Has the GGA sold its soul?

[Fitzy]

Thank fuck we don’t have general elections on Sundays…

[Manuel_Zelaya]

@Fagan ODowd

Not wishing to prolong this debate further but the 1979 Football Final was moved to accommodate the Papal Visit. It had nothing to do with the weather.

The move to the 3rd Sunday in September had been talked about throughout the 70’s. The Papal visit in 79 may well have hastened to it. It should be noted Pope John Paul didn’t arrive in Ireland until 29 September. The football final was played 13 days before that on 16 September 1979.

After 79 it remained on the 3rd Sunday until the revamping of the championship with the introduction of the backdoor system in 1997. There were two exceptions. In 1984, there was a 3 week gap because of various events revolving around centenary year celebrations and it was played on the 4th Sunday of September. I stand corrected on this but my recollection is the All Ireland Final of 1985 was moved from 15 September to 22 September after both the Kerry v Monaghan and Dublin v Mayo semi finals ended in draws.

[Fitzy]

Please stop.

[Manuel_Zelaya]

@Fitzy

Please stop.

Run along to the AFL thread if you’ve nothing more constructive to offer on this discussion.

[Fitzy]

Seriously, just stop.

[Sandymount_Red]

@Fagan ODowd

Not wishing to prolong this debate further but the 1979 Football Final was moved to accommodate the Papal Visit. It had nothing to do with the weather.

Sidney/Manuel should really pack it in now.

[anon61956325]

Mayo and Kerry coloured olives on sale next Saturday…

[Sidney]

@Sidney

GAA fixture scheduling etc is gas. Everybody moans about something.

“It’s a joke that players train for six months for one match.”

“The back door has ruined the club scene.”

“It’s a joke that players are told to wait around for six weeks after losing in their provincial championship for a match they don’t want to play anyway.”

“This Tommy Murphy Cup is a farce. Nobody cares about it.”

“It’s a disgrace that the GAA haven’t come up with a meaningful All-Ireland B competition.”

“It’s a disgrace that the provincial finalists are out again six days after losing.”

“It’s a joke that the provincial champions have to wait five weeks for their semi-final.”

“It’s ridiculous bringing Kerry and Mayo all the way up to Croke Park for a match that will only attract 25,000.”

“It’s an insult to Kerry and Mayo bringing them down to Limerick.”

“It’s a disgrace the way club players are treated in this county.”

“It’s ridiculous that dual players are being penalised for playing both hurling and football. These are amateur players and they should be allowed play what they want.”

“It’s a farce in this day and age that players are trying to play two games at the top level.”

“It’s joke the way the county manager is being messed around by scheduling club fixtures before a championship match.”

“It’'s a joke that the county championships are put back until September.”

“It’s not good enough that the club championships drag on until St. Patrick’s Day, disrupting teas’ league campaigns.”

“It’s terrible that club players will be robbed of the St. Patrick’s Day showpiece. Our national finals should be on our national day.”

“It’s a joke that here aren’t 10 more weeks in the year. Fucking nature.”

“It’s no wonder that Longford lost yesterday when the county board didn’t back their manager over having access to his players in the run up to the game.”

“It’s a disgrace that county players aren’t available to their clubs.”

“It’s a disgrace that Laois have to forfeit home venue against Dublin.”

If it was in Portlaoise it would be:
“It’s a disgrace that people who have paid for seated season tickets are not getting what they paid for. There are plenty of other grounds in Leinster that could have held this, Nowlan Park for instance.”

“It’s a disgrace that counties now have to wait six weeks for the qualifiers.”

If the championship was condensed into a smaller time-frame it would be:
“It’s a disgrace that the GAA is conceding ground to other sports by having no inter-county games scheduled this weekend. We need to maximise our media exposure over as long a time-frame as possible. This is a dereliction of duty from the GAA.”

“It’s ridiculous that the championship starts with such a whimper. The All-Ireland champions should open the year.” (Colm O’Rourke on Morning Ireland today)

If this happened it would be:
“It’s ridiculous that Dublin are playing Wicklow in a Leinster preliminary round tie. At least in the past weaker counties got a game against another team at their level before taking on the bigger teams. These types of mismatches help nobody.”