ALMOST THREE-QUARTERS of the county delegates in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night voted in favour of the introduction of a Tier 2 football championship for next season, despite vocal opposition from players likely to be involved.
John Horan admitted last week that he was ”actually quite surprised” the second-tier proposal reached this stage so soon. Horan shouldn’t have been so shocked, given it’s been his stated aim to push through the controversial plans ever since coming into office in 2018.
A previous motion to establish such a competition didn’t receive the required support in 2016 and was withdrawn before that year’s Congress. But since the GAA President has been a driving force behind the Tier 2 plans this time around, it was always likely to receive the green light this time around.
It’s been widely said that Horan was keen to have the introduction of a Tier 2 competition as part of the legacy of his presidency.
As GPA chief executive Paul Flynn said last month: ”The bigger legacy for anybody in the GAA would be to have an overall structure review of the overall year – club and county. That’s something that everybody would be remembered for.”
It all appeared very rushed and without much long-term planning.
The GAA’s Fixtures Calendar Review Task Force is currently drawing up plans for a revamped calendar across club, county and third-level competitions. It’s widely accepted that the current calendar isn’t fit for purpose.
Players are in favour of a two-tier structure with 60% of the GPA’s membership voting for such a format, just not this one.
The Irish News reported over the weekend that the Fixture Task Force are planning on rebalancing the provincial football system into four eight-team competitions and splitting the calendar in two.
The provinces are the major reason for such an imbalance in the current format of the All-Ireland SFC. Next season, Division 2 side Clare would need to beat Tipperary (Division 3) and either Waterford or Limerick (both Division 4) to get within a game of the Super 8s.
Cavan would need to overcome Monaghan (Division 1), Antrim (Division 4), Fermanagh (Division 2) or Down (Division 3) to reach the same stage of the competition.
The new Tier 2 format does nothing to address this issue.
GPA chairman Seamus Hickey and Cork chairperson Tracey Kennedy were among the voices that urged Central Council to wait for the results of the fixtures review committee’s work. Antrim chairman Ciarán McCavana warned that cutting the number of teams in the Sam Maguire Cup will pave the way for play-for-play at the elite level.
But the reality is that Tier 2 was voted in and we must accept that fact.
The litmus test for the new structure is whether players will stick around for the summer to play it. A sense of intrigue may be enough to prevent an exodus to the States in 2020, but further down the line if players do not want to compete in a Tier 2 format it will follow the Tommy Murphy Cup into extinction.
The real work starts now for the GAA in terms of selling it properly. The promises of extensive promotion, TV coverage, All-Star teams and hosting the final before an All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park are vital components of the new structure.
With sports desks already at their limit in terms of coverage, it remains to be seen whether media outlets will see value in properly covering the second-tier competition and particularly the early stages which are in danger of flying under the radar like the Joe McDonagh Cup group stage.
While most players don’t tog out to see their names in the papers or watch themselves play on TV, it’s still nice to receive proper coverage and feel valued by the Association.
Sponsors will also be monitoring things closely to see if they’ll get bang for their buck.
Weaker counties face the prospect of spending the spring competing in front of a man and his dog in Division 4 and then suffering early exits in the Tier 2 competition, far away from the bright lights and the big boys.
Sponsorship deals could therefore be negatively affected. As is often the case with these sort of things, money talks.
On the other side, the prospect of winning a Tier 2 All-Ireland final would give a team serious momentum and it gives sides a realistic title to aim for. It’s important to stress that a second-tier structure may well be a success if it receives proper buy-in from all involved.
The question is whether this format will get that backing. The main problem is rushing through this structure a matter of weeks before the fixtures review committee – which features key stakeholders across club, county and college - are due to deliver their work.
Horan revealed that RTÉ’s Head of Sport Declan McBennett sent a text message to a member of Croke Park staff declaring his confidence that the Tier 2 competition will receive live TV coverage.
We’ll wait and see what promises come to pass.
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