FIXTURES DILEMMA
Quarter-finals would appease clubs
FIRST THINGS first: I’m delighted that we have any sort of a club championship to look forward to in the coming months.
We’ve advanced a long way from watching ‘The Sunday Game’ on May 10, when G.A.A. President John Horan was adamant that games wouldn’t take place for as long as social distancing has to be observed.
Have I missed something in the meantime? Was this stipulation relaxed, or even deleted?
I know there’s an ongoing debate about two metres or one metre, but neither will make much difference in a championship match when a corner-back is hanging out of a nippy forward on a warm day, with the sweat pouring out of both protagonists for a full hour and more.
Don’t get me wrong, the pencilling in of July 31 for the return to action is wonderful news, but has the President explained fully why this is now possible from a health and safety point of view?
My apologies if he has done so, and I simply missed it; keeping track of the constant chopping and changing hasn’t been easy, and I praised the man to the hilt after that television appearance last month.
But if he hasn’t addressed this issue as clearly and as precisely as he did in the first instance, then I believe he ought to do so, in order to fully re-assure the sceptics while maintaining his own credibility in the process.
Looking at developments locally, and staying positive for the moment, I think that deleting relegation from the equation for one year only was the right move, for one specific reason.
Many clubs will have players in a dilemma with regards to whether they should play or not, especially if they are sharing a home with somebody in the vulnerable bracket health-wise.
Now, at least, if they decide to step away for this year, they can do so happy in the knowledge that their club won’t have dropped down a grade when they deem it safe to return.
That, in itself, is reason enough in my view why relegation simply couldn’t be entertained, and I’m glad that the powers-that-be relented after the first draft of proposals sent to the clubs clearly indicated otherwise.
Of course, it will lead to some inevitable 13-team headaches next year. Then again, we cannot say with any certainty that we won’t face similar pandemic problems in 2021, so let’s get the 2020 championships completed before that particular situation is tackled.
The big issue is of the ‘will there or won’t there be’ variety regarding quarter-finals, with the County Board’s Twitter feed saying that they ‘hope’ they can accommodate them.
I don’t understand why they have to wait until the national masters fixtures plan is updated before they can give a definitive answer.
It has been stated, quite clearly, that club games may start on July 31, and the inter-county calendar won’t commence until October 17, so why can’t a decision be taken on quarter-finals now in the context of having those dates to work with?
When I heard that clubs were being given an eleven-week window, I assumed that this would be used to its utmost, and I also reckoned that this was the intention of the authors of the national roadmap.
Now it has been suggested that the County Board is intent on saving some weekends, and having as much activity as possible wrapped up before September 14, the official date when inter-county training is permitted to re-commence.
It should be stressed here that, at the time of writing, no official dates have been announced for club games, save for July 31, so some of the criticism may yet prove premature and misguided.
My sources have confirmed that the C.C.C. has not met to date, and ultimately they will be the ones charged with the difficult task of finalising the nuts and bolts of the games programme.
It was inaccurately reported in some national media outlets – both print and online – on Friday that the C.C.C. met on Wednesday night, and this most definitely wasn’t the case. There was a County Board meeting on Wednesday night via Microsoft Teams, and nothing else.
And while a date of August 23 has been bandied about for the Pettitt’s Senior hurling final, it certainly hasn’t emerged from the C.C.C.
The fact that the four groups of three format is now set in stone isn’t an issue. Everyone accepts that the normal two sixes is best, but it simply wasn’t feasible in the allotted timeframe.
The only problem is the fear that it might be played with just one team qualifying per group for semi-finals, rather than two for quarter-finals.
That has the potential to knock a team out after just one game, and let me explain how and why.
Team A plays a draw with Team B on Friday night, giving both one point. Team A then plays, and defeats, Team C on Wednesday night.
Therefore, even if Team C were to beat Team B on the following Sunday, those two points wouldn’t be enough to topple Team A on three, rendering the final group game utterly meaningless.
A club in that position mightn’t even bother, and then that could create chaos: a walkover for Team B would leave them on three points also, but without the benefits of having accrued any scoring difference.
Even in a best-case scenario with a group of three and just one to qualify (i.e., wins only and no draws), it would not be possible to fully list the fixtures in advance in order to maintain the integrity of the competiton.
Team A v B on the Friday would be fine, but the Wednesday fixture would have to be Team C against the losers of that first game. It couldn’t be versus the winners, purely because they could then have four points by the Wednesday night and, once again, the last match would be a waste of time.
In contrast, with two to qualify, the sequence of games doesn’t matter, and every one of the three will have meaning. One team might be through with four points after the first two matches, but the third contest would be a straight knockout to determine the other qualifier.
Personally, I would have preferred a continuation of the regular format of hurling one week, football the next, etc. However, that ship has sailed, so now it’s a case of looking at the dates available and formulating a plan.
I also agree that a potential six-, ten- or fiveday championship for some players (Friday to Wednesday or Sunday, or Wednesday to Sunday) is unduly harsh, but is there any other way to play the group phase over a longer period within the eleven-week timeframe provided? I don’t think so.
Based on a July 31 start, and accepting that clubs agreed last Wednesday to play a full block of hurling followed by the same for football, my suggested dates, for what it’s worth, would be -
Hurling groups: Friday, July 31; Wednesday, August 5; Sunday, August 9.
Hurling quarter-finals: Sunday, August 16.
Hurling semi-finals: Sunday, August 23.
Hurling final: Sunday, August 30.
Football groups: Friday, September 4; Wednesday, September 9; Sunday, September 13.
Football quarter-finals: Sunday, September 20.
Football semi-finals: Sunday, September 27.
Football final: Sunday, October 4.
All knockout games would have to finish on the first day, and there is a slight bit of wriggle room in that October 11 – the Sunday before the inter-county start date on the following Saturday – is free. Having said that, I’m sure there will be no club games involving Wexford players fixed for the weekend before they return, even in these trying times.
Bear in mind, too, that the County Board has stated football competitions will commence after hurling semi-finals, meaning that the above dates could be brought forward by another week for football to start for the majority of teams on the weekend of August 30.
From the soundings I have taken from clubs, the strong impression I’m getting is that the inclusion of quarter-finals would appease most, if not all, of those questioning the agreed formula.
It goes without saying that the blitz-type group phase is far from ideal, but please show me a better plan within the time allocated if you can come up with one.
On that topic, a word for the Club Players’ Association, who shared an anonymous email that they said was sent to them by a Wexford club player during the week.
The big problem, as I see it, with club fixtures is that different systems are used in practically all of the 32 counties. Numbers of participants are different, group sizes aren’t the same, some clubs are happy to play knockout championship because it is backed up by such a strong league structure... the list is endless.
Why, therefore, doesn’t the CPA commission a study whereby they would produce a separate discussion document for each and every county, to be distributed to clubs via their members for debate before the onset of the next Convention season?
If they feel the fixtures structure in Wexford has flaws, then that’s fine, many would share that opinion.
But isn’t it time that the CPA started to attempt putting forward suggested concrete solutions? What would they do to improve the situation in Wexford... in Meath... in Galway... all over the country, in fact? Let’s see a tangible contribution to this ongoing issue from them on paper before the end of November.