Football

NFL set for a rejig to create calendar space

Monaghan fielded eight Ulster medallists in their Dr McKenna Cup match with Antrim earlier this season and duly thrashed the Saffrons
Monaghan fielded eight Ulster medallists in their Dr McKenna Cup match with Antrim earlier this season and duly thrashed the Saffrons Monaghan fielded eight Ulster medallists in their Dr McKenna Cup match with Antrim earlier this season and duly thrashed the Saffrons

THE Allianz National Football Leagues are expected to be brought forward by two weeks next year in a bid to create more calendar space for club activity.

Moves are afoot to see the various subsidiary competitions, such as the Dr McKenna Cup, being played in November and December rather than their regular January slot.

There is also tacit acceptance among the GAA’s top brass that the much-maligned collective winter training ban has been a failure since its controversial introduction several years ago, despite subsequent tweaks.

The GAA hierarchy believes it makes more sense to use the months of November and December to play the Dr McKenna Cup (Ulster), the O’Byrne Cup (Leinster), the McGrath Cup (Munster) and the FBD League (Connacht).

Ulster’s Dr McKenna Cup is undoubtedly the most prestigious out of all the subsidiary football competitions as it has consistently drawn big crowds and is a lucrative revenue stream for the Ulster Council.

In recent years, the annual media launches of the McKenna Cup would rival any senior Championship event the Council has organised.

Ulster officialdom, therefore, might be the hardest province to persuade but they have already shown flexibility ahead of this summer's Ulster Championship by playing two games over the same weekend rather than sticking to their traditional standalone fixtures.

Like all other provincial pre-season competitions, the McKenna Cup finishes very close to the start of the National League, which means senior managers are inclined to experiment less with new players.

A move to November and December might also take some heat off managers because the games would not be played so close to the Allianz Leagues.

Monaghan fielded eight Ulster medallists in their second McKenna Cup group game against Antrim earlier this year, while the Saffrons flooded their starting team with new players.

Monaghan consequently hammered their hosts 2-20 to 0-9.

In years gone by, the design of the McKenna Cup and other subsidiary tournaments was to trial and develop new players.

But given the increased prestige of the Allianz Leagues and how they are seen as a springboard to having a good Championship campaign, the pre-season competitions probably don’t produce many new players.

Speaking in relation to the U21 grade being replaced by an U20 one next season, former Armagh defender Aidan O’Rourke noted: “At the minute, I think are there players that managers are not sure of and they throw them in for a couple of games in the McKenna and see if they sink or swim.

“I could give you many examples of players who were thrown to the wolves and weren’t ready, and then discarded. Confidence to players is a massive thing and adjusting to the new level.”

One of the most memorable McKenna Cup finals was between Tyrone and Derry in 2016.

The Red Hands won a fiercely intense encounter after extra-time but with their National League opener a week away, Derry were deprived of key players Brendan Rodgers, Enda Lynn and Danny Heavron because they’d suffered bad injuries in the McKenna Cup decider.

Oak Leaf manager Damian Barton also received a lengthy suspension resulting from the game.

To move the subsidiary competitions to November and December would appear to make sense on many levels.

Currently, the collective training ban is futile, more new players might emerge in the new November/December slot and an earlier conclusion to the Allianz Leagues - before the end of March – would, in theory, give club programmes more space.

The new U20 grade may also have a positive ripple effect as their Championship will be played in the summer months and should ease the bottle-neck of competitions once felt between February and April.