AHEAD of another international break in soccer, the appeal of a fair, workable split season in that code is evident.
Yet even into the second year of that concept in the GAA, the ‘club or county’ debate hasn’t entirely disappeared, with some players still focussing on the former rather then expending energy on the latter.
Whereas in soccer ‘country’ has the greater emotional appeal, in the GAA it’s ‘club’. In both cases that sense of pride is almost always about where you’re from, about representing ‘your’ people (although there are switches of allegiances in both codes).
The very best can balance both demands.
Still, Tyrone star Niall Sludden told this paper recently that a county medal with his club Dromore would mean more to him than the Celtic Cross he won in September with the Red Hands.
Many players have expressed similar sentiments over the years.
Yet what if they actually had to choose?
As an ice-breaker at your next dinner party/ drinking session/ conversation at a safe distance even with friends and family, how about pondering this one:
Which would you choose? An All-Ireland, perhaps even ‘just’ a provincial medal with your county - or a county medal with your club?
In many respects it probably depends on where you come from.
Clearly players dream of doing both when they’re growing up. As Colm Bradley told me recently, his ambitions were to win a county medal with his club (Enniskillen Gaels) and Ulster with his county (Fermanagh). He got plenty of the former, but didn’t achieve the latter. No one has.
He might well swap one or two of those Fermanagh medals for winning Ulster with the Ernemen - but given the choice of just one or the other which would he pick?
Winning Ulster with Fermanagh would convey legendary status; indeed fame and acclaim would follow in most counties. However, if your club has never won a county crown, or hasn’t won for a long time, or you haven’t won one, those are all elements in the mix.
All-Ireland medals are almost expected in Kerry and, more recently, in Dublin. Everywhere else they’re still pretty rare adornments. Even provincial medals are seldom seen in many counties.
Similarly, county medals are pretty plentiful in certain places, such as Crossmaglen, Kilcoo, and Scotstown - but Celtic Crosses are, or would be, treasured.
The joy of winning just one club championship was evident at the weekend for Glen (Maghera), as it will be for either Aghagallon or Creggan in Antrim, and if Clann Eireann can cause a surprise in Armagh.
Obviously winning an Ulster inter-county medal with Antrim would be an incredible, memorable achievement - but even that might not mean as much to players from the likes of Aghagallon or Creggan.
If you’re an All-Ireland winner from Kerry, you don’t even have to come from the ‘Golden Years’ team for it to be probable that there are more Celtic Crosses in your medal collection than Kerry SFC medals, unless you played for Dr Croke’s recently.
Thirty Kerrymen with at least one Celtic Cross were interviewed by David Byrne for the latest publication from Hero Books ‘Kerry: Game of My Life’.
Unsurprisingly, some picked their favourite All-Ireland Final; some even picked the same game.
Yet six of the 30 - 20 per cent - plumped for club matches, even though half of that half-dozen were All-Ireland winning captains with the Kingdom.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that Mickey Ned O’Sullivan doesn’t have happy memories of his sole All-Ireland triumph as an active player, in 1975 (rather than as a panellist who didn’t feature), given that he was knocked unconscious midway through the first half and only woke up in hospital after the final whistle.
Similarly Billy O’Shea broke his leg early in the 1997 All-Ireland SFC Final and enjoyed much more success with his club Laune Rangers.
Fionn Fitzgerald led Kerry out in 2014 but didn’t finish that match, although only because he was subbed. Yet the Dr Croke’s clubman chose a club game, the All-Ireland semi-final demolition of Corofin in 2017.
Yet it’s rather remarkable that Ger Power with eight Celtic Crosses - one as skipper in 1980 - and Eoin ‘The Bomber’ Liston, who has seven All-Irelands with Kerry, both went for club matches too.
Power’s choice is the 1973 Kerry SFC Final, which ended his club Austin Stack’s 37-year wait for the Bishop Moynihan Cup.
‘The Bomber’ went hyper-local, if that makes sense. He also won the Kerry SFC, in 1977, as part of the divisional side Shannon Rangers - but his pick is that year’s North Kerry SFC decider when his club Beale defeated Ballylongford, who also provided players for that Shannon select.
Michael Gleeson, an All-Ireland winner with Kerry in both 1969 and 1970, makes a niche choice too, the O’Donoghue Cup Final of 1966, awarded to the winners of the East Kerry Championship.
There is a dual element to his selection, though. Not only did it confirm the re-emergence of his club Spa, it led him to stay in the Kingdom and to play for Kerry, rather than staying in Dublin, where he had been playing with the Erin’s Hope club. Incidentally, alongside Gleeson in the Spa half-forward line that day was a certain Brian Fenton, who did move to Dublin…
In contrast, the equivalent tome from Hero Books about Dublin produced just one player who rated a club match more important than anything he achieved on the inter-county scene, namely Jonny Magee.
Even then it’s a moot point, as he never won an All-Ireland with the Dubs - but he did with his club, Kilmacud Croke’s, captaining them to success on St Patrick’s Day 2009. That wasn’t the match he chose, incidentally - for that info you’ll have to buy the book.
So, split season or no split season, what’s it to be: club or county?
