Tipperary GAA faces a challenging period ahead - CEO

By Shane Brophy

While acknowledging the on-field successes and financial partnerships put in place to fund the preparation of teams, CEO Murtagh Brennan says Tipperary GAA is “facing a challenging period ahead.”

In his second report to County Convention on Sunday, he said this is due to a “perfect storm” regarding financial and facility shortfalls, coinciding with the reformatting of all inter-county competitions into a round-robin system which consequently increase the amount of games taking place at all levels, lengthen each respective season, put added pressure on limited facilities and increases costs.

“While we cannot control fixtures and costs associated with players charters,” Brennan said, adding “we can plan towards facility enhancement and improve our fundraising model.” To that end, they have secured a number of sponsorships, such as Templetuohy Foods for inter-county social media content, Pinergy as streaming sponsor for the Club Championships, and the biggest of all, the world famous Coolmore horse breeding operation as the title sponsor of Dr Morris Park plus the primary sponsor of the new GAA mobile app, while Fiserv have also signed on for another two years as primary jersey sponsor.

To address the infrastructural shortcomings, the Win a House draw was established to fund the enhancement of training provisions for teams. Tipperary GAA currently own three playing pitches at Coolmore Morris Park which creates infrastructural pinch points resulting in the necessity to rent pitches and gymnasiums for usage to facilitate a county training plan for teams from academy right up to senior level.

“In short, we have an insufficient number of training pitches to prepare our inter-county football and hurling teams, as well as our extensive Games Development Programme,” Brennan revealed.

“An unintended consequence of the split season is the compression of all pre-season and championship activity into Winter/Spring when our weather is at its most volatile. This puts pressure on our playing pitches creating a real challenge for our inter-county managers when attempting to plan a program of training ahead of the championship.

“The lack of a Tipperary GAA owned 4G pitch places another financial strain on the County Board as we are required to rent the usage of a 4G pitch for our inter-country teams and to complete our club championships which run late into winter.

“At this juncture I am compelled to express again the County Board’s disappointment at not being allocated LSSIF funding for both the TUS project and FBD Semple Stadium. This decision from the government, represents a major setback in terms of our strategic planning on facility development, as this project was to provide the Tipperary County Board with three new floodlit pitches including a 4G pitch. It now means that we as a county have to carefully consider potential avenues for the provision of funding for these important infrastructural elements.”

Player and Games Development

However, despite the unfavourable economic environment Tipperary GAA finds itself in, Brennan said the county’s games development model is “highly functional and productive,” pointing to the on-field successes over the past year.

“Our partnership with Setanta College has now entered its third year and the results are evident in terms of players seamlessly transitioning through the age grades.

“2024 saw success in the Arrabawn Cup at U15 level, The Gerry Reilly U16 Football Shield, with Munster and All Ireland titles at U17 level and Munster success at U20 level.

“While silverware is never a truly accurate metric of success, it does point towards consistent progress through the development pathway by our players.

“I would like to compliment our Games Development manager Kevin Halley and his staff for their leadership, energy, and professionalism in driving the necessary change required to get our underage standards to the high levels they are currently at.”

Brennan added: “The creation of a County Athletic Coordinator will, in my view, be the final piece of the jigsaw in terms of the athletic player pathway. This appointment should enhance the athletic development of our young players, ensuring that all players are monitored and developed as they transition between grades and kept within the Tipperary high performance system.

“Our club competitions continue to exemplify strong structure and serious competitiveness, showcasing the depth of talent within Tipperary GAA. Remarkably, the past seven years have seen five different winners of the senior hurling championship, highlighting the vibrancy and balance across our clubs.”