The split season

OK there's a lot in that. It's clear you're a very articulate contributor but you're not very good at hiding your dislike for the inter County scene.

The one cliche split season supporters keep repeating is that anyone against the split season has no interest in the club season. Which is just bizarre and contradictory as most of the pundits and ex players on podcasts, Sunday game etc are deeply involved with clubs, coaching, volunteering etc.

I was just listening Eddie brennan this morning and he was talking about giving the championship time to breathe. It's too non stop, no build up between games at all. Very few have said anything about going back to September all Irelands as you stated..

How is having a an all Ireland final on a Wednesday evening in an obscure provincial ground good for the promotion of the games? Yes when the club season starts it's brilliant, but club players are training for 6/7 months b4 a meaningful match. Then bang bang. And noall county league matches are not proper competitive games. Not when you see an intermidiate team here in kilkenny beat a senior team by 25 points!

Maybe I was a bit over the top. Fair enough.

But where does that "room to breathe" come from? Because nobody is asking for it to come from the inter-county scene. It seems to all about pushing out the end of the season by another few weeks, eating into the clubs time. Shortening the time on clubs is just not feasible in the long run, especially in dual counties.

Various counties has made changes to their competition structures over the past few season to facilitate less time available. Surely the inter-county scene can do the same?

Take football for example, there's 33 county teams involved in football. A structure of 3 groups of 11 (senior, intermediate and junior AI's), say top 2 to SF's, next four to QF's, 2 up/2down. Minimum of 10 games a season for every team. 14 rounds in total, say an extra 5 weeks for rest weeks or before the knockout games (4 rounds, rest week, 4 rounds, rest week, 3 rounds, rest week, QF's, rest week, AISF's rest week, AI final). If you were to play the AI football final on the first Sunday in August (or second Sunday next year as there's 5 Sundays in August) you wouldn't be starting the inter-county season until April.

With that you could run the full Club championship from the provincial first rounds until the AI finals in January February and March, and have the county championships from August, with the final game of the season in every county the county final. And everyone get a proper winter's rest as well.

I think most people would go with that.

But that would involved the inter-county scene slaying the sacred cow of the provincial championships, which they won't. So on we trudge, a bloated series of games, lopsided provincial systems, and formats that don't last more than a few years before it's changed because someone feels aggrieved at the structure.

And that's the crux problem with the criticism of the split season. It's asking the clubs, once again, to give up more of their time (and with that added time, more money pumped into the county panels) for a bloated and demanding inter-county scene to expand even further.

And the problem with constantly pushing the clubs further and further into the background to expand the inter-county season, is eventually people will walk away from an organisation which wants you to join, but doesn't want you to play, or offers very little chance to.

The split-season isn't a perfect solution by any means, but it's by far the least worst option when everything that matters is considered. And the least worst is the best until something more sensible can be thought of, and if lads can't come up with alternatives when complaining about the split-season (and the don't), then it's hard to take it any more serious than some lad moaning or not really caring about the clubs.

Mostly armchair fans and journalist types that are the loudest complainers. Players generally happy enough, but they don't generally have access and time to give interviews and complain online about it.

Splitting it up into senior/intermediate/junior like the ladies is on obvious one but getting some counties to come to terms with what their level is will be the ultimate stopper on this. You see divisions 3 and 4 as generally being competitive as that is their proper level. Division 1 as it stands is pretty much about just getting safe and then shutting up shop. Promotion from Division 2 is the previous years related teams from Division 1.

One obvious move that needs to happen is that the 3rd level competitions need to switch. Their championships need to happen before Christmas. The better players with them are generally involved with county teams either at u20 or senior. Run the 3rd level leagues after Christmas with a strict rule of county players are not allowed to play. Reduces the pull on those players.

It is important to note, that it suits journalists, podcasters and others like them who financially gain from the intercounty game to have a longer intercounty season. They are not unbiased and only talking about the good of the GAA. Likewise there are club coaches getting paid by the session who will want to fit in as many as possible. Everyone has a bias, the armchair fans who want a game on tv everytime they are in front of the tv. The club players who want regular games with all their players available. The county players who want the best chance at county and club and so on and on. I think the balance we have at moment is best we ever had. Any tweak, even only a week has an impact on everyone else, someone likes it and someone else dislikes it.

I disagree. The term "armchair fan" generally applies to people who mainly or only watch from home. Yes, somebody who's centrally involved at any level of the game is also watching from an armchair when they're viewing a match on TV or online, but that doesn't make them an "armchair fan" in the usual sense of the term.

And it's true that journalists, pundits, etc., have a vested financial interest in extending the inter-county season. More appearance money for being on "The Sunday Game" etc. if there are more episodes of it over more weeks, and more newspaper pages to fill if the inter-county season went on longer.

But really, how many players - either club or county - have you heard making a serious call for things to go back to the way they used to be? The GPA will tell you the vast majority of inter-county players are against it. And the CPA's whole reason for being in the first place was to get things changed to the way they are now.

i would say he is bang on , it really is only bar stool pundits couch potatos and the likes of roy curtis and martin breheny who seem to think that all sports broadcasted on tv are the only sports people watch or are invested in

the split season is not popular in come counties especially where one code is dominant but thats up the the county board to sort out

No my point was that they don't play league for their colleges.

The argument against July all Irelands must be growing stronger. We have probably the most anticipated football final in years on Sunday, yet the build up has been really quiet. I know it's probably hectic in kerry and Donegal especially.

But in general the last few days have been all about the fallout from the hurling final. 2 weeks of a gap would be ideal for a proper build up and the exposure that an all Ireland final deserves. Not this mad rush to get it out of the way.

Especially as their will be a replay anyway if the match Sunday is a draw.

It's not like the world will end if the season goes on 2 weeks extra

That second part is utterly brain dead. For instance it would have banned Peter Casey from intercounty last year for the crime of being injured.

It also means players would have to play club league matches which are scheduled during the intercounty season.

That 2nd part seems totally unworkable particularly for counties with small championships. I'm fairly sure a lot of championships if a team gets knocked out first round wouldn't reach 8 club matches.

What sports is it the norm ?

Plenty of county squad players not getting anywhere near 10 games, many of them lucky to get 10 mins of intercounty football and still not allowed to play fo club until intercounty season is finished.

On a seperate note how does the Clontarff motion deal with players who are seriously injured (ACL etc) and dont get 8 club games played, are they inelligible fo inter county the following season.