Two extra weeks should be utilised to extend group phase

NOW THAT the issue of quarter-finals has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, another pressing question has emerged.

In light of the G.A.A. altering the permitted start date for club games from July 31 to a fortnight earlier, will the County Board use the extra 14 days to make further improvements to the domestic games calendar?

Bear in mind that the inter-county dates haven’t changed, namely September 14 to resume training, followed by official competitions on October 17.

On the face of it therefore, County Boards now have 13 weeks rather than eleven in order to complete their club games programme.

This throws welcome new light on a particular topic I raised on this page last week.

I felt it was impossible to avoid the blitzstyle completion of group matches while working within an eleven-week timeframe.

And to anybody disagreeing with that view, I asked them to show me the dates.

However, 13 weeks would allow for a breakdown of three for group hurling, three for knockout hurling, three for group football, and three for knockout football.

That would even leave the final weekend free, just on the off-chance that an extra date was required for a replayed county final.

In fact, more time would be available than that, bearing in mind that football will start for the majority of clubs when hurling reaches the county final stage.

Rather than the scenario of a group running hurriedly from Friday, July 31, to Sunday, August 9, it should be possible to play games over the first three weekends now available, starting July 17, 24 and 31 respectively.

Nobody, this writer included, felt that a championship where a team could potentially exit after two games in just five days was ideal.

Now the possibility exists for staging three-week rather than two-week groups, and it should be taken in the best interest of all clubs.

It would be even better, in my view, if the games were to be played on an alternative hurling/football basis.

Apart from keeping clubs involved over a longer period, it would mean that non-hurlers wouldn’t have to wait for so long to get a competitive game.

However, I was surprised to learn that only three clubs lobbied the management committee looking for that status quo format to be retained.

The fact that all members of my profession are no longer permitted to attend County Board meetings leaves me at a disadvantage, as I cannot report on these gatherings and hear what’s said with my own ears.

However, that low number of dissatisified clubs certainly doesn’t tally with the feedback I got after that June 10 gathering. Maybe some clubs lack the backbone to officially voice an opposing view.