Why was there no Plan B for the showpiece final?
THE 11th hour decision to postpone the Louth Senior and Minor football finals is both disgraceful and embarrassing for everyone involved with the GAA in Louth.
Heavy rain in October is not unexpected; at the best of times the underfoot conditions at the Gaelic Grounds are damp and the grass banks surrounding the North Road venue are uncomfortable when wet.
These three issues are not a surprise to anybody. In fact my eight-year-old would probably instantly cite all three reasons if he didn’t wish to accompany me to an autumn fixture in Drogheda.
How then, on championship final week, the showpiece of the county’s Gaelic football season, could there not have been a Plan B?
This column and others have highlighted Louth GAA’s lack of leadership on many occasions over the last few years, but this disgraceful calamity should be the straw the breaks the camel’s back.
The Louth GAA twitter message at 11.57am on Sunday morning read: ‘As a result of inclement weather overnight and following an inspection of the pitch and grounds this morning, in the interest of players and supporters today’s Louth Senior and Minor Finals have been postponed. Refixture details TBC’.
My sources in the O Raghallaigh’s tell me that the pitch was, as you’d expect, damp and heavy - but definitely playable.
Apparently it was health and safety concerns for supporters on the grass banks that influenced the final decision.
Maybe I’m being a little harsh here, but since when has the Louth County Board given a damn about the safety and comfort of supporters attending games at the Gaelic Grounds?
What size of an attendance was the Louth County Board anticipating for a wet October fixture at the run-down Drogheda venue?
A fair reflection might be the numbers who attended both semi-finals and a large crowd was not therefore expected.
Haggardstown, Stabannon, Ardee, Dowdallshill, the Clans, even the hollow surrounds of Darver. Surely someone considered the possibility of a postponement and the possible need for an alternative venue?
There were 17 county finals due to be played around the country on Sunday and the Louth decider was the only one that didn’t go ahead.
Both games have been refixed for the same venue next Sunday. Can someone inform them there is further heavy and persistent rain forecast this week!
Finally, I’d like to ask the question as to why we need to wait until mid or even late October to play our county finals?
Louth exited the All Ireland Qualifiers on June 8th and the group stages of the senior championship (two games only for each club) were completed at the end of July.
Why then does it take almost three months to play the quarters, semis and finals?
In recent years, but most notably under its present leadership, Louth GAA has stumbled from one crisis to another.
Enough is enough. This latest debacle should be the final straw. It’s now time for real change.
I learned of the postponement in Castlebar just as the Glen Emmets Under-9 teams were about to take the field at MacHale Park for games against the local Castlebar Mitchels club.
A party of more than 100 people including children, parents and supporters were in Co Mayo for the weekend where we took in games against Westport on Saturday and Castlebar on Sunday.
They are Mayo’s two top juvenile clubs and we more than held our own against them. A great weekend was had by all.
I’m a firm believer that Louth’s football DNA is as good, if not better than many of the GAA’s so-called top counties.
The natural instincts and skills which our children possess are commensurate with any that I’ve witnessed up and down the country. However, we’re failing our kids badly when they reach their early teenage years and enter secondary school. We fall behind during this period and never catch up.
Others have highlighted this problem also, but unfortunately very little changes.