolishment of replays is a positive development but that aside, there is a fast split developing between club and county.
In a lengthy chat I had with a ‘fellow Gael’ on Saturday I voiced my disapproval at the motions being pushed through when both player groups voiced their concerns.
My fellow Gael is entitled to his opinion and thought the proposals a great idea and that there are only certain counties who can win the All-Ireland anyway. What about the likes of Tipperary and Clare last year? Both are developing counties and took some scalps on their championship campaigns.
My other argument was that it was going to kill the club scene. He came back with the theory that club league means nothing. We all know that championship is the only show in town, but players love playing with their club – it’s their roots after all.
What was even more worrying was how our conversation ended. When asked where I was heading to I told him I was going to the Slaughtneil v Cuala game. His response – what county are Cuala from?
The answer was enough. There are county people and there are club people but that’s not healthy.
If we are not careful it could be the death knell on the club game as players in the high achieving counties will choose just to play with their county, returning in some capacity when the Sam Maguire is won or the title dreams are shattered.
Or worse still, players won’t play county football because of the volume of training and preparation required, with little chance of silverware or toppling the kings of Dublin and Kerry.
As Derry’s twitter hashtag depicts, #CandC, we need to be able to serve both club and county.
Look at Gary Brennan a few weeks ago, playing for Ballyea hurlers on a Saturday and leading Clare footballers out the following day. Oisin McConville and John McEntee, massive achievers in football terms, were passionate Crossmaglen and Armagh men both.
In Derry’s peak time in the early 1990s the Lavey and Dungiven contingent were going at it hammer and tongs in the club colours. Albeit they didn’t play every game, but the club cannot be allowed to peter off into insignificance. It is too important.
Brennan’s county colleague Podge Collins took to social media over the weekend to show his disapproval of the new proposals. His wording was strong and hard-hitting, but in a nutshell it insisted that with the GAA it was all about money and not about developing weaker counties.
Tyrone’s Joe McMahon was the same: “RIP club football #congress.”
Dermot Earley and Declan Brennan may not have oceans of experience on the administration front. But they do want to engage in dialogue and they represent the playing population – those most affected by the busy schedules.
The answer to my fellow Gael’s question – Cuala are from Dublin. As we found out they are a powerfully drilled hurling team. Gary Brennan and Tony Kelly will find that out in a few weeks.
As for the committee of Derrymacash, they took pride in their premises and in the fact they developed Paddy ‘Mo’ (Moriarty) one of Armagh’s and Ulster’s finest players.
Our club is our identity after all. There has to be a balance.
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