Keenan: Money puts Dubs too far ahead

The financial backing that Dublin has received from central funds over the past two decades has placed the rest of Leinster at a “huge disadvantage”, according to former Louth captain Paddy Keenan.

It is 14 years since Keenan almost led his county to a first Leinster SFC title since 1957, only to be denied by Joe Sheridan’s wrongly-awarded goal for Meath in the dying seconds of the 2010 decider.

Since then, Dublin have won a record 13 straight provincial titles and are 1/100 favourites to defend their crown today. Keenan believes the days of the provincial championships are numbered, especially pertaining to their role in the wider All-Ireland race.

“I think the horse has probably well and truly bolted on Leinster,” said Keenan. “Whether by design or not, Dublin have just got too far ahead of the chasing pack in Leinster and I think it’s very, very hard to claw that back.

“They have the culture, they have the structure, they have underage, and you have to give Dublin massive credit for putting all those things in place. But you can’t deny that the financial help they’ve got for 20 years has put everybody in Leinster at a huge, huge disadvantage,” he maintained.

“I’m not saying Dublin didn’t need that funding — obviously it was put to very good use and all the rest. But when you’re up in Louth here, the smallest county in the country, two soccer towns, we don’t even have a stadium to play in — but we’ve got very, very little help from the GAA.

“Whether that’s to help whenever the Leinster final thing went awry [in 2010] or whether that’s funding or whether it’s help with the stadium, we’re crying out for as much support and help as we can get to raise the standards.

“We’re badly struggling for help, and we have been for not just ten years — for 50-60 years. You can lay a bit of the blame on Louth, you can lay a bit of the blame on the GAA — but you do have to give credit to Dublin. They have put all that finance to good use, but you can’t deny that would help.”

To have lifted the Delaney Cup in 2010 would have crowned Keenan’s career, but he has now concluded that “the provincials, by and large, are gone. Ulster obviously is still very competitive, Connacht the same. But you’re wasting your time in Leinster and Munster.

“And if you even look at Mon ag han, they’ve lost the first round in Ulster and they’re still in the exact same position they would have been in anyway .” Keen an is hopeful that a team now managed by Ger Brennan will “learn a lot” from last year’s final. “Your journey is up in hope rather than expectation,” he said.