Football’s not quite the poor relation

COMMISSIONS to give football the slo-mo, panpipes and cod-mysticism treatment are unlikely to follow the rapturous reception for The Game. Part two of the homage to hurling airs tomorrow night on RTÉ, and the first instalment was undeniably beautiful. It was also stuffed with melodrama and generalities that could apply to all sports in all cultures. Nonetheless, after the greatest Hurling Championship in living memory, the sport reigns supreme in the Irish consciousness. The desire to praise it has, inevitably, been accompanied by wailing about the state of football. The latest to line up with criticism was former Dublin footballer and manager Tom Carr. It fitted with much of the analysis of the game, in that it was largely absurd. Football has issues, with cynicism topping the list (the dreadful conclusion to last year’s final, when certain Mayo and Dublin players shamed themselves, was too quickly forgotten). But the game has never been better, which isn’t recognised enough. The past half-decade alone has contained three of the best matches anyone could wish to see: the 2013 Dublin-Kerry semifinal, last year’s decider and, by a distance the best match this observer has ever seen live, the 2014 semi-final replay between Kerry and Mayo. Dublin are steaming towards the status of greatest side of all time. Football has problems, but it has its magnificent days as well.