(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post
|
Moving club and moving to a different sport in a different country entirely are very different scenarios.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20561 - 26/08/2026 11:16:40 2691360 Link 1 |
|
But the reasons for the moves are largely similar. The only real difference is that the fella moving club is staying within the gaa, which is a good thing,and is motivated by sporting reasons,and not financial ones. Seniorleague (Galway) - Posts: 306 - 26/08/2026 12:45:43 2691386 Link 0 |
|
There's lots of administrative people getting paid to do work... it you want a well run organised managing a few hundred million of turnover you need competent people to do that. Unless you want an organisation run like the FAI was you need to pay people to organise things on a full time basis. For management teams, most of them are getting good expenses like mileage, some others like physios are paid on a professional service basis. Player get mileage too and other GPA payments. Not sure what your point is... people are getting payments, they have other jobs as well. So what? Who said a player moving club harms Irish culture? Do you understand what ethos means & stands for? It's not in the ethos of the GAA for players to move club unless for prescribed reasons. It's not hard to understand and if a player doesn't like it well then the sport is not for them so. Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2371 - 26/08/2026 13:19:32 2691393 Link 0 |
|
They are not largely similar at all. A lad moving to a different country to pursue a career playing a different sport is nothing like a glory hunter turning his back on his own. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20561 - 26/08/2026 16:00:14 2691418 Link 0 |
|
But Viking what's wrong with a guy wanting to win things? And if there is a guy like that playing on a team where a lot of his teammates have no ambition and maybe not putting it in why should he have to stay there? As I've said before life is too short to give so much of your time to something and get nothing from it. Be loyal to yourself first and foremost.
Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2678 - 26/08/2026 18:39:33 2691449 Link 0 |
|
Say 30 players getting 100k each - that would work out to 3 million. That's not too far off team preparation costs in some counties.
brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 506 - 26/08/2026 23:23:32 2691459 Link 1 |
|
Sure if we all had that attitude there'd be no GAA at all. I was at a CB meeting last night. Like everyone else in that room Im involved in alot of other things GAA related, (coaching, fixtures, executive and other committees) that I dont get paid for. Our club hasnt been Senior in nearly a decade now in Football, and hasnt been Senior in hurling since the 1940s. Our average numbers of boys in each age group between u12 and u18 is around 12 per 2 year agegroup. Should I move my children to a dual Senior club 5 miles away from where I live where they'd play in higher divisions underage if there was that option (ie no parish rule), and for myself Id have the "privilege" of doing all I do for a Senior club instead of an Intermediate one? Why would I even want to? Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20561 - 27/08/2026 09:45:56 2691475 Link 2 |
|
In a handful of counties, and they're generally the larger dual counties, so you'd need double that. You'd also need to cut well over half of the county teams, who couldn't come anywhere near that. No thanks. You'd be destroying the GAA.
WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3024 - 27/08/2026 10:34:32 2691483 Link 0 |
|
That's a very rare scenario, where there's one very motivated player surrounded by a team of people making no effort and a club which doesn't care. The vast majority of clubs are putting in a big effort and they play at the levels their talent and resources allow. The nature of the GAA is that we represent our communities. It's all you hear players talk about, when they're playing for their clubs. Listen to some of the brilliant Kilkenny hurlers who played for small junior and intermediate clubs. They wouldn't dream of transferring and anything they won with their club, be it a junior title even, meant the world to them. Playing with the people they grew up with. Seeing people from their communities at the games cheering them on. Representing your club, community and county is the backbone of the GAA. It's much more than a sport as a result. Letting people transfer willy nilly would change the face of the GAA forever and it would lose a huge amount. WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3024 - 27/08/2026 10:41:29 2691484 Link 1 |
|
Here's a break down of what players can get in the GAA. 1. Travel Mileage Rates Travel is the largest expense covered for players, particularly those traveling long distances to their home counties for training and matches. Standard Rate: 70 cent per mile (approx. 43.5c per km) for players traveling alone. Car-Pooling / Green Rate: €1.00 per mile if two or more players travel to training together to promote car-pooling. Northern Ireland Rate: 45 pence per mile. Cap: The maximum standard travel reimbursement is capped at 7,000 miles per season, meaning a single player can claim up to roughly €4,900 annually for travel. Session Limit: The GAA covers mileage for up to 4 collective sessions per week. Anything over this must be negotiated or covered locally by the specific county board. 2. Gear & Footwear Allowances Under player charters, inter-county panels are entitled to standard kits: Footwear Allowance: A vouched allowance of at least €375 per year for boots or trainers (typically covering up to three items). Match & Training Gear: Fully provided matchday and training kits (shorts, socks, tops, and tracksuits), as well as a kitbag. Equipment: Helmets, hurleys, and goalkeeper gloves (up to €80 per pair) are provided or replaced when broken. 3. Nutrition & Welfare Support Post-Session Meals: Hot meals must be provided to players after every field session and match. Nutrition Allowance: A baseline allowance of €20 per week is designated for supplementary nutrition. Medical & Injury Cover: Medical expenses, surgeries, and physiotherapy stemming from GAA activities are covered through the GAA Player Injury Fund and county boards. 4. Government Grants Inter-county players can also apply for an annual government grant managed via Sport Ireland and the GPA, which acts as a contribution toward the overall cost of training at an elite level. This baseline grant stands at €1,400 per year per player, though the GPA actively lobbies to increase it. Kew (Galway) - Posts: 406 - 27/08/2026 11:03:33 2691489 Link 0 |
|
As you well know, team preparation costs consists of many, many things. The wages describes above would be IN ADDITION to the current team preparation costs. Estimated costs of running teams across all county boards in 2025 was in the order of €45mil for all teams, hurling & football (A fairly comprehensive breakdown is provides here https://thepremierviewpodcast.com/gaa-congress-2026-financial-breakdown/). That would possibly quadruple (likely more) if every player was paid 100k. Even the wages were tapered according to grade, it still would cost an amount in excess of the resources available to meet same. The GAA is already owed 54mil by various county boards (the bulk of it by Cork & more than likely Mayo). The GAA across the board, make a collective surplus of 9.9mil on 2025 (https://www.gaa.ie/article/gaa-reinvests-83-cent-of-every-euro-generated-into-development-of-association). Bottom line, the GAA can't afford it and never will. Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2371 - 27/08/2026 11:14:04 2691493 Link 0 |
|
The soccer mindset, think about yourself & yourself only. The GAA isn't soccer. The GAA is an organisation firmly grounded in a ethos of community where you give as a collective to better your community, the mentality of a rising tide lifts all boats. The GAA have some of the finest facilities in the land for the benefit of their members, that didn't come by accident or by everyone thinking about themselves. No one is forced to play or administer within the GAA, it won't suit all. That fine but lets not start comparing to other sports when the ethos is completely different. Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2371 - 27/08/2026 11:40:29 2691502 Link 2 |
|
Correct. However can few thoughts.... If going professional footballers you're looking at maybe 10 regional Professional clubs. Something along rugby lines with their 4 clubs. But the ruggers have Euro competitions. A football scenario of 10 teams playing each other over and over again would die of boredom if not lack of money. Full time Hurling wouldn't be a runner at all. Might work on a part time professional basis for maybe 9/10 McCarthy Counties where lads might only work 3 days and get paid 2 days by GAA. Of course the weaker Counties would never catch up then. Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 882 - 27/08/2026 12:06:30 2691513 Link 0 |
|
Exactly. We've been down this road so often before and the numbers don't add up. It simply wouldn't be sustainable. You'd have to gut the number of teams, which would essentially kill the interest of a large swathe of existing GAA supporters. The same levels of interest wouldn't be there, and even if they were it still wouldn't pay for itself. The things which are unique about the GAA are what makes it so popular in the first place and why it's so embedded in Irish society. WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3024 - 27/08/2026 13:05:04 2691526 Link 0 |