League is the GAA's problem child

Beloved and dismissed at one and same time, the gaelic games world has a warped view of what the 'League' brings to the table, a competition that is  feted as the truest indication of where a county stands yet downgraded to the old dismissive “sure it's only the League”, making it very much the problem child of the GAA world.

Watching Leitrim and Wicklow battle it out in conditions so atrocious that both teams deserve a prize for taking the field at all and contemplating what it might be like next Sunday in a windswept Fraher Field in Dungarvan, one wonders at the sense in playing what is regarded as the most important  competition for lower tier teams at this time of the year?

The League is where it is at for Andy Moran's side in 2024 - with three Division 1 teams in Connacht, the prospect of lifting the Nestor Cup appears remote but promotion and a place in the League Final is an attainable if difficult to achieve goal.

Lessons from the Dome

THE LAST POINT

Leitrim Ladies have a much better chance of success thanks to the  structures in Ladies football but the truth of the matter is that getting out of Division 4 is  just as much of an imperative for Jonny Garrity's side, particularly if they want to make an impact in the championship - playing league football at a higher level impacts on your championship ambitions, a truth both Moran and Garrity are all too aware of.

The curious insistence of using a knockout format as your primary competition rather than a League is a uniquely Irish concept that is rooted in tradition as most major sports opt for a League style competition that may end up with a playoff or knockout series to determine the champion - the NFL playoffs are in full swing right now, full of drama and razzmatazz but you only reach the playoffs after a 17 game season.

Rugby is the same with leagues followed by knockouts, much the same as  most major American sports are - even Major League Soccer where playoffs determine the champion at the end of the season. The League is king in the Soccer world where even tournaments such as the World Cup and  Champions League have group stages to determine who wins the trophy.

The GAA world, as we all know, is very different! Leagues are incredibly popular but when  it comes to bouquets at the end of the season, they're relegated to the back of the bus - Mayo won the Allianz League last year but they're regarded as having had a poor enough year while St Mary's Kiltoghert lifted the League crown last year but Mohill are celebrated as champions of Leitrim.

It has always been that way, maybe a reflection of a time when the GAA was formed when travel wasn't as easy as it is now and that's why the championship became all encompassing, the sort of one and done affair that holds the attention rather than a competition spaced out over the winter months from October to April.

Even then, the Leagues used to be run on a regional basis for many a year but while hurling retains it's “it's only the league” mantra, a strange contradiction given that the Munster & Ulster championships are now League based affairs, football is gradually coming to a new realisation about the importance of the League.

Linking the group stages of All Ireland SFC and Tailteann Cup to the Leagues means that unless you get a handy draw in your province, the League has never been more important - a good position in the League determines your games in the group stages of whatever competition you qualify for and that could be the difference between success and failure.

A sticky love for the Toffees

THE LAST POINT

I've often wondered would the GAA be better off if they introduced a League style championship and playoffs, abolish the League with the Provincial championships taking their place, but as we know all too well, change comes slowly in the GAA world and while it seems like a no-brainer to many of us, particularly if important games are played at a time of the year when players aren't risking frostbite when they take to the field.

Chatting to a shivering Michelle Guckian after Sunday's Lidl LGFA Division 4 victory over Wicklow, you realise that field sports this time of year aren't fun, whatever about trying to train and develop skills and tactics. Our facilities are getting better, athletes have never been stronger but we're stuck with structures that we first adopted maybe a century ago.

Most people will tell you the League is the best inter-county competition there is - pitted against teams of equal standard, competition is fierce and with Divisional finals and the prize of promotion, there is always something at stake - the pity is that the competition is played at a time of the year when the elements dictate how games are played or if they're played at all.

Before it went to a calendar year competition, the League was spread out over half the year but with no games for most of December, all of January and well into February - that made getting around the country a bit easier for players and fans and while I don't want to go back to that system, the push for a defined club window has had the knock-on effect of compressing the League and championship even further.

I'll be honest, I have no problem with the split season despite the protests  - in fact, I'd push it even further  so that the club season is completed pre-Christmas but instead of compressing competitions to an unrealistic degree, we've got to come up with formats that serve both players and fans and that's not easy.

Right now, there are a cohort of young players torn between College and County football and I'm sure in the not too distant future, most ambitious clubs will have their first official get-togethers of the season and you've got to  think with everyone pulling out of them, this time of the year has got to be one of the most demanding - and that's before we mention exams!

The GAA have moved with the times in so many fields but when it comes to structures, they're still slaves to tradition and history. That's no bad thing but what sufficed in 1994, 1964 or 1924 certainly doesn't cut the mustard right now - the strange thing is that there has been a revolution at club level with more games than ever before, but the County game is still mired in structures from the past.

More lows than highs in 2023

THE LAST POINT

Leitrim and Wicklow served up a remarkable encounter given the conditions in Ballinamore (the pitch was fantastic by the way) but it's not easy to impress your manager when the ball swerves and flies all over the place in driving rain - and it is just as little fun to huddle in the stands trying to stay warm and dry!

It is hard to see anything changing any time soon but until it does, maybe we should give those wearing the county colours a bit of a break and wait until the day when the GAA finally recognises the gem that is League football.