CPA gain 3,000 more members in wake of Congress
THE Club Players Association (CPA) has revealed it enjoyed a surge in membership over the weekend with 3,000 signing up as Congress voted in controversial new proposals for the football championships.
Membership of the fledgling organisation is now approaching 25,000 after a weekend during which several players vented their anger at the proposals.
Last week, CPA treasurer Anthony Moyles suggested the aim was to have 50,000 members by the end of April. Despite a motion for formal recognition of the new organisation being withdrawn at Congress, they appear to be half-way towards achieving that target.
The CPA have not yet officially commented since events at Congress over the weekend, when their appeal to GAA Management to “park” the motion on the All-Ireland quarter-final round-robin series was not acceded to.
However, a CPA source told the Irish Independent that there was a flood of inquiries as the new inter-county landscape was being voted in, estimating 3,000 new members had signed up.
Two motions to formally recognise the new association were also withdrawn after former GAA president Nickey Brennan advised, amidst a feeling that it wouldn’t secure a two-thirds majority and would send out the wrong message, that further discussions with GAA Management should take place.
The CPA did not release their proposals, loosely based on gaps in the championship calendar to allow for club championship to take place, in advance of Congress because of fears that they would be shot down.
They had intended to keep their ideas for face-to-face meetings with other stakeholders but may opt to put them into the public domain.
The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) is to get working on a new fixtures blueprint to take on board all of the changes from Congress this year and last year.
The landscape in 2018 will be very much changed, with a spring U-21 football championship being replaced by a summer U-20 championship, eight extra All-Ireland quarter-finals and a programme of games that must now end at least three weeks earlier.