The split season

Read my post again

Apologies. You are correct. But is a couple of weeks a big difference in the overall context? Hurling I split into multiple tiers

The split season has to remain for the good of the club game. Fixturing championship matches in dual counties was a shambles before the split season. I remember one year our county hurlers got to the All Ireland final and it held my club up in the club football championship because our opposition had a panel member for the hurlers. The hurling final went to a replay, delaying things further. And the person that the club championship was held up for didn't set foot on the pitch in either county game.

We played our club match the weekend after the AI replay, and it went to ET and finished a draw. Had to replay it the following Tuesday, which we won but then had to play the club championship final the following Sunday and we were out on our feet for that. Our club had no match for 6 weeks followed by 3 matches in 7 days. And this was Junior football championship, all held up for a non playing sub for the county hurlers.

I hated the old system as a club player. June and July each year were spent training 3 times per week for challenge matches. Maybe August too if the county teams were doing well. And club managers fighting with players because they would be coming and going for training during these months because there were no competitive matches coming up.

I'm in the twighlight of my playing career now at 35 and just doing a bit of Junior B. But the last few years have been brilliant, a full season calendar published at the start of the season and fixtures are only changed due to bad weather or club bereavements. The club championship is centre stage from late July to late September as it should be. The split season must be kept for the good of the 99% of players in our organisation. If fellas want matches to go to in August and September there is plenty of club fare on offer local to them, and TG4 televise plenty of big club games too.

Thats the trade off the GAA have made. The 99% of players who train and play with their clubs all year are being prioritised over the likes of yourself who (by your own admission) aren't invested in the GAA and just watch a few of the big games on TV.

GAA presidents don't have the power to make changes. Everything is voted through Congress. It was CPA(Club Players Association) who proposed the split season.

Are these same hardcore true gael clubmen as dismissive of casual/non gaa supporters when they are going around with the paw out fundraising for a new ball wall, pitch improvements, etc. or will they only accept donations from those true supporters who regularly attend their local club's adult grade games? If you attend bord na n'og level games on a weekly basis but have no interest in watching your club's adult team play, are you a casual fan in the eyes of those who attend adult grade games?

I think your plight perfectly highlights the problem created by the preparation levels of county teams, and not just at the adult grade. I listened to an interview with Pat Daly (retired now but worked in GAA HQ for 40 years on games development) and his biggest concern was this growing 'professionalism' within the county and club game and the impact it would have on volunteerism. It's not possible to tell teams to not train as much when they all want to win but people need to step back and see the bigger picture and what impact this will have on the games.

Youre a minority. No offence , because its good that people who might be only casual gaa fans can enjoy our games too.

Most of us who are not fans of the split season are club followers, despite what some posters on here will try to tell you in bad faith.

Your statement in the 2nd paragraph is very much inaccurate, we're both followers of both the club and intercounty game but have different opinions on this matter which is fair enough, that's life.

Absolutely none; my only involvement in the club is thru my kids taking it up and my willingness to help out. And we only chose that club as the one closest to our house and where friends were taking their kids.

It obvious alot of people against the split season are armchair supporters although you yourself aren't 1 of them. Alot of the voices against it in the national media weather it's journalists, podcasts, pundits benefit from a prolonged intercounty season financially too.

Guessing you might be from Kilkenny, and so generally speaking, you don't have to consider how there's both hurling and football. And that's not a dig at Kilkenny for 'ignoring' football. I've often pointed out that there's actually more football played in Kilkenny than there is hurling in several other counties.

But I'll tell you for a fact that Junior 'B' championships would indeed be affected by inter-county competitions here in Wexford. Off the top of my head, I can think of four members of our senior hurling squad who line out with their club's second football team (Junior 'B'), and three members of our senior football squad who line out with their club's second or third hurling team (also at Junior 'B').

If you asked those clubs to play Junior 'B' championship while the inter-county campaign was ongoing, they'd have to line out without those players.

I'm coming at this from the opposite side to you: I've been endlessly complaining about summer rugby. They need to put the rugby calendar back the way it was, if people want to watch rugby in June they can watch it in the SH. We're both probably suffering from the GAA/Rugby calendar changes.

lol, I complain about that too! And there's no rugby in September anymore really. Season has just slipped to the right a month. Anyway, off topic.

Ah here. One of the people of the type I mean has even referred to himself as an 'armchair fan'. Yet you continue to take issue with that term, and also with 'casual fan'.

I again invite you to inform me of a more appropriate or preferable term to use instead.

Am even beginning to wonder if a sliding scale of 1 to 10 is needed, with 'hardcore' at one end, and 'armchair' at the other. Please let me know.