HAD a second tier Championship been in place for the 2015 season, it would have denied Antrim their best summer outing of recent years.
Their stunning comeback victory over Laois in round one of the Qualifiers was a famous day for the Saffrons.
However, under the proposal that appears to be favoured by the GAA’s Competitions Control Committee, the sides would never have met.
Division Four teams who fail to reach their provincial final would not take part in the Qualifiers from 2017 onwards if Proposal 18 was to be adopted.
They would instead be part of a separate second tier Championship, which the CCCC report says they “cannot ignore even though it is apparent players from the weaker counties would not be in favour”.
The CCCC has suggested adding the incentive of a place in a preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final for the winners of the second tier competition.
The proposal would also mean shortening the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship by one round.
The idea of a second tier Championship was included in 11 of the 18 proposals that were reviewed by Ard Chomhairle before being passed on to the CCCC.
16 of the 18 proposals sought to retain the provincial Championships, though many sought for them to be played over a shorter timeframe.
Ard Chomhairle effectively ruled out 9 of the 18 proposals on the basis that the qualifiers or All-Ireland Championship wouldn’t begin until after the provincial Championships had finished, saying that “the implications for clubs would be enormous”.
Antrim goalkeeper Chris Kerr was happy to give the proposals some air but pointed to their win over Laois and Fermanagh’s run to the All-Ireland quarter-final as the antithesis to the argument.
“There’s no reason why other teams can’t look at that, and what Fermanagh have done the last few seasons, and think if they put in the work and apply themselves the way you could, why not?
The Central Competitions Control Committee believes that the idea of a second tier Championship “offers the best of both worlds to less successful counties”.
It also questions the GAA’s own attitude to promoting the unsuccessful Tommy Murphy Cup, a second tier competition which ran from 2004 until 2008 before being abandoned.
“It’s like anything they bring in really, only time will tell. I know the Tommy Murphy Cup wasn’t exactly a very appetising competition.
“But like the black card, it’ll be a matter of time after it’s introduced before people get a feel for it and make their decision then. It’s hard to know now. You don’t know until it happens.
“Last year, we had the game against Laois and things like that would be taken away if that was the case.”
The GPA’s hopes of introducing a round-robin system and retain the provincial Championships as a standalone competition took a serious hit from the CCCC report.
Increasing the number of football Championship games in a summer from 60 to 100 would have “a further negative impact on the club player,” said their report.
Antrim’s Division One club league is set for a revamp itself in 2016, with the number of games for each club increased to 22. For Kerr, the GPA’s idea is a non-runner.
”That would be crazy. Our own club football at the minute, there’s going to be an extra few clubs in Division One, which will mean we have 22 games.
“Think of the amount of kickouts you’d be clocking up there, you’d be looking at 1,000,” laughed the Antrim number one.
