Dubs dominance will end but rivals need to step up
FOLLOWING Dublin’s record equalling four in a row last week, lots of column inches have been devoted to how their stranglehold can be broken and how the playing pitch can be levelled for all the other counties.
In the late seventies and into the eighties when Mick O Dwyer’s great Kerry side dominated the Gaelic football scene I don’t recall the same clamour for change.
That Kerry team won eight All Irelands in twelve years including both a three in a row (‘84 to ‘86) and a four in a row (’78 to ’81). They could even have won more.
The four games they lost during this period were to the Dubs in the All-Ireland final of ’76 and semi-final in ’77, to Offaly in the ’82 final and Cork in the ’83 Munster decider. Both the latter losses were as a result of last minute goals.
Their vice like dominance of the game also yielded eleven out of twelve Munster titles during the same period.
The point I’m making is that nobody could see an end to this dominance. But it happened.
What transpired for the following decade was Picture: Ken Finegan that Kerry football went into the doldrums.
The period from ’87 to ‘96 was the most barren in the history of Kerry GAA. They did not contest a single All Ireland final in that ten-year period with their only success being two provincial championships in ’91 and ’96.
The reasons for the Kingdom’s decline were many but complacency at underage level and insufficient numbers of new players being blooded were probably the key factors.
But then again that group of players were really special. Pat Spillane, Mikey Sheehy, Ogie Moran, Jacko, Paidi, the Bomber, John Egan ….. they were some of the all time greats of Gaelic football.
Similarly, this period of Dublin dominance will be broken.
Belatedly, during the late nineties and early noughties, the GAA authorities recognised that the game was in serious decline in the capital.
Soccer and Rugby had taken over in many areas of the city and there were great swathes of the county where little or no Gaelic football was being played at all.
Despite winning the All Ireland in 1995, participation at juvenile level in Dublin was at an all-time low. Gaelic football in the largest county in the country in terms of population was on its knees.
In fact, in a report to 2003 Congress, the Strategic Review Group recommended splitting the county in three, such were the low levels of participation in the capital.
With the help of a strategic plan from Headquarters Dublin GAA slowly began to get their house in order.
The plan by no means resulted in instant success. It was a slow process which began with coaching, cohesion and organisation at grass roots and juvenile level.
Lots of money was required to make the plan work but more importantly willing hearts and minds were needed. How many times have we seen great sums of money thrown at sports projects only to be wasted and squandered?
This project however has been a roaring success. Dublin are by no means finished and, based on the groundwork already completed, they could actually improve further in the coming years.
However the focus from Headquarters will now change. For the sake of Gaelic football - it has to!
The GAA is a democratic organisation. It’s up to the rest of the country to demand a change of direction.
The onus is on all the other counties to get their houses in order. And it’s not all about finances.
Yes money will be required but simply throwing cash at a problem, without a workable strategic plan, will not work. In each county, people with vision, passion and a positive mind-set are required to drive the correct agenda.
The Dublin example has shown that a County Board now needs to be run like a business. A professional approach is required to all aspects of the organisation including fixtures, games, coaching, administration... and dare I say it, ground development.
Hopefully one of the first steps on this road for Louth will be rubber stamped this week.
Finally, best wishes to the Louth Ladies team in the All Ireland Junior final on Sunday morning in Croke Park.