Overcoming challenges and looking forward to the future for Leitrim GAA

It is my great pleasure to present to you my annual report on the activities of Coiste Chontae Liatroma, a year that saw us, thankfully emerge from the generational disruption of the Covid pandemic and thankfully a first full season of activities since 2019. 

What we returned to was a season of activity that has relatively few structural similarities to what was heretofore. The oft spoken of split season has arrived via a mixture of necessity and stealth. The post pandemic economic changes have brought their challenges with spiralling costs, this allied to the challenges that have arisen as a result of the chaos in Ukraine. It certainly is a different world than that we left behind in 2019! 

Nonetheless it is certainly great to have had an undisrupted year of activity at all levels to reflect on. Necessity has taught us new ways to communicate, to fundraise but the aim of the game essentially is to strive to be the best that we can be and over the past year, we thankfully got every opportunity to test ourselves in the new order of events. 

Seeing the big picture is often the hardest thing

THE LAST POINT

County Senior Football – Allianz League

Two weeks later the weather struck a blow, and our Round 3 match with the visiting London team was transferred to Bekan on the Saturday morning, as Páirc Seán was declared unplayable. The Sunday proved to be a windswept day country wide with a number of games falling by the wayside. However, the sod was perfect in Bekan, but the wind howled. No excuses being offered here, our team’s performance was below par and London deservedly took the spoils of victory and fired a warning shot ahead of a Connacht Championship encounter that loomed in April. 

It is fair to say that when criticism is being doled out we are equal to the very best in that regard. Of course it is far from ideal to not be able to play at our home venue, due to a combination of inclement weather conditions and a playing surface that is unfortunately unreliable at that time of year. The solution to that problem is currently being examined and will, in time, be hopefully found. However, misinformed opinions, and bizarre solutions do not help the situation. 

Yes, it was far from ideal for our supporters to have to travel to Bekan, but full consultation among all parties who had responsibility for short term decision making took place and the decision made was viewed as offering certainty to the weekend and the longer term fixture schedule. Had we performed adequately on the day there would be nothing about this. 

The decision to not play all games together in the last round was disrespectful to Division 4 teams, irrespective of your point of view. As it turned out, ours was the very last to be played, by which stage Cavan and Tipperary had secured promotion and this was to prove merely a dead rubber, in which Sligo duly delivered themselves a pre championship boost with a six-point victory. 

County Senior Football – Championship

There was little time to prepare for the trip to Ruislip and a daunting championship fixture with the home side. Management and team used the three-week timeframe excellently fine tune preparations and the team travelled in steely determination. It was all needed as a resolute London gave it all, despite falling eight points behind early in the second half. Eventually it took a late, late goal to seal a four-point victory and we could breathe freely again.

Another three-week gap to prepare for the might of Galway in Pearse Stadium and there was great hope that we could measure realistic improvement over the season. As it turned out, we matched the home side for about 25 minutes before cracks began to appear and by half-time the result was beyond us. 

The record books will not hide the fact that the margin of victory was immense. We were simply out of our depth. Time would tell us that this Galway team meant business, going all the way to the All-Ireland Final in July. 

Leitrim GAA clubs to receive funding for walking tracks

Upgrades will prolong hours of club usage this winter

Tailteann Cup

Thankfully, unlike last year, there was a reprieve with the long awaited Tailteann Cup campaign, which began with a morale boosting five-point victory over Division 3 team Antrim at Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada on the last weekend of May. This set us up for a home game with Sligo on the following Sunday and what an occasion that proved out to be. 

Thrills, spills and drama galore as the game ebbed and flowed. Our efficiency in front of the posts was the perfect antidote to the visitors’ wastefulness as the game moved into the mandatory extra time. A disallowed goal proved crucial to the ultimate outcome and we moved onto the drama of a penalty shootout! Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and Sligo earned the Croke Park semi-final berth.

As it turned out, Sligo featured on the back page of our inter-county season, but the feel good factor was back. We were playing championship football at our level and the fans were there in numbers to witness an action packed day, albeit in defeat.

The ultimate success of the Tailteann Cup in its first season has given counties at our level hope for the future. Or has it?? 

The most recent draw for the 2023 Connacht Football Championship has left us with many unintended consequences. Whatever the outcome of the quartet campaign that features Leitrim, New York, Sligo and London, there is guarantee that a current Division 4 team, or maybe even New York will feature in the Connacht Final, thereby missing out on the one championship competition that all four could realistically be at least competitive in, with ultimate success therein not beyond reason. 

The eventual 2023 Connacht Finalists on our side of the draw will miss out on a possible Tailteann Cup run, could have a very tough end of season results’ sequence and ultimate success is perhaps realistically unattainable.

It is a factor that requires examining in advance of the 2024 championship draw. While it is ten years since the draw has thrown up this scenario, the goalposts have moved considerably in the interim and it needs immediate correction, for the sake of all concerned. 

This may involve seeding which would not go down well with traditionalists, but a series of potential hammerings will do nothing for morale. Perhaps I have got this summation all wrong and many will disagree with me!

Adult Club Football

A bold suggestion by the Aughnasheelin club in the form of a motion this time last year to change the manner in which we organised our championships was given a hesitant green light. Now we found ourselves venturing into the largely unknown, with draws being conducted week on week, incorporating the home and away format of more recent competitions. This fed the complicated nature of the draw, but once a draw format had been agreed it was full steam ahead into unchartered territory. 

What resulted was arguably the most competitive Senior and Intermediate Championships we have had in recent memory. Indeed, the uncertainty was hard on players and team officials, but anecdotal evidence would suggest that it proved quite popular with the majority of constituent parties. It will be interesting to see if this weekly draw format is retained into 2023 as there is motion on our Clár to dispense with this aspect the set up. 

Winner on Day

While it may seem a bit random to toss this into the middle of a review of club football, it is an aspect of our regulations that deserves comment. Born out of necessity during the Covid years, and understandably so, given the shortest of time-frames we operated under racing from one lockdown to another, the goalposts have moved so to speak. 

Now we operate under the considerable restrictions that have visited us with the split season and inter-county players having to be all things to all men. As a county administrator I have to admit that I have no issue with winner on day regulations as they apply to the inter county season, given that there are at least 95% of players who are reliant on that calendar of events concluding on time. 

However, without wanting to be patronising to Fenagh-St Caillin’s in making a point, it’s hard not to feel that it was cruel the manner in which their county senior semi-final ended. To the victor the spoils and all that, but it is far from improbable that our highly efficient CCC would not be overstretched to factor in a replay of a knockout championship game, if that game ends level after extra-time first day out. 

My take on it is that if you end up level after playing two periods of extra time across and including Day 1 and Day 2 then you finish it with penalties. After all, extra time is considered a ‘new game’. Even Dublin v Meath in 1991 was settled just before the end of the fourth match. There are motions on the Convention Clár to provoke discussion on this very point with various suggestions outlined in detail. 

“50 Miles in January Challenge” as Leitrim GAA & LGFA join forces for 2023 campaign

Split Season

The debate rages on among its supporters and detractors and it will take another full season to realise its full ramifications on our systems with the group stage conclusion to the various football championships. “They said it could never be done!!” is a line that appears in song and poetry, among other artistic forms. 

Well whether through necessity, courtesy of Covid, or stealth it hit us with a bang this year. While the demands being placed on amateur players continue to mount, I feel the large degree of certainty that has arisen from the total separation of the county and club season has eased the burden on county players. 

They don’t have to serve two masters simultaneously and this is something that is most welcome. The future ramifications of the group stage conclusion to the senior inter county season may result in less time for club leagues, depending on results, so our tinkering with the club season may not be just over yet. 

It will require another leap of faith from our clubs and a bit of lateral thinking to ensure that the club season does not get too protracted at the latter end of the year. We remain one of the few counties who expect our county players to play in all league matches. This may have to change somewhat. 

This year our clubs played Round 1 without the county panellists. Should we have an extended run in a Tailteann Cup in the future, a plan may have to be devised in order to have our leagues running smoothly and not end up wearing players out by cramming all into too short a time frame.

Club Hurling

As a comment, it was disappointing perhaps that the senior hurling final was not played earlier in the year, when the pitches were bone dry and these players were coming off a run of Cúchulainn fixtures in July. It was suggested by CCC that a date in advance of the Club Football Championship would be more suitable but democracy held sway when the suggested Master Fixture Plan was unveiled in February. Leaving it to a date that is at best at the mercy of the progress of club footballers, and our pitches are at best sodden is foolhardy in my opinion, but then I never played hurling so what would I know.

Age Grades

It would appear that the conundrum around age grades is going around in circles with it to rear its head again at next year’s Congress. There seems to be as many opinions are there are counties. If it becomes the situation that it is left to counties to decide, then after a full cycle of the odd age groups that it would make little sense for us to revert to even ages. 

There is no suggestion that that is hanging out there, but the certainty of fixture planning with full decoupling from adult football is no brainer as far as I’m concerned. Our feedback to the Task Force with responsibility in this area appeared to be universally of the same opinion, leave well enough alone. But everyone to their own, we just need to look after our patch and do the best we can with our players and let others do as they wish.  

Referees

Our appreciation for the thankless service that is provided by our band of referees remains understated and is more often than not in paragraphs such as these at the end of the year and sometimes forgotten once the first competitive ball is thrown in at the start of any new season. 

And so it rumbles on and on. ‘Give Respect and Get Respect’ and all that. I have a feeling and an earnest hope that the tide may turn. 

This has been a year of unprecedented headlines in the area of abuse of referees which garnered many national headlines. Thankfully, none of which emanated from our county. However, we should not feel any pride in that statistic as “There, but for the grace of God go I” springs to mind. Recently approved motions to go before Congress to increase penalties for such events only go so far.

Nobody has the right to have a go at a match official who is also there for his/her enjoyment and fulfilment also. If anyone feels that they have this right in the future my advice to them is to consider their position carefully, because this is far from welcome. 

The fall out that may be caused by any such disgraceful action, whether meditated or premeditated, is not welcome either as others have to pick up the pieces, once the committees in charge of discipline have acted as only they can, in accordance with the official guide.

Andy Moran meets Leitrim fans in New York - GALLERY

Leitrim manager Andy Moran was the special guest as he addressed Leitrim exiles in New York on a recent visit Stateside and photographer Sharon Brady was to capture some images of the event

Finance

With the return to a normal year of activity, it was naturally expected that spending would increase. What may not have been factored in was the scale of inflation that has arisen as a result of situations beyond our control. Naturally, the greatest spend for us is that in the preparation of our county teams, and this quite frankly has spiralled since the last comparable year, that being 2019. 

This increase is accounted for across all areas of team preparation and is largely unsustainable for a county of our resources. The single largest outlay is that attributed to travelling expenses and the recently approved increase in mileage will not help reduce matters. 

While these increased costs can be comfortably absorbed by larger units that are much greater resourced, unless a considerable portion of our costs are met by central funding then we will not be able to continue. In fairness, it is quite universally acknowledged that we are more than challenged. 

As we face into 2023 we know that there are at least four trips to be made overseas by our hurlers and footballers. This will place significant pressures on an already over stretched budget that has seen us record a significant deficit in 2022.

Integration 

Many girls who play football have brothers who play also. And if they haven’t, what difference does it make! 

From personal experience I can attest to the fact that girls give their preparation and effort as much serious consideration as the mere males of society. Equality of welfare, access to facilities, expenses, fixture scheduling will no doubt be on the table as these discussions unfold. It will, inevitably lead to interesting times ahead, but times that I look forward to positively.

Ladies Football has brought every bit as much joy to communities and counties over the past decades as has the male version of events. Often more!

Leitrim footballers open with Waterford and finish with Sligo in 2023 Allianz NFL Division 4 campaign

A Brief Look Ahead!

Another year over and a fresh dawn lies ahead. There will be many challenges in 2023, but that is nothing new. I look forward to safe travels for our team and supporters to the Big Apple around the Easter Holidays. We will clock up many air miles over the next six months with four trips now confirmed, two each for footballers and hurlers. This will come at great cost but we’ll get over it. 

I look forward to progress on all fronts. A cup or two would be great to look back on this time next year. It’s coming on 25 years since our 1998 Minors covered themselves in glory. We are due something and will strive to be the best we can be. Realistically we cannot ask for any more than that.