Leagues finally set for much-needed overhaul in 2021

ANOTABLE anniversary was marked in Wexford G.A.A. circles last weekend, with the commencement of the All-County Leagues for another season. However, I reckon it passed by unnoticed and without comment by 99% of the participants and mentors who braved the wild weather to take the first tentative steps on the road to what they hope will lead to championship glory next October.

Jim McGovern of Glynn-Barntown might have made the connection with past and present alright, because he chaired the working group that came up with a spanking new league structure for the county for the 1995 campaign.

And here we are, 25 years down the line, coming to the end of another cycle, because delegates have backed the recommendations of another sub-committee of the County Board after voting on two options at their recent monthly meeting.

Starting in 2021, no All-County League games will take place until after the April championship month, with February and March available for the Districts and clubs to arrange whatever games they so desire, including participation in the Leinster Leagues.

Each division will have eight teams divided into two groups of four, guaranteeing three matches apiece, with the top two in each group proceeding to semi-finals, and the bottom two taking part in relegation semi-finals.

Two teams will be promoted and two relegated from each division annually. And, because of the reduction in matches, the leagues will be concluded before the championships resume in August.

There’s a couple of aspects to the proposal that make perfect sense. First of all, teams can finally move up or down from one division to the next on a yearly basis, ensuring that the games are meaningful in terms of giving non-Senior clubs more than one route to play at a higher level.

I’ve been banging that drum for a long time, and the other aspect that pleases me is the availability of two months for the four Districts to hopefully revive some of their own competitions that fell by the wayside when the move to organising practically everything on a countywide basis started with a vengeance in the early 1990s.

I’m still not convinced that the leagues will work well, purely because their history in this county is marred by neglect and a general lack of interest from the clubs.

However, they deserve a chance, and certainly on paper the proposals look a lot more beneficial than the dross we will have to put up with for just one more year.

Apparently, the current working group were keen to see their proposal implemented for this season, but several County Board delegates felt that plans were already made, and that 2021 should be the earliest starting date as a result.

The last Junior ‘A’ championships played within the Districts were in 1993, with Rapparees, Geraldine O’Hanrahans, Ballyfad and Faythe Harriers winning the hurling finals, while Ferns St. Aidan’s, Marshalstown, St. James’ and St. Anne’s were successful in football.

As a result of a motion from the Rathangan club, those two competitions were changed to countywide versions for 1994.

For many years afterwards, the Districts survived on a diet of organising the Junior ‘B’ and Under-21 grades, but the Under-20 replacement has been taken out of their hands now.

My own view is that local rivalries should be nurtured at every opportunity to guarantee the future well-being of the G.A.A.

With that in mind, the opportunity is now there for the Districts to either organise their own knockout championships next February and March, or to revive their leagues instead if they so desire.

And if it takes a bit of co-operation or thinking outside the box in order to make it a success, then so be it.

For example, if Naomh Eanna and Ferns St. Aidan’s are still the only two Senior hurling clubs in Gorey District in 2021, then let them join with Enniscorthy for the purposes of that competition.

Similarly, Fethard could fall in with the Wexford District. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I welcome the agreed proposals, and the only pity is that we have to wait until 2021 for their implementation.