Sport

Stevie McDonnell: Dublin already in the GAA super league. It’s time for others to join them

Dublin celebrate at the end of a dramatic GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final after victory over Mayo at Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday December 19 2020. Picture by Philip Walsh.
Dublin celebrate at the end of a dramatic GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final after victory over Mayo at Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday December 19 2020. Picture by Philip Walsh. Dublin celebrate at the end of a dramatic GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final after victory over Mayo at Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday December 19 2020. Picture by Philip Walsh.

The idea of the European Super League was the topic of every sports fan’s conversation last week as some of the game's highest profile teams opted in favour of it.

Of course, I mean the mega-rich owners of these high-profile teams opted in favour of it and the only agenda that they had on their mind was to become even wealthier than what they already were.

At no point were the players or managers ever confided in about the idea and there was no consideration whatsoever to the lifelong supporters of these teams.

In recent years, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola expressed their concerns about such a league ever coming to fruition but those concerns obviously fell on deaf ears.

Greed was the name of the game here and nothing else.

These owners in particular left their managers hanging out to dry.

Instead of carrying out their duties in preparing their teams for upcoming games, they were left to answer embarrassing questions regarding the attempted breakaway league, even though their knowledge of it was as much as ours.

As a Liverpool fan, I was annoyed that the owners ever thought that this was a good idea and that it would pass without a whisper.

The fans played their part though, and high-profile ex-pros like Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher did too.

The objections and marches outside the teams involved stadiums proved that the fans still have a voice and should always be listened to.

Sport without fans is nothing as proved in the last year and when they had an opportunity to voice their opinions on the matter, they spoke up and prompted U-turn after U-turn with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City realising that it was not the right thing to do.

In every sport, there are teams and individuals that have dominated for periods of time.

Teams that have created a lasting legacy that will always be there but what has happened in the past, simply does not give these rich owners a defined right to do things their own way.

There are footballing bodies such as UEFA and FIFA that decide the rules.

They have certainly had their fair share of corruption down through the years themselves, but they are the governing bodies for the sport and they were right and justified in threatening players with not being able to represent their countries in major tournaments if these plans gathered any further momentum.

The 12-named teams have to be sanctioned in some shape or form.

They should be hit with points deductions or hefty fines.

Think of the world as it is today.

A hefty fine by these mega-rich clubs could go a long way into building a hospital for sick kids or supporting multiple charities across Europe in some way.

Consequences have got to be paid and it’s a pity on the managers, the players and the fans but the greedy owners have got to be held accountable to ensure something like this does not surface again in the future.

In our own game, this got me thinking about the call to split Dublin in two.

This is ridiculous if you ask me and because Dublin have invested heavily in underage coaching and structures over the last 15 years or so and are now reaping the rewards of this investment, this does not mean that they should be punished for the success they have achieved in the last decade.

They are, of course, the benchmark that other counties need to rise to but like all dominant teams, their run will come to an end at some point and when that happens, other counties will gain in belief.

Kilkenny’s run came to an end in 2010 because they had Tipperary and Clare knocking on the door and the same can be said of the great Kerry team of the 70s and early 80s.

In any other decade without Dublin included, Mayo would almost have certainly won an All-Ireland but the Mayo-Dublin rivalry over the last 10 years can never be underestimated.

Mayo is a team that bring more out of Dublin and the Dubs always knew that their game had to be at the peak of their powers to overcome them.

This was always the case and Dublin always found a way.

It also reminds me of the Armagh, Tyrone and Kerry battles in the early 2000s.

Each team brought each other to new levels and while Armagh only won one All-Ireland during that period, both Tyrone and Kerry knew that if they weren’t on top of their game then things might have been different.

Competition is what drives us forward.

To get to the level that Dublin is at or indeed to get to a level to be competitive against teams like Dublin, Kerry and Mayo, you obviously need to have quality players, but you need to have a serious will to win.

In the 90s, Armagh were the whipping boys of Ulster football, but the pain of those defeats created the drive in Kieran McGeeney, Paul McGrane and Diarmuid Marsden to turn it into success.

That drive filtered all the way through to the rest of us.

Success should not come by splitting the most successful team of all time in two; it should start by thinking the same way as the most successful team ever.

Dublin is already in the GAA super league. It’s time for others to join them.