A motion from CLG Clontarf will be considered at this month's Congress that would mean adult players would have to play a minimum of four club league games to be eligible to play inter-county championship.
Speaking on the Irish Examiner's Gaelic football podcast, former Dublin footballer Dr Noel McCaffrey explained why he proposed the motion at his own club AGM. It was subsequently overwhelmingly passed at the Dublin AGM last December. McCaffrey, an All-Star in 1988 and father of six-time All-Ireland winner Jack, said that the split season has solved one problem but worsened another.
"The split season is very interesting in that it has clearly delivered on something that is very important which is certainty around the country to the club fixture calendar. That was viewed as a huge issue and this has solved it.
"That success is being celebrated wildly and widely. It is discussed up and down as a great achievement. I suppose it is, but in tandem with it what has happened is, as an unintended consequence, county players play even less with their clubs now in the split season than they previously did. Some people would say they weren't playing at all anyway. It depends on the county, that has become clear to us as we have gone around our business of consulting counties."
Clontarf have published a detailed document on their website explaining the reason for the motion, the obvious challenges and their plan of action. They have consulted county secretaries around the country and will host information Webinars for clubs.
Was already being discussed in another thread. Can't remember which one.
I maintain my belief that this may be a Dublin solution to a Dublin "problem", but it can't be a one-size-fits-all approach for every county.
Here in Wexford, for example, clubs only have five League matches, from about the start of March to the end of May or early June. They get a sixth and maybe a seventh during June if they're in the playoffs.
Expecting a county player to player at least four of them means expecting him to play almost them all. That's very different to Dublin, where a player would only have to play four club matches out of the 15 they have in their club league.
Yeah probably was discussed i didn't look through the threads. In Tyrone they start the league late which is May. The championship would be well underway by that stage. If its supposed to be a split season where would they get in 4 league games when some teams are playing inter county championship at the beginning of April.
Yes I recall this being discussed elsewhere. I think the general consensus was that is is a good idea with noble aims but with differences around the country meaning a one size fits all approach wouldn't work.
I would think that a county player should be made eligible for a club game with the expectation that they should play where there is no inter-county game that weekend.
This is an old chestnut of mine that I have harped on about for years…. This thing of county managers ( most of them now outsiders ) having full call on club players is total nonsense… stopping even barely used players from turning out for their clubs.. Players should be allowed play games with their clubs so long as they have say 9/10 days to their next county match..: What's going on even with U20 players at present is pure madness…!