League finals own goals

IN ALL FAIRNESS

Hurling fans aren’t shy about letting their feelings be known that they feel like second class citizens in the GAA family, and they were given more ammunition with the scheduling of the hurling and football league finals last and next weekend.

For over a decade, the finals in all four divisions of Gaelic football have been played in Croke Park, two on a Saturday and two on a Sunday. There hasn’t been much negative debate about that, until last Sunday such was the disappointing crowd of just over 21,000 for the double-header which included the division 1 final between Mayo and Kerry.

Now, Kerry supporters are renowned for not heading to the capital in big numbers until at least an All-Ireland semi-final, and who can blame them as it is a trek and Dublin isn’t the draw it once was with its costs. Previously, Mayo supporters would have followed their team anywhere but the same love isn’t there are the moment for the Kevin McStay vintage as there was for Stephen Rochford and James Horan in their spells in charge.

Croke Park is a fabulous stadium and a credit to the GAA, but is only great when its full. The GAA don’t seem to have an issue with playing the hurling league finals outside of Croke Park so why not on this occasion could they not have played the football division 1 final in the TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick, which would have revived memories of the classic All-Ireland semi-final replay between Mayo and Kerry in 2014, and surely would have drawn a crowd greater than 21,000 on its own, without a curtain-raiser.

There maybe contractual issues in terms of sponsors to have some of the National League finals played in Croke Park each, so if that were the case, surely such is the draw of a Cork v Tipperary clash that this years hurling final couldhave been in Croke Park instead. It would have avoided the ticket scramble that has taken place and also easily accommodated the Offaly and Waterford fans, along with a large section of the Tipperary support, who can’t get their hands on a ticket for the Pairc Ui Chaoimh sell-out on Sunday.

Sometimes there is a shortsightedness to how the GAA makes decisions, particularly in terms of scheduling and venue selection, and it’s hard to get away from that fact that it is coming from a football mindset. You can see it in that three of the five hurling league finals in divisions 2, 3 & 4 were played last Saturday in regional locations, completely overshadowed by the four football finals in Croke Park that were all shown live on television. Then next Sunday, you have the two remaining hurling league finals in divisions 1A & 1B but they will on the same weekend as the football championship starts with games in all four provinces, including Tipperary starting out against Waterford on Saturday evening in Thurles but not many Tipp supporters will be even aware or even care that game is on.

The leagues in both hurling and football should be completed before the championship starts in either code, that is only fair on the players and the integrity of the competitions which aren’t helped in the way they are scheduled.

With the pre-season competitions now done away with, the opening is there to start the football leagues one week earlier and avoid the scenario where Mayo, Roscommon, Wexford, and Limerick were playing league finals a week before they play championship.

In terms of the hurling league, the finals in the lower three tiers deserve better than what they got last Saturday, and that is no disrespect to the clubs that opened their grounds to host the games. I don’t believe Croke Park is the solution as a venue as the All-Ireland Finals in the Ring, Rackard & Meagher Cups are played there annually and that should remain the lure for all those teams.

However, what wouldn’t Down v Kildare, London v Mayo, or Fermanagh v Louth have given to be the curtain-raiser in Cork next Sunday. It might be a long way from home for all those teams but die-hard people in those counties would walk the trip if they had to if they got a thousand tickets each per county.

You could have put one of the remaining two finals on with Offaly v Waterford in a different location on the Saturday, while the Tipperary v Waterford football championship match could have had the last league final as a curtain-raiser on Saturday also.

Each unit of the GAA likes their autonomy when it comes to gates and revenue but where there is a will there is a way to ensure finals get proper profile, no matter the grade, and that the GAA doesn’t keep shooting itself in the foot when they can easily avoid it.