Youâve hit the nail on the head there Mike. Theyâll tweak it alright.
Theyâll take a bit of august off the clubs and eventually the clubs will be starting in September where they wonât have seen inter county players for 9 months and a fair players will gone to college and only around at the weekends.
Whoever thought surrendering 7 months of the year to the inter county teams was a good idea needs a good kicking.
While I was initially perturbed by the new split season, I happened to come accross an interview with an ex down footballer a few weeks back. He made the very good point that the new season now allows players to spend more time with their families and actually take a break with them during the long days. He was right . They are as entitled as anyone else to get some down time during the summer. As I said, I suspect it will be tweaked a bit, but weâll get used to it
Down would be out by mid-June under any system. Theyâve given up on inter-county football there.
Thatâs a slogan, not a point.
Dick Clerkin style slogans seems to be all you lot have.
The standard of debate around all this is through the floor.
Whats that got to do with clubs?
Serious lack of consideration for the angle of the sun on All Ireland Final day here.
Weâre playing 4D Chess while the rest are playing Checkers.
*Surrendering 7 months to the intercounty versus surrendering 9 months to the intercounty as it was
Near sell out in Portlaoise for a Leinster minor on a Monday night a few weeks ago. Massive appetite for a real hard knocking, competitive hurling team there
Derry and Armagh seem to be drawing well.
This is Limerickâs fifth year on the road so there was always going to be a slight drop off in the semi final.
Cork crowd were rabid for it at the start of the year.
If you give the people what they want, theyâll turn out. GAA season is always reliant on a breakthrough story or a novel pairing
I think thereâll be big crowds at the football semis as thereâll be 2 games thatâll tear the house down this weekend.
How is Galway hurling championship starting July 23rd and finishing November 12th? Seems nuts.
Nice crowd driven mainly by novelty for two success starved counties, but not near a sell out.
Tyrone v Derry wasnât near a sell out. Armagh v Donegal drew 16k which isnât that great. There is genuine excitement about both Armagh and Derry given they are success starved but the crowds Armagh have drawn (as yet) are still well below what they were drawing in their 1999-2005 heyday.
The problem is the timing. The first seven weekends of the season were all overshadowed by association football. It wasnât until the first weekend in June that the GAA had the scene to itself and the majority of the games were already played by then. The championships will be over before we know it.
You cannot overstate the value of those July, August and September Sundays to the GAA in Irish life. They set the rhythm of the country.
Split season is great. Giving club players an assured timing of the championship and games. Fellas can book a holiday in January for june/july knowing the wont wont miss a game. Guaranteed (expect after winning the county) to have November/December off to concentrate on the big pre Christmas push in work
At inter-county smaller/weaker counties are Guaranteed more than 2 games in championship, makes it more worth it for all the effort. Supporters more games (bitch about the cost if you want)
I think its working well. Minor and 20s age change is a load of bollocks
I miss the spectator side of it myself, and will especially feel the pinch in August and September but if there is a real blockbuster of a game on, Iâd go any time of the year.
Think the semis in the football will be keenly awaited by the GAA to see how they draw with the casual fan
Interesting stats above, had thought those games had done a bit better.
They have no provincials so thereâs no fierce rush with it.
They have 5 group games then knockout and they will probably allow replays unlike other counties who donât have the time.
Isnt the championship been reduced to 16 teams next year? Needs to be by the sounds of it.
Love this time of the year. Challenge games between clubs from different counties. Often seen some crackers.
Dublin v Kerry or Mayo will sell out because itâs a blockbuster. The other semi will draw less (especially if its Galway v Derry which is never a big crowd puller) but will be padded out by 10-15k because itâs on with the Talchin final.
Games which have the expectation of being competitive will always draw decent crowds. But I go back to the value of those July, August and September Sundays. You cannot buy that sort of undivided national attention. Tradition and its place in the calendar matters.
I mentioned the World Cup being in November/December earlier and how there is widespread disquiet at that. Even look at Leinster in the rugby. Their URC semi-final wasnât until June 10th. It only drew 11k. The Irish sporting public, even Leinster season ticket holders, are mentally done with domestic rugby by June. If you take a sporting competition out of its natural time window you decrease its attractiveness.
I cannot for the life of me understand what was particularly wrong with the 2021 calendar. The club championships proceeded as normal. The majority of club finals took place in October. And the club championships themselves served as a good Saturday evening television product as the evenings started properly closing in.
I think thereâs more than enough scope there to keep All-Ireland finals at least on the first and second Sundays in September, if not the first and third.
Wont be going back to September anyway. Apparently hurling final is going to August bank holiday next year and football final week after.
The 2021/22 calender was perfect.
Most club teams were still involved into October which shortened the winter in rural places.
This year most clubs will be done in early/mid September unless you go on a run to a County Final.
