Current format is a dagger in the back
KEEPING OLD WAY A KILLER FOR LEITRIMS
BACK in 2014, after Leitrim suffered a 21- point qualifier defeat to Down, then- county secretary Diarmuid Sweeney aired his views on the direction the team was taking.
“There is talk of entering Leitrim in the junior championship and forgetting about senior status. It would be a big move,” he said;
“Consideration needs to be given to that and the question needs to be asked, would Leitrim be better served in the junior championship?
Sweeney’s comments were not well received locally.
The suggestion didn’t gain traction as, seven years on, Leitrim continue to field a football team in League and Championship at senior level, just like every other county except Kilkenny.
But, as a seismic vote on football competition structures looms at Special Congress seven days from now, Longford’s Michael Quinn wonders, like Sweeney back then, whether counties will persist putting out senior teams if change isn’t forthcoming.
Staunch
A member of the GPA’s national executive committee, Quinn is a staunch supporter of proposal B, which would effectively see the Allianz League format adopted and adapted for the Championship.
The provincial Championship structure is seen as a disincentive for many players playing inter- county football but while Quinn didn’t play for Longford on the resumption of intercounty games at the back end of last year, it wasn’t for that reason.
“My wife was pregnant at the time and with Covid, there’s things more important,” he explained.
“My reason for playing inter- county is for playing on the big stage, that your family get that opportunity to see you and the buzz that comes with it and having that opportunity playing in Croke Park in a meaningful competitive game, whether it be a Tailteann Cup, or whatever.”
He was back this year and will be there for 2022 regardless of what happens at Special Congress.
But he won’t be grabbing the gear bag with the same enthusiasm back training if the status quo remains.
“Definitely not, and I’ve seen it in the past where that provincial draw that’s made in November, early doors, and you’re looking to see what side of the draw you are. It dictates a lot.
“It’s a bit of a dagger in the back, one step forward, two steps back kind of approach.
“This is the chance to kind of change that and promote football, for the greater good of t he GAA, not just looking on an individual county’s side of things or a provincial side of things.
“In Longford there, to have a final or a meaningful game, a competitive final or something you can win to promote Longford and entice players to keep playing through to senior is huge because times are changing.
Behind
“Guys’ reasons for playing football are changing and their will to play isn’t there anymore and if we keep going the way we’re going that we’re going to be left well behind.
“You wonder in the future is there going to be a senior team for Longford or for Leitrim. You mightn’t have the numbers.
“Long-term, bigger picture, I think it’s something that could happen.
“If the levels and gaps keep opening like the Super 8 widened that gap between ( Division) One and Two and the gaps between Two and Three is there.
“And it’ll just widen it further, if something doesn’t happen, that there’s going to be massive change. It mightn’t be reversed.”