I am sure Armagh footballer Aidan Nugent thought long and hard before airing his frustrations on Twitter on Monday afternoon.
It turns out that despite GAA games being as popular and well attended as ever, many players had not received a cent in expenses since the new season commenced.
Yesterday it emerged that problems with the centralised system processing sterling payments for players in the north – as well as the majority of county boards’ failing to fully register players – had led to the delay, which has now apparently been resolved.
Players not being looked after should not be a big surprise – certainly not from my perspective, anyway.
Most players will tell you that playing club or county football or hurling is very much a loss-making exercise.
We understand that, at club level, this is par for the course – this is sport we love and choose to play with most understanding that clubs operate very much at a break-even point.
However, the same cannot be said of the inter-county game. As players (or ex-players), our commitment to the sport is unwavering and, for many, it is a vocation – one that is ingrained in us from an early age.
There is no doubt the GAA take this for granted – indeed, in many cases, the GAA generally take players for granted.
Croke Park has become such a huge corporate and commercial animal, selling boxes, seats and signage for many years now, while the supposed trickle-down effect in the redistribution of funds appears to slow significantly the further down the ladder you go.
And who is at the bottom? The vast majority of county players.
No-one wants players to be paid – absolutely not. That would rail against the very fabric of our being within the Association.
The GPA was born over two decades ago out of the same frustrations Aidan Nugent voiced earlier this week.
I would also suggest that the women’s game also suffers significantly in this regard.
I read recently of Bernard Brogan’s experience with commercialism. Then-Dublin manager Pat Gilroy insisted, upon his appointment, that any commercial income that was attributed to Brogan would be pooled and all players would benefit.
Brogan described this move by Gilroy as humbling, with the policy helping him recognise the hard work done by those less glamorised players on the Dublin squad who had made him the player he was.
Most counties will never be a Dublin, Kerry or Mayo who enjoy the spoils of most summers spent travelling to and from of Croke Park for the latter stages of the All-Ireland championship.
I can tell you that perks down that commercial food chain would not be enough to buy a round of drinks for the squad on a night out never mind anything else. That is the reality.
There is a perception out there that most players ‘do well’ perks-wise out of playing at county level. This remains one of the great misconceptions.
The branded cars are only for the very fortunate; certainly, I never played with anyone who was offered or received one.
To a large degree, though, what inter-county participation does bring is profile and the indirect benefits that come with this.
It can certainly open a few doors and this is best demonstrated in the annual summer exodus of footballers who can decide to, ironically, opt out of a county squad in order to earn a few bucks Stateside in those few short months.
Given the split season and the fact that club championships do not start until September in the current format, this exodus is becoming all too frequent for many players now.
Many players, like Aidan Nugent, I would guess certainly do not want to benefit in actual monetary terms from their participation for the county – but they shouldn’t be out a fortune either. Players are happy to break even – as most clubs do.
If they are anything like myself in a cost of living crisis, they am lucky to break even month to month and it’s a panic when an unexpected cost comes in.
The vast majority of players, they will take their chances with the intrinsic enjoyment and pride of wearing the county jersey, having the adulation of the fans and being a person looked up to within their local club.
Players will put their careers on hold in the hope that some day, when they begin to look beyond football, their profile may well open a few doors for them.
Few, if any, would undertake the work and level of volunteering that Jarlath Burns, ex Armagh captain, does on a day-to-day basis.
Jarlath is running for to be the next GAA President this weekend and, having narrowly lost out last time around to our current President Larry McCarthy, I think the Silverbridge man has a great chance of leading the Association when McCarthy steps down.
I could not speak any higher of Jarlath Burns as an individual.
He is deeply immersed in the Silverbridge club and perhaps it is the nature of someone hailing from south Armagh that he has never forgotten their roots.
Of course, his son, Jarlath óg, is an integral part of this current Armagh team and is a fantastic player.
Burns snr will understand the challenges faced by the modern player and the commitment levels required. Much has changed from his time and, indeed, from my time, even. I think this sort of awareness is required now more than ever.
There is also the need now for someone in the north to lead the GAA.
In a period of inertia, resulting from the collapse of Stormont and with the Brexit fiasco still hanging heavy over the six counties, all that many GAA members in the north have is the GAA and the power of its voice.
‘Ah, but the GAA is not political’ you might say.
Of course, in a normal democracy that never experienced the Troubles as we did, the GAA would have been apolitical.
While I cannot see Jarlath’s term being too wrapped up in that side of things should his bid succeed, I think he will have a clear agenda in terms of reconciling a number of issues around rules and structure that need sorted.
Hopefully he won’t be needed now to sort out player expenses claims.
That way, Jarlath óg might be able to treat him to lunch instead of the other way around.
