So much for April being a month for all the club players

WEXFORD CLUBS have a serious fight on their hands as the inter-county fixtures schedule tightens, as right now it does not look as if they are going to have a positive start to their 2018 season.

The clubs are left battling on all fronts in an effort to have their loyal players guaranteed a fair schedule of games, but despite Croke Park designating April as a month for the clubs, this is now not the case.

At Wexford County Board meetings, clubs were repeatedly assured that four rounds of club championship games would be played during the month of April. However, it was an assurance that fell lightly with clubs as they always felt that it was never going to be delivered.

Instead, the opening round of championship games scheduled for this coming weekend have already been deferred, as Wexford have qualified for the league semi-final.

And with a possible league final on the following Saturday, there seems little room for a club schedule, especially with a sun training camp also planned for this month for the Senior hurlers. The footballers’ preparation for their May 12 championship outing with Laois also has to be taken into consideration.

It will be easy for the County Board to come back with the adverse weather as an explanation for the delay, which deferred the inter-county schedule, but seriously it was always going to take very little interruption to throw a spanner in the works.

Given the lack of leeway in the fixtures plan, one felt that four championship rounds in Wexford was an ambition too far and a possible way of appeasing the club delegates at meetings. Now it has finally struck home, and it’s quite possible that clubs will see little or no championship action until August.

If not now, when will the dissenting club voices be heard? At County Board meetings, clubs were told that, no matter what, they would have four rounds of championships in Wexford played off during the month of April. It was never going to be easy to fit in such a fixtures schedule, especially when players have a string of games at inter-county level in the worst possible playing conditions, spanning a two-month spell with grounds deteriorating each week.

Wexford G.A.A. also have the added problem of player status to deal with, as two rounds of championship games must be played before this matter is decided. This particularly affects clubs below Senior level, but more importantly adds further to the fixtures problems facing the County Board.

Ahead of the spotlight being placed on this Sunday’s league semi-final with Kilkenny, it already appears that substantial work needs to be done to any proposed plan to appease the clubs, not just through the month of April, but the summer months as well.

Given the heavy inter-county schedule, sidelining the clubs from championship action for the best months of the year is a distinct likelihood.

In May last year a massive 86% of G.A.A. players were unhappy with the way that club fixtures were run, while 56% wanted to see the provincial championships scrapped.

But in a week when the G.A.A. celebrated the appointment of a new Director General, Tom Ryan, having already elected John Horan as President, the Club Players Association face a new challenge to ensure their members are heard. They may be engaged in ongoing discussions, but with what, if any, impact?

Now is the time for the clubs in Wexford to call on County Board officers to come up with a fixtures plan that will serve them adequately, not just one to keep them at bay during monthly meetings.

We need meaningful change, since April was just a throwaway month handed down to the clubs.

Wexford G.A.A. is now about to feel the wrath of players. They are watching in growing frustration and increasing anger as their views have been systematically ignored.

Now, just six days before the expected commencement of the county championship, they were told there are no games this coming weekend. They have waited, changed family commitments, changed holidays, changed work plans, all to be available this weekend and throughout the month of April.

Now it’s about what’s right, not who is right. The clubs in Wexford have been sold a dummy fixtures programme for April. It will be interesting to see what will prevail for the remainder of the month.