With the growing unrest in some counties such
as Donegal over player availability what should
be done to resolve this? Should county players
be given a universal opt out of club fixtures
even if they are not starred games for as long
as their county remains in the championship?
I follow the county team and am not a member
of any club so I am not fully aware of the
politics of this.

REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1702 - 29/10/2013 15:36:36    1507081

The club comes first. County fixtured need to be streamlined so that players can spend more times with their clubs and club championships given more time and respect. There is far too much emphasis on the intercounty scene. The club is what the GAA stands for.
The likes of Michael Murphy and others complaining about having to play for their club, in preference of a friendly game where the opposition barely turns up, is scandalous. The Donegal management being given a promise that Donegal clubs will play no club championship until the county team are knocked out of the All Ireland series is scandalous. The continued playing of the O'Byrne Cup and other mickey mouse Spring tournaments needs to stop.

icehonesty (Wexford) - Posts: 2581 - 29/10/2013 16:24:02    1507121

Well for a start the players need to remember the reason they are playing county is because of there club that coached them from 6 up to today various coaches giving up there time to teach them the game. Then you have there club mates who played with them from 6 up to today and helped make them the player they are.

Club is everything, everything in GAA and when players start forgetting that then the GAA is losing a part of its makeup. An honour to play for your county no question but your club comes first

Brianmac78 (Dublin) - Posts: 1168 - 29/10/2013 17:49:00    1507163

The club scene would be very weak if it wasn't for the county scene that brings the funds and the glamour. it works both ways lads.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 29/10/2013 17:58:59    1507170

There used to be a 14 day rule i think,Well im fairly sure there was one in Kerry,All county players would be free to play club games up to 14 days before an inter county game.Cant see why something similar could'nt be re-introduced.

In Kerry there are 60 something clubs and the training of 30 players can ground over 1000 players

shea (Kerry) - Posts: 409 - 29/10/2013 18:02:37    1507173

I think the club games need to go on during championship whether county players can play or not and in most matches neither team won't really be affected. Especially the lower divisions that don't usually have any Meath starters.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 29/10/2013 18:46:19    1507201

I would be a club first man. The issue here is the croke park set, the money men (& women). Club = no money, inter-county = money. Their wages are driven by inter-county. Understanding peoples inspirations can really help you see what allows the poor treatment of our club players year round. I'd reckon if club players went on strike, Croke park would not give a s..... The croke park crowd are so different to the GAA people on the ground. I think they are as disconnected as politicians!! Love giving out about them up there!!!

Wmdg (Tipperary) - Posts: 14 - 29/10/2013 18:49:55    1507207

I seen on the main page at a team from Clare might not be playing in the Munster football championship this year because they had lads playing with the Clare hurling team and the championship was put back. What should happen there is the Munster council would have set a date for when the Clare club was to play in Munster if they dont have the county championship finished before that date then the Clare county board get a big fine, the same thing was happening in Donegal and Dublin in the last few years. If the county board get a fine it will have a knock on affect as they will have less money for the intercounty teams.

moomoo (Kerry) - Posts: 4023 - 29/10/2013 19:31:32    1507236

icehonesty
County: Wexford
Posts: 1411

1507121
The club comes first. County fixtured need to be streamlined so that players can spend more times with their clubs and club championships given more time and respect. There is far too much emphasis on the intercounty scene. The club is what the GAA stands for.
The likes of Michael Murphy and others complaining about having to play for their club, in preference of a friendly game where the opposition barely turns up, is scandalous. The Donegal management being given a promise that Donegal clubs will play no club championship until the county team are knocked out of the All Ireland series is scandalous. The continued playing of the O'Byrne Cup and other mickey mouse Spring tournaments needs to stop.

What i found worse about that was the fact the county board in Donegal were getting the stick and not Jim McGuinness the man who got the club games put off

moomoo (Kerry) - Posts: 4023 - 29/10/2013 19:33:20    1507237

mooman

icehonesty

Please get ur facts correct before posting. You probably would not find a finer club man than Michael Murphy he was not complaining he simply asked for a resolve.
plus you will go far to find a player who could put back to back performances in like he did over the one weekend.

So that been said i think ur comments are a pretty cheap shot at Donegal once again seeing that you are all obsessed with them .

So dig a little deeper next time lads where you will see that the likes of the dublin's & tyrone's etc to name a few dont start their club championship to the county team is out so get over the donegal obsession like good lads .

All that mcguiness asked was for us to follow what the other top 5/6 teams are doing!

letterkennyGuy (Donegal) - Posts: 168 - 30/10/2013 09:32:51    1507307

Maybe 5 months of the year-January to May could be set aside for all club
games and June-October could be for county games? November and December
would be a rest period.Fair compromise?

REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1702 - 30/10/2013 10:19:55    1507313

To be fair to intercounty players winning a provincial
title or an All Ireland title puts them in the history
books while the club championships have been devalued
poor management/structure of the competitions?

REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1702 - 30/10/2013 10:31:17    1507317

In antrim we always put club before county, surely its a no-brainer!!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 30/10/2013 10:34:41    1507320

There is a balance to be found.while it is not fair
for clubs to be without their star players all the
time,Paul Grimley let his Armagh players play
for their clubs up to a week before their Championship
match v Cavan and they then put in the worst Armagh
display in years?

REDANDBLACK30 (Down) - Posts: 1702 - 30/10/2013 10:45:12    1507325

letterkennyGuy
County: Donegal
Posts: 19

1507307
mooman

icehonesty

Please get ur facts correct before posting. You probably would not find a finer club man than Michael Murphy he was not complaining he simply asked for a resolve.
plus you will go far to find a player who could put back to back performances in like he did over the one weekend.

So that been said i think ur comments are a pretty cheap shot at Donegal once again seeing that you are all obsessed with them .

So dig a little deeper next time lads where you will see that the likes of the dublin's & tyrone's etc to name a few dont start their club championship to the county team is out so get over the donegal obsession like good lads .

All that mcguiness asked was for us to follow what the other top 5/6 teams are doing!

The Kerry championship goes no wile Kerry are still in the championship so maybe its you that would want to git his facts right. As for him wanting to change the date of the county final, what makes him so special that he thinks the county board would change it at the drop of the hat for him?

moomoo (Kerry) - Posts: 4023 - 30/10/2013 11:59:16    1507354

The problem is that it is left up to each county to run their club championships as they see fit. When the county manager then starts making all sorts of demands on the availability of his players it is very hard for the county board to stand up to him and insist that the club championships go ahead in a timely fashion. They don't want to be seen to be hurting the county team's chance of success, particularly when other county boards are caving to the demands of their managers. One solution would be for the GAA to introduce a rule that every county must play at least one full round of club championship fixtures every month, starting no later than May. There should be a meaningful penalty for breaking this rule e.g the county team does not get a home championship game for 2 years. As long as county boards are allowed to do what they want, regular club players will continue to get shafted.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 1035 - 30/10/2013 12:20:01    1507367

The current debate is around the players playing in the International Series.

Counties are RIGHT not to schedule County Finals or Semi-Finals around this rubbish. There are 59 or so other people on the two panels and why should they be punished???

Love Paudie Kissane's comment on retirement that he never once felt he was making a sacrifice to play for his County!

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 31/10/2013 09:24:15    1507631

Its an important issue.
Martin Breheny wrote a very one sided article recently about how the GAA doesn't deserve players like Sean Cavanagh. Like most of his articles, in my opinion it was one sided, and on the wrong side.
The GAA doesnt deserve the club players up and down the country who sit on their hands for months on end just so the inter county players like Cavanagh can be accommodated, and the situation gets worse when these players declare themselves available for the International rules games, which, until the Aussies start taking them seriously, are a worthless joke, bordering on an embarrassment. Then these club players are expected to play a glut of games in bad weather, at short notice.
These guys are the platform on which the GAA has been built. A lot of them work very hard, but don't get the perks and holidays and all star trips that the inter county boys do, and if they keep being treated this way, a lot of them may pack it in and play another sport if they can.

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 31/10/2013 09:58:07    1507642

Club must be the most important thing. It has to be. County is a representative honour. It is an honour to play for your county. I played for mine. But the club is where you are from, who you are. I remember the first time I pulled on my clubs colours, the green and gold, far better than I remember my first Wexford jersey. I remember the first ball I went for as a club senior. The first league medal I won. The first county championship I won. the club trained me, brought me to games, never asked for a thing from me other than I give my best. The club is what we should all have at the front of our minds. The county is an honour. It'll come and go. The club is forever.

icehonesty (Wexford) - Posts: 2581 - 31/10/2013 10:19:33    1507651

In meath the club fixtures set up was a joke this year in my opinion no respect giving to the players on the meath hurling team being asked to play club championship 2 days after playing a christy ring semi final and some dual clubs being asked to play fixtures one day after the other. the lower leagues were all finished in septemeber so any team not left in the championship have been finished since september 1st

srgt_slaughter (Meath) - Posts: 462 - 31/10/2013 10:48:55    1507662