County Transfer System

conno16

liam hayes has been backing this again and i have to say i'm convinced it is the way forward
recent player strikes in carlow, galway and clare suggests the gaa is coming to a cross-roads and players are becoming unsettled
we need to introduce a transfer system straight away in my opinion

i think the gaa would do well also to consider a drafting system as per the NFL

jethro081

Tbh i think it'd kill the championship. The real beauty is that teams like fermanagh can come from the wilderness, build a team and become seriously competitive. If a Transfer system was introduced they'd be robbed of young talent and become a feeder for the likes of Kerry and Dublin (ala West Ham in the EPL.)

This is not just true of Fermanagh IMO but of every county which isn't constantly overburdened with success. It would be the end of the Ethos of the GAA as far as i'm concerned.

Daysha

I wouldn't be able to live with it. Could you really imagine Dublin celebrating an All-Ireland title with footballers from Kerry and Meath in their starting 15? Or Waterford winning an All-Ireland with more Cork and Kilkenny players on their team than home grown hurlers? Could you ever imagine Henry Shefflin ever wearing the red of Cork, or Conor Mortimer in a Galway shirt?

Like the poster above said, it would kill off one of the most fundamental aspects of the GAA.

Diabhal Beag

Daysha wrote: »

Could you ever imagine Conor Mortimer in a Galway shirt?

This statement should kill any kind of Premier League style transfer system

keane2097

Terrible idea imo.

Royal Seahawk

A player can get a transfer if he wants nowadays anyway.
Anyone remember the Kildare team from 1998?
InterCounty tranfers are not unusual.

Stevecw

conno16 wrote: »

liam hayes has been backing this again and i have to say i'm convinced it is the way forward
recent player strikes in carlow, galway and clare suggests the gaa is coming to a cross-roads and players are becoming unsettled
we need to introduce a transfer system straight away in my opinion

i think the gaa would do well also to consider a drafting system as per the NFL

There hasn't been any player strikes in Carlow. It has just been the same thing as every year, where most of the countys best players don't join the panel, and some that do just leave during the league. Leaving us as usual without most of the counties best players for the championship.

As for that transfer system, it would the worst possible thing that could happen the gaa. Counties like Carlow, who as it stands are really struggling would have no chance at all if Dublin or whoever could just come and buy our best player! The smaller counties might as well just give up if that came into effect.

Already with Wicklow "buying" Thomas Walsh from us we have suffered badly. But thankfully apart from Mickos Kildare, Laois & now Wicklow teams not many others have used this kind of sneaky tactic to rob players from other counties.

And hopefully thats the way it will stay.

keane2097

Stevecw wrote: »

There hasn't been any player strikes in Carlow. It has just been the same thing as every year, where most of the countys best players don't join the panel, and some that do just leave during the league. Leaving us as usual without most of the counties best players for the championship.

Why does that happen?

CyberDave

Like people have been saying, the GAA is based on county rivalries and parochialism. This would be eliminated if a transfer system was introduced and only broaden the gap between the stronger and weaker counties. For the players it wouldn't mean half as much to them if they were not winning an All-Ireland with their own county.

Stevecw

keane2097 wrote: »

Why does that happen?

The club scene rules in Carlow, a lot of guys have no interest in playing for the county. The runners up in last years senior championship Palatine, have not even 1 player on the senior panel!! None of them went for the trials or bothered to turn up when invited to train.

There is no success or any kind of glory attached to wearing the Carlow jersey. Only a certain few are proud to wear it, and i respect the few guys who have turned up every year for many years knowing they are going nowhere, but are still proud to play for their county.

Its sad, and so many managers have come here trying to change things...but they all leave very soon after totally frustrated with the whole thing. I think we've had 9 managers in the last 7 years.

ADTR

Stevecw wrote: »

Already with Wicklow "buying" Thomas Walsh from us we have suffered badly. But thankfully apart from Mickos Kildare, Laois & now Wicklow teams not many others have used this kind of sneaky tactic to rob players from other counties.

Who exactly have Laois robbed? Billy Sheehan plays his club football with Emo and also works in Laois.

sgthighway

conno16 wrote: »

liam hayes has been backing this again and i have to say i'm convinced it is the way forward
recent player strikes in carlow, galway and clare suggests the gaa is coming to a cross-roads and players are becoming unsettled
we need to introduce a transfer system straight away in my opinion

i think the gaa would do well also to consider a drafting system as per the NFL

Galway

ArmaniJeanss

conno16 wrote: »

I think the gaa would do well also to consider a drafting system as per the NFL

Explain to me how this would work.
If I'm a collegiate New Yorker and say Denver Broncos get me in the NFL draft, I'd be happy enough to upsticks and move 2500 miles because of the big load of wonga that Denver will be paying me.

But if I'm a star teenage Dublin GAA footballer, and Leitrim claim me in the GAA draft, why would I agree to (or be forced to) play for them?

conno16

you wouldn't

this transfer system is to assist teams build proper squads and enable players to strike a better work-life-football balance

if i'm from mayo and living in cork / dublin, then i'd prob transfer to a local club and play intercounty for that particular county

if i'm manager of dublin and realise we need a new powerful full forward then i can rectify that gap by recruiting (rather than waiting 10 years for someone half decent to come along)

i think it makes good sense but would have to be subject to regulation by the GAA
its the way forward

Pride Fighter

It could create a level playing field in hurling, if Derry were to somehow entice Kilkenny's 3rd team they would trounce every team in the country except Kilkenny's first and second team.


But I digress, it is a terrible idea.

Flukey

The only NFL we should borrow ideas from is our own National Football League. In it, players play for their own county. It sounds like a brilliant system to me. Yes, let's go for it.:rolleyes:

The whole point of the GAA is to play for your own club and own county. It is that pride in "the" jersey, "your" jersey, not just a jersey, that brings the most out of player. Doing it that way gets more pride and passion out of player than any wage can. It is not the same playing to a team that you have no real affiliation for. You are a county or club player from the heart. It is the sense of belonging, your friends, your family, your neighbours and strangers to you but who support your club and your county because it is their club and their county too, that drives you. It is not because you happen to work in that county, which is miles from your own. Professional sport, with the exception of when players are playing for their country, lacks that real passion in the way players play. The fact that you can be playing for one team now, and maybe in a few months playing against that team and later move to another means you don't really have the type of tie to a team that playing for your country is, or like GAA players playing for their club or county.

How many English soccer clubs could put out 11 local players in their correct positions, or even just 11 English players in their correct positions? Very few, if any and certainly not at the higher divisions. They are all journeymen, with no real connection to the club they are playing for. It is one major advantage a player playing for what is really their own club has. You can see it on a GAA field in the way players are playing. A transfer system would destroy that, and in any case, the vast majority of players would only want to play for their own county. That's the way it should be.

portumna

Just thought i'd bump this thread and ask does any1 remember intercounty players playing for more than 1 county?

One i recall is Fergus Flynn of Clare playing in the 99 AI championship for Galway and then returning back to Clare to play with them.

Obviously there is a system there where intercounty players can change county.

CyberDave

Thomas Walsh (now with Wicklow) used to play for his home county Carlow and there were rumours of him returning to Carlow this year, but he hasn't. I don't know what the procedures are.

DDC1990

Kildare had a few under Micko's tenure: Karl O'Dwyer (hmm i recognize that name, i wonder why he went there?)
Brian Lacey- (He played for Tipp did he not?)

Anyway, this is one of Liam Hayes' brainchild's (brainchildren? ) - Enuf said.

DC_Roscommon

Maybe in some cases like mine (if I were to be an inter-county player)

My club (geographically) is in Roscommon. However the GAA club is in Mayo (Not sure why). I, like most of my clubmates live in Roscommon, though most support Mayo. I'm a Rossie through and through. I even waited until the final whistle of the Mayo-Roscommon match!;) If I had the talent for playing at inter-county level I would have to play for Mayo.:( Why shouldn't I (again if I were to be an inter-county player) be allowed to play for the county that I support and live in?

premierstone

DC_Roscommon wrote: »

Maybe in some cases like mine (if I were to be an inter-county player)

My club (geographically) is in Roscommon. However the GAA club is in Mayo (Not sure why). I, like most of my clubmates live in Roscommon, though most support Mayo. I'm a Rossie through and through. I even waited until the final whistle of the Mayo-Roscommon match!;) If I had the talent for playing at inter-county level I would have to play for Mayo.:( Why shouldn't I (again if I were to be an inter-county player) be allowed to play for the county that I support and live in?

Something similar occurs with Moneygall on the Tipp/Offaly border.

Brian Flannery hurled for both Waterford and Tipperary and quite a few Tipp hurlers are or have recently started to hurl with Christy Ring counties - Evan Sweeney, Paul Kennedy, Eoin Brislane etc.

Benedict XVI

portumna wrote: »

Just thought i'd bump this thread and ask does any1 remember intercounty players playing for more than 1 county?

One i recall is Fergus Flynn of Clare playing in the 99 AI championship for Galway and then returning back to Clare to play with them.

Obviously there is a system there where intercounty players can change county.

Sean Lowery (uncle of Irish Open Champion, Shane) won an All Ireland with Offaly in 1982 and a Connaught Championship with Mayo in 1985.

Padraig Brogan played for Mayo in the 80s/90s then played with Donegal in the 1992 NFL.
He then returned to Mayo for the 1992 Championship, Donegal went on to win the All Ireland, beating Mayo on the way.

If a player is playing club football in a certain county they can, if they desire, play for that county.

Zenga

Player Transfers would be a horrible idea...and completely unworkable!! How the hell could you have a player that lives and works in say Donegal get transfered to Cork for example??

Unless the whole GAA turned professional...which is completely ridiculous...i mean how many counties can afford to play 60 X €30,000 = 1.8 million...and that is just a minimum...im sure that the wages would start spiraling for the good players.

Also how would you expect players at club level to keep playing and generating money for free whilst their fellow club men are filling their pockets with said money.

Also if a player transfers county...how does this affect his club?? Does he continue to play for the club that has spent 10 years training him all he knows or what??

There is already a club transfer system which works perfectly well. For Example David Franks hurls with Offaly, but he lives in Kilkenny and hurls with Carrickshock down there as it is too far a distance to travel up to his first club Ballyskenach.

The current rule is if you can prove you live there you can transfer to there. There has been some high profile players that have transfered to different counties, Eoin Brislane from Toomevara has transfered to Kildare along with another club mate whos name escapes me at the moment.

Zenga

premierstone wrote: »

Something similar occurs with Moneygall on the Tipp/Offaly border.

Brian Flannery hurled for both Waterford and Tipperary and quite a few Tipp hurlers are or have recently started to hurl with Christy Ring counties - Evan Sweeney, Paul Kennedy, Eoin Brislane etc.

Yes this is the situation in Moneygall as in Carrig Riverstown. There was a swith about one hundred years ago as the there was too great a distance between money gall and the offaly teams and vice versa for Carrig Riverstown.

Ger Oakley current offaly captain actually lives in Tipperary.

gustavo

Flukey wrote: »

How many English soccer clubs could put out 11 local players in their correct positions, or even just 11 English players in their correct positions? Very few, if any and certainly not at the higher divisions. They are all journeymen, with no real connection to the club they are playing for.

Don't know why you're using England as an example but here in Ireland most provincial soccer teams have a fair smattering of local players

portumna

Just after realising that Leo Smith plays club hurling for Portumna and intercounty for Westmeath having played some games under Loughnane for Galway.

premierstone

Zenga wrote: »

Eoin Brislane from Toomevara has transfered to Kildare along with another club mate whos name escapes me at the moment.

Eoin Brislane transferred to Meath, he's two club mates Paddy O'Brien and Ronan Tynan both transferred to Kildare, they continue to play Club Hurling for Toom (although Brislane is currently suspended for 6 months AGAIN :eek:)

patmac

Wouldn't be in favour of a transfer system, what some of the more dedicated athletes would make of the lack of professionalism of the weaker counties shenanigans in recent time ‘cough’ Roscommon hurlers in London ‘cough’. I’d say they would despair.
Maybe we should do some kind of breeding programme instead. Reminds me of the story of a Laois AGM, where discussing the state of Laois hurling someone suggested sending the Laois hurlers to Kilkenny and marry some of the local ladies, upon which someone else replied that ‘they would want to be poled first’!

LeoB

An open transfer system would ruin the G.A.A.

The Hurling system of lads from strong counties declaring for weaker counties is a good idea. Saw Louth playing in NHL and they had 2 lads from Patrickswell and 1 from Ballyhale and the Louth lads enjoyed playing with these lads it will bring them on.

But if some company comes in and gives a load of money to Wicklow, Carlow, Cavan or some county starved of success they could practically buy the C'Ship. Ciaran Whelan playing for Meath, Cian Ward for Dublin, Darragh O'Se for Limerick or Micheal Meehan Mayo. Ah no it wouldnt be right.

You play for your parish and if your good enough you play for for your county. Its about your place of birth and your home.

Probably a parents rule could apply where lads in Dublin lets say who might not make the panel could travel home and play for their own parents county. Declan Darcy done it for years as did Jason Ward who both played for Leitrim. Most counties can be reached in about 2 hours from Dublin and counties like Carlow could benifit greatly with 2 or 3 good players joining them. Remember Dave Whelan playing for Dublin and moving to Wicklow there was another lad also who I cant remember, a corner back?

jackbhoy

conno16 wrote: »

i think the gaa would do well also to consider a drafting system as per the NFL

The AFL/NFL/NBA draft system works well with "franchises" who pay top draft picks huge salaries. This could never work in GAA.

Say Donegal got first round draft pick and took a 17 year old Kerry minor. Is he supposed to move to Donegal then, or drive 4 or 5 times a week to train/play? Not even worth considering imo.

Crash Bang Wall

conno16 wrote: »

liam hayes has been backing this again and i have to say i'm convinced it is the way forward
recent player strikes in carlow, galway and clare suggests the gaa is coming to a cross-roads and players are becoming unsettled
we need to introduce a transfer system straight away in my opinion

i think the gaa would do well also to consider a drafting system as per the NFL

BS idea in my opinion. Would take away from club competitions as well. No thanks

grenache

A bad idea, and why am i not surprised that excuse for a pundit, Liam Hayes, was the one proposing it :rolleyes: It flies in the face of what the GAA stands for, players playing for their own parish and county. Winning an All Ireland with 5 or 6 players from other counties?? The daftest idea i've ever heard!