Anybody who questions the GAA’s willingness to and alacrity at the accepting and implementation of change should use the the example of the coalition between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the GanGreen Party as a reference point. Now read on…
Nobody really wanted it, nobody is sure how it came about but it’s holding steadily enough, for now. Difference being that while Fianna Fail are desperately lacking in leadership – with Micheal Martin not having the cajones to either go into coalition with Sinn Fein when last the opportunity presented itself or to call a snap election and do so now – at least Larry McCarthy will have, as the pinnacle of his GAA Presidency, the advent of a tiered football championship, of sorts.
Again, not everybody is sure what to make of it. Some are not even sure they want to be in it and there are glitches aplenty in its makeup to be ironed out even before the first ball is thrown in on the first match in the competition.
But at least a start has been made in creating a more equal Gaelic Football world. Or at trying to. There are a few changes I would like to see in its composition that have been echoed by others. Surely, seeing as the competition has already been divided in geographic terms, why it wasn’t structured on a Round-Robin basis. Where is the sense in, essentially, giving teams one more game apiece?
Furthermore, one would hope McCarthy hasn’t already dashed the prosperity prospects of the Tailteann Cup with his refusal to have the final thereof on the same ‘card’ as the All Ireland Football Final. to me, his contention that the new competition’s climax would get swallowed up in the day’s main attraction.
Utter bovine excrement as far as I’m concerned, If, as always used to be the case, a large percentage of the capacity of Croke Park could be got into the ground for the All Ireland Minor finals, so there would be absolutely no bother getting patrons in for a senior inter county match. Especially a final of a competition.
There has also been discussion in certain places too regarding the televising or otherwise of matches in the new Cup. The thinking behind doing so is fairly sound and difficult to argue with – if it’s not broadcast those wishing to see the encounters will quite simply have to attend them.
However, the other side of that coin is, if trying to sell it as a product to the greater GAA viewing public, screening or streaming of the matches may not be avoidable. Hopefully, the first round encounters paired of earlier this week will hook an audience to it without the need for any additional assistance.
The draw for the first ever games in the Tailteann Cup is as follows:
Saturday 28 May
Tailteann Cup round 1
Cavan v Down, Kingspan Breffni, 2pm
Leitrim v Antrim, Carrick-on-Shannon, 2pm – GAAGO
Longford v Fermanagh, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 6.30pm
Sligo v London, Markievicz Park, 7pm
Sunday 29 May
Tailteann Cup Round 1
Carlow v Tipperary, Netwatch Cullen Park, 2pm
Laois v Westmeath, MW HIre O’Moore Park, 2pm
Wexford/Offaly v Wicklow/Waterford, TBC, 2pm
Leave a Reply