Football

Time to merge league and Championship - Barton

<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Derry manager Damian Barton says it's &quot;nonsense&quot; they have to wait six weeks to play in the Ulster Championship</span>&nbsp;
Derry manager Damian Barton says it's "nonsense" they have to wait six weeks to play in the Ulster Championship  Derry manager Damian Barton says it's "nonsense" they have to wait six weeks to play in the Ulster Championship 

DAMIAN Barton has called for the GAA’s National Football League and Championship competitions to merge and described Derry’s six-week wait for their Ulster Championship match with Tyrone as “absolute nonsense”.

The 1993 All-Ireland winner was also miffed at the perceived apathy in the Oak Leaf county over the sizeable number of U21 players declining invitations to join the senior panel.

Derry preserved their NFL Division Two status last Sunday despite a six-point loss to Armagh, but now have to wait until May 22 to play in the Ulster Championship: “I think it’s ridiculous,” said Barton, who returned to the sidelines at the weekend after serving an eight-week ban.

“I’ve long campaigned for a league/Championship format. There are teams who will never play the Dublins and Kerrys, or whoever in Division One and it’s not fair. I think we should have a league Championship, condense our season. This is absolute nonsense that we’re waiting six weeks to play a Championship game and the break there is if you’re going through the back door.”

Last summer, Tyrone exited the Ulster Championship on May 17 and didn’t return to the Championship stage until June 28. The long breaks between Championship phases, Barton insists, renders their league form meaningless ahead of their tussle with neighbours Tyrone.

“There are so many variables. Players can get injured… I think our league has no significance to our Championship.”

The Newbridge native was also dismayed by the lack of “buy-in” from younger players in the county and believed Derry’s underage teams need to start winning meaningful silverware again to improve the county’s fortunes.

Derry ended a 13-year wait for another Ulster minor title in 2015, but the county hasn’t flourished at U21 level. They won U21 Ulster and All-Ireland titles in 1997, but 2008 was the last time they reached a provincial final.

“Our U21s went out of the Championship a couple of weeks ago," Barton said.

“You lift the phone about [them] joining the senior panel and their immediate commitment is to their club. Now, the clubs have been very kind to us and they are their players at the end of the day, but whenever you get a situation where 50 per cent of them don’t want to come to senior training after an U21 competition, that culture has to change.

“We’ve developed players at U15 and U16. They should have a commitment to this county right through to senior level and the sooner we change that culture rather than allowing players to walk away, the better because we’ve invested so much time and energy in them."

Barton added: “Success is everything. We need to bring our game patterns through from minor, U21 to senior - and that’s what [Derry’s Director of Fooball] Brian McIver is looking at. It’s a massive task.

“I’m just a custodian. Players have got to want to play for this county. Club football in Derry is huge. Derry clubs have gone into Ulster Championships and all done well. Clubs are investing an awful lot as well.

“We haven’t had underage success for a while... Galway, Cavan, Roscommon - they have players coming through, they know each other, socialise with each other and know each other’s game and develop.”

While Barton was able to return to the sideline against Armagh last Sunday after incurring a two-month ban for his involvement in a fracas during the McKenna Cup final, he was none too impressed by the stiff sentence.

“Eight weeks? I can’t comprehend it and nor will I… Sitting up in the stands is very difficult for me. It’s like a reporter sitting out in the street trying to write up their column. You need to be in the thick of it and there’s no better place than the sideline.”