National Forum

The Corona Virus And Possible Effects To GAA Matches

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Replying To Talking_Sense:  "We are now locked down to May 5th so you can forget May and June and July. If we end up in June with even partial lockdown or virus still prevalent then there wont be football June, July or August. For me the brave thing the GAA should do is call it a day on the National Championship both Senior and Minor and focus on getting rid of Covid 19. They should bring clarity to the whole thing and lead from the front. Who cares we lose €60 million, we are a rich organisation and if clubs have to tighten the purses strings for couple of years so what. In addition if we do later in the year let the focus be club football but I doubt if that will get played either.

The GAA messing about trying to come up with an alternative format is going to be a time consuming waste of time I feel and lead to complete uncertainity and constant announcements every month. The GAA should call it a day on championship and by doing so would be telling its members quite clearly the critical importance of all working together to get rid of this virus."
Agreed. Pure waste of time. Alot of these GAA executives probably need to justify themselves and why they get remunerated by going through this pointless exercise with so many unknowns. There will be a push for county games first even though everyone knows this is higher risk with the larger numbers of people involved. Collective exercise with contact seems extremely unlikely for the rest of the year. When restrictions are lifted, should certainty start with the clubs but I guess, the money men make most of the decisions these days.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 729 - 11/04/2020 23:46:50    2275793

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Replying To Talking_Sense:  "We are now locked down to May 5th so you can forget May and June and July. If we end up in June with even partial lockdown or virus still prevalent then there wont be football June, July or August. For me the brave thing the GAA should do is call it a day on the National Championship both Senior and Minor and focus on getting rid of Covid 19. They should bring clarity to the whole thing and lead from the front. Who cares we lose €60 million, we are a rich organisation and if clubs have to tighten the purses strings for couple of years so what. In addition if we do later in the year let the focus be club football but I doubt if that will get played either.

The GAA messing about trying to come up with an alternative format is going to be a time consuming waste of time I feel and lead to complete uncertainity and constant announcements every month. The GAA should call it a day on championship and by doing so would be telling its members quite clearly the critical importance of all working together to get rid of this virus."
Spot on, National Leagues & C'ship for 2020 should be called null & void. Listening to the Games Adminiration official going on about playing games & having a back door & finishing the leagues ignores the reality of what's happening. Anyone who thinks that 40,000 or 80,000 people are going to be allowed pack out a stadium this year is in cloud cuckoo land. Every person, company, sporting body is going to lose money but some are still thinking selfishly. Watch the video of the mass graves in New York & that is the reality of what happens when greed is put first.
What is the point in lighting candles & putting out flags for frontline workers or like some are, running around trying to be heroes & putting everything they do up on Instagram & Twitter, when the frontline workers just want people to obey the restrictions. In some localities the complete disregard for the restrictions & greed of some beggars belief & means this won't be sorted out quickly.
One thing that should come from this is a complete reconfiguration of the GAA season. Greed & TV rights were forefront & the Inter County scene had taken over, starting in December as we saw this year, it's a farce, when 98% of their membership are left twiddling their thumbs to accommodate an inter county scene. All Mickey Mouse pre season tournaments should be done away with, play your national league, straight finals & each county having a minimum of 3 C'ship games & then knockout, no replays & let clubs exist & let people have time off including players

moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 11/04/2020 23:58:00    2275794

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Replying To Talking_Sense:  "We are now locked down to May 5th so you can forget May and June and July. If we end up in June with even partial lockdown or virus still prevalent then there wont be football June, July or August. For me the brave thing the GAA should do is call it a day on the National Championship both Senior and Minor and focus on getting rid of Covid 19. They should bring clarity to the whole thing and lead from the front. Who cares we lose €60 million, we are a rich organisation and if clubs have to tighten the purses strings for couple of years so what. In addition if we do later in the year let the focus be club football but I doubt if that will get played either.

The GAA messing about trying to come up with an alternative format is going to be a time consuming waste of time I feel and lead to complete uncertainity and constant announcements every month. The GAA should call it a day on championship and by doing so would be telling its members quite clearly the critical importance of all working together to get rid of this virus."
GAA should stick to the public health advice and return to games when it is safe to do so. Government have outlined their plans until early May and are doing their best to strike a balance between causing panic and keeping people safe. I am not sure that the GAA outright cancelling the championship for the year would be helpful in that aim at this stage. There may not be a championship when all is said and done but ruling out any chance of it now is premature imo.

The GAA have been great so far btw, doing deliveries to vulnerable people through the clubs and using their reach on social media to reinforce the social distancing message.

As an aside, some leading health experts are saying that all large gatherings should be off the table until there is a vaccine. We will be living with this thing for quite a while yet by the sounds of it.

GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2113 - 12/04/2020 00:54:31    2275798

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Replying To Trump2020:  "Yeah I hear you. I've been off the drink a few months now and was doing good at the gym before the Virus struck. You'd be shocked at the money in your pocket when you're NOT at pubs. So yes in a way GAAGO or NowTV would be practically free."
Agreed, I gave it up a couple of years back and it's amazing how quickly it all adds up- no beers probably equals no nightclub, no late night chipper and no taxi home. You're talking thousands per year for most moderate drinkers.

Health benefits are enormous too.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 12/04/2020 14:31:13    2275816

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Replying To Trump2020:  "Yeah I work weekends so I'd have a tough time with the big package but one here or there would be doable I suppose. I miss the Galway hurlings. Like missing a body part. Sigh."
Depends, you don't have to watch the games live- once you've paid, you can watch that match at any point during the rest of the year, at any hour of the day or night.

Mind you, there are also other ways- a lad from Mayo uploads highlights of all the games (shot by himself) up on YouTube. I imagine other counties probably have something similar.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 12/04/2020 14:35:18    2275818

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Replying To moc.dna:  "Spot on, National Leagues & C'ship for 2020 should be called null & void. Listening to the Games Adminiration official going on about playing games & having a back door & finishing the leagues ignores the reality of what's happening. Anyone who thinks that 40,000 or 80,000 people are going to be allowed pack out a stadium this year is in cloud cuckoo land. Every person, company, sporting body is going to lose money but some are still thinking selfishly. Watch the video of the mass graves in New York & that is the reality of what happens when greed is put first.
What is the point in lighting candles & putting out flags for frontline workers or like some are, running around trying to be heroes & putting everything they do up on Instagram & Twitter, when the frontline workers just want people to obey the restrictions. In some localities the complete disregard for the restrictions & greed of some beggars belief & means this won't be sorted out quickly.
One thing that should come from this is a complete reconfiguration of the GAA season. Greed & TV rights were forefront & the Inter County scene had taken over, starting in December as we saw this year, it's a farce, when 98% of their membership are left twiddling their thumbs to accommodate an inter county scene. All Mickey Mouse pre season tournaments should be done away with, play your national league, straight finals & each county having a minimum of 3 C'ship games & then knockout, no replays & let clubs exist & let people have time off including players"
Counties will still be playing games before a national league. I agree get rid of pre season tournaments especially cups. Just let teams play as many or as few games as they like then start league. Make league last longer and have championship start with league still having games to go and give more time to clubs. All possible of people actually buy into it

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3786 - 12/04/2020 14:54:49    2275820

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Replying To Gleebo:  "Agreed, I gave it up a couple of years back and it's amazing how quickly it all adds up- no beers probably equals no nightclub, no late night chipper and no taxi home. You're talking thousands per year for most moderate drinkers.

Health benefits are enormous too."
Happy Easter everyone. Yeah I don't miss hangovers or migraines at all.

Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2586 - 12/04/2020 15:56:33    2275823

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The league's are gone and will be classified as null and void.
The championship? I don't know. They obviously trying to push the knockout version, which I'd be fine with once it's a once off 32 team seeded draw, NO provincial championships this year. That's the only way it can proceed. But will they? And even at that, it's very 50/50. At best

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 12/04/2020 21:07:35    2275841

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Replying To royaldunne:  "The league's are gone and will be classified as null and void.
The championship? I don't know. They obviously trying to push the knockout version, which I'd be fine with once it's a once off 32 team seeded draw, NO provincial championships this year. That's the only way it can proceed. But will they? And even at that, it's very 50/50. At best"
Yeah. 50/50 is optimistic at this point. I say NO WAY to the league and the smallest MAYBE for the Championship.

Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2586 - 12/04/2020 23:08:04    2275855

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Replying To royaldunne:  "The league's are gone and will be classified as null and void.
The championship? I don't know. They obviously trying to push the knockout version, which I'd be fine with once it's a once off 32 team seeded draw, NO provincial championships this year. That's the only way it can proceed. But will they? And even at that, it's very 50/50. At best"
I think the opposite. Surely the virus will be around and there will still be restrictions (if its played) I don't think asking Cork to travel to Derry in the first round will be best way to contain it. Better to play counties from nearby.
For what it's worth I don't see how championship will be played at all and if it is could be behind closed doors for early rounds anyway.

Jack_Sparrow (Westmeath) - Posts: 1045 - 13/04/2020 09:53:36    2275864

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Replying To Trump2020:  "Yeah. 50/50 is optimistic at this point. I say NO WAY to the league and the smallest MAYBE for the Championship."
Yeah I think you right

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 13/04/2020 09:54:10    2275865

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We are going to have to live alongside this virus for a while. There will be a dance and hammer approach to this going forward, with efforts to be made to mitigate and minimise the chain of infection going forward. Whether that can stretch to having some form of controlled crowd at GAA games remains to be seen, doubtful as i am, as i am sure there there will be a restriction on a certain number of people in that can congregate in groups. At games it might be possible as its a controlled environment with severely reduced crowds and maybe a hybrid approach of live free streaming for the year for a flat fee. The concern is the to games preamble transport to the game, socializing before and after its impossible not to have congestion.

Then you are looking at travel home and away etc, i doubt there are very many places in the country who would welcome 10-15k Dubs into their towns or cities, gas really when you consider people have wanted Dublin out of Dublin for ages. Likewise if Mayo made a semi or a quarter against the Dubs, would they be rushing up in big numbers to spend the weekend n Dublin. Its a recipe for spreading the virus around the corners of the country.

I also think the border situation is one to keep an eye on. Both the North and Souths administrations could have very different ideas on Sport and travel over borders, that could impact on running an Ulster Championship and the Championship structure. I was a bit concerned about the suggestion of running the championship on Oct - Dec, bang in the middle of Flu season and with this virus i couldn't of thought of a worse time to run of a championship. Im hoping for some creative solution that maximise safety as i have concern for the GAA financially.

Life is changing fast however and will do for a while, so i'm open minded on it, hopefully some creativity can be found and safety maximized. For those on lock down who haven't been going in and out to work, i can tell you, its a brave new world out there and going to be a very different one everyone left and will be for quite a time. Hope everyone is staying safe and well.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4518 - 13/04/2020 09:58:26    2275866

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32 County open draw for championship but do not seed it. And beaten round 1 teams into the tailteann cup so two games for everyone

theborderfox (Monaghan) - Posts: 138 - 13/04/2020 10:05:20    2275869

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Replying To theborderfox:  "32 County open draw for championship but do not seed it. And beaten round 1 teams into the tailteann cup so two games for everyone"
Exactly borderfox that's what I suggested myself, it's the fairest option, first team out of the hat gets home advantage, it would be nice if the GAA could be fair for every.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 13/04/2020 10:41:37    2275872

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The League is gone and I think same for championship unfortunately. Even if restrictions are relaxed, social distancing must remain in place until people are vaccinated. This is not happening anytime so. I honestly believe some of next year is under threat. This is not the Premier League or Champions League where players are professional and billions of euro are involved. Here they may eliminate risk with temperature measurements of players etc. and play in empty stadiums. We are nowhere near this yet with the risks outweighing the gains here. Genuinely hope I'm wrong but I just can't see it. Whatever preliminary plans drawn up for championship, there is little point in releasing them for a considerable amount of time.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 729 - 13/04/2020 10:43:46    2275873

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Maybe it's a good time to press the reset button and address all the money being spent on teams. One county is leading this and perhaps that needs to be finally stopped.

gahfan (Wexford) - Posts: 639 - 13/04/2020 10:45:01    2275874

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Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Exactly borderfox that's what I suggested myself, it's the fairest option, first team out of the hat gets home advantage, it would be nice if the GAA could be fair for every."
Would like to see that format but giving division three and four teams home advantage against division one and two teams.

Johnnyprophet (Galway) - Posts: 39 - 13/04/2020 11:09:59    2275878

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Replying To Johnnyprophet:  "Would like to see that format but giving division three and four teams home advantage against division one and two teams."
Ya that would be grand, I couldn't see any reasonable people having a problem with that.

Maybe having no travelling fans is something they could do as well to cut down the chances of the spread, although iv got a feeling that we might see an old vaccine popping up in the the not too distant future.

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 13/04/2020 12:14:46    2275880

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Replying To Johnnyprophet:  "Would like to see that format but giving division three and four teams home advantage against division one and two teams."
I get what you saying, and what others say about the seeding. The only reason I stated this is that for example Donegal mayo Galway Kerry draw each other in rd 1 then loser into tailteann cup. It's kinda unfair on the teams who would be in there anyway.
My seeding would be for rd 1 only. Afterwards complete open draw.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 13/04/2020 12:16:01    2275881

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Replying To Jack_Sparrow:  "I think the opposite. Surely the virus will be around and there will still be restrictions (if its played) I don't think asking Cork to travel to Derry in the first round will be best way to contain it. Better to play counties from nearby.
For what it's worth I don't see how championship will be played at all and if it is could be behind closed doors for early rounds anyway."
I get what you saying. But it is also a good distance from Wexford to Louth. And vice versa

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 13/04/2020 12:20:14    2275882

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