Will it be taken on board?
The structure of the football championship has been the hot topic in the GAA for the last number of years.
Many GAA fans have grown tired of the widening gulf between the elite teams and the rest, while also questioning other issues such as the number of games played and the effects on club championships throughout the country.
Any amount of solutions have been proposed by GAA pundits in recent years, but today the Gaelic Players’ Association (GPA) have come out with their format for a proposed change to the Championship, following a lengthy consultative process with all players and county football squads.
The GPA’s format, a 32-team series of eight groups with seedings determined by NFL standings and Provincial Championships, is one they say is favoured by the vast majority of players over the current system and they’re recommending that it be trialled over a two-year period.
Interestingly, the GPA specifically questioned counties from the lower Divisions regarding a new structure and the majority of them rejected the inclusion of a secondary competition in any proposal.
You can see the proposal in more detail in the GPA presentation above, but it will be interesting to see how it goes down at headquarters.
Commenting on the proposal, GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell said: “The structure of the inter-county football competition has been a burning issue for several years and this Proposal, developed in consultation with players, aims to tackle the concerns raised in relation to the current structure.
“These changes will improve the welfare of the player by tightening the competition calendar, improving the games to training ratio and enhancing the playing experience at club and county level. This Proposal can help unlock the potential of our inter-county football competition.”
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