SPLIT DECISION
CPA urge GAA to make call on dividing season
THE Club Players Association (CPA) said it would be ‘unforgivable’ if the GAA don’t embrace a split season involving July All-Ireland finals with the club scene then getting exclusive access to all players.
With Croke Park’s Fixtures Task Force set to discuss such a radical option tomorrow, the CPA described it as a ‘golden opportunity to trial a clear split in the season’.
This comes on the back of the hugely significant decision by the Gaelic Players Association, who represent all inter-county teams, to back that same split season model where inter-county action would be squeezed into a shorter season and a far more clearly defined timeframe, before the club takes over exclusively. And with GAA president John Horan admitting he is coming around to the idea, momentum is gathering.
‘With the Fixtures Task Force due to meet in the coming days, the CPA is calling on the group’s members to capitalise on the growing
momentum for real change and the dawning realisation that splitting the season is the best option for players,’ said CPA chairman Micheál Briody in an official statement. ‘Circumstances have presented the GAA with a golden opportunity to trial a clear split in the season. The response from clubs, players and supporters has shown definitively there is merit in giving club and county their own clear windows, with the right governance structures in place. ‘It may have taken different timelines and different routes to get to this point but there is a growing realisation that a split season approach is the best solution to fixing the fixtures. It is reassuring now to see that the GAA, GPA and CPA have come to similar conclusions. We have always said it is about what is right, not who is right. ‘The current consensus has come about as a result of circumstances and the threat to our games posed by the disruption and uncertainty of Covid-19. But with any threat there is also very often an opportunity, and if the task force can build on the current opportunity with evidence from the enforced split, then the GAA has a once-in-ageneration chance to fix the fixtures. Our association has the opportunity to come out of this dreadful scenario, stronger, better and more united than before,’ added Briody. ‘Fix the Fixtures’ has been the CPA’s mantra from the start. It’s worth remembering too that they put huge time and effort into designing various alternative options for the entire calendar year, including numerous versions of a split season. ‘The fact that the task force is willing to consider additional season templates is reassuring. ‘The GPA’s very positive adoption of a season split to accommodate fully club and county programmes is commendable and we strongly welcome it. We also commend the GPA and the GAA for acting now on the recent ESRI research they jointly commissioned, where 40 per cent of GPA members stated they choose the wrong career path in order to play the games they love and enjoy. ‘We believe there are grounds for cautious optimism. An opportunity has presented itself, it would be unforgivable to let it pass.’