Club and County conflict over GAA roadmap
By Shane Brophy
The initial feelgood factor over the earlier than expected return to GAA from the end of July has been tempered by the confusion over how club games and inter-county training can be catered for at the same time.
As it stands, club games are permitted to resume from Friday 31st July and are to be concluded by Sunday 11th October, a maximum of eleven weekends before the inter-county competitions resume on the weekend of October 17th.
However, with inter-county team training allowed to resume from September 14th when county championships would be in their knockout stages, it creates another potential conflict between the club and inter-county game once more.
“They are giving us eleven weeks for club championship but the inter-county teams are allowed train from September 14th so there’s an anomaly there,” admitted Tipperary County Board chairman John Devane.
“County teams will expect to have their players from September and clubs will expect to have their players until October 11th so how do you bridge that gap? Are we to judge it?
“In fairness to Liam Sheedy and David Power, if they are entitled to the players from September 14th, we can’t say they are not.
“Clubs wouldn’t be happy to have players just for games after September 14th for a county quarter final, semi-final, final or whatever it may be.
“In effect they are only giving us seven weeks so why not just give the clubs until the end of September and from October onwards the inter-county season starts.
“This aspect needs to be tidied up and I’d love to know why they are telling us two different things out of the same breath.”
Devane said there needs to be concrete certainty as regards what is available to clubs and inter-county teams and he and all counties around the country hope to get it later this week when county chairpersons and secretaries meet via video conference with Croke Park officials to thrash out what is possible to squeeze into the five month window until the end of the year.
GAA President John Horan has suggested the championship might run on until February 2021 if things don’t go to plan due to a second wave of Covid-19 or potentially poor weather in the autumn or winter. This would also include provision to the completion of the 2020 National Leagues to allow for the make-up of the divisions for 2021 to be confirmed.