IT’S not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at. Wise words from a modern philosopher*.
They mightn’t appear to match old school GAA thinking but actually this message could appeal to traditionalists.
Tyrone’s second McKenna Cup game taking place in Coalisland on Sunday didn’t just please me because it meant a shorter journey for myself and an easier opportunity to visit my parents.
In my view, county games should be shared around the suitable grounds, where practical, as long as they’re able to accommodate the attendance expected for that particular match.
After all, and with all due respect to Healy Park, not everyone from Tyrone is from Omagh or its environs, and the same scenario obviously applies in other counties.
Using various venues should be the case not only for McKenna Cup games but for League matches too, capacity permitting.
The first choice county grounds should logically be the first choice for most members of the media, and probably the public too.
The facilities at those main venues are the best in each county, with covered stands and press boxes, plenty of toilets, wi-fi, and so on.
However, even though I knew going to ‘the Island ’ would literally mean watching a match from the back of a lorry, it would also mean watching a match, rather than writing about the circumstances of a late cancellation.
I believe it’s good to spread matches around – not least because certain pitches are better suited to host games at certain times of the year.
Floodlights, of course, are another major factor nowanights, vital for evening games, which is the only acceptable explanation for the otherwise embarrassing occurrence of Tyrone having ‘hosted’ games, at club and county levels, at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh .
By the same token, although the cathedral city venue is superb, undoubtedly, with a usually excellent playing surface and a warm welcome from Joe and Ronan, surely it’s not the only one in the Orchard County suitable to host Armagh games (or Tyrone matches). Didn’t Crossmaglen use to be a thing?
Antrim were similarly fixated on Casement Park before being deprived of it, but taking hurling matches to places such as Ballycastle and Loughgiel has been welcomed by followers of the caman code.
If and when Casement is re-built, it would be good for venues such as Corrigan Park, Glenavy, and Ahoghill to continue to host some county football games.
Donegal has got it right, with Ballyshannon and Letterkenny given League games each year as well as Ballybofey. Moving matches around makes particular sense in the largest county in Ulster by area (he types one-fingered while Googling with the other hand…).
Monaghan is the smallest county in the province, though, and they have recently been using Castleblayney and Inniskeen as well as Clones for the National Leagues.
Down have shown imagination too, using Downpatrick and even switched Sunday’s game to Burren, although the weather still beat them at the weekend.
Derry have been forced to revert to Celtic Park as their sole base due to problems with the main pitch at the more central venue of Owenbeg. Yet, at the risk of re-opening the can of worms that a former colleague used to go angling for arguments with on an annual basis, one does wonder if there isn’t another ground in south Derry that could host some county games.
Fermanagh don’t seem to leave Brewster Park.
Admittedly I’m largely ignorant about the facilities at secondary grounds in many counties – some of which used to be the main grounds – mostly because county games are rarely hosted at those venues any more.
Ballinascreen, for example, Irvinestown, Kingscourt, Lurgan. The world’s greatest town, Dungannon.
Some of them are surely up to scratch, though, or could be improved if the will is there at county board level.
Clubs are proud to host county games. There was a plethora of Fianna folk helping out in and around Fr Peter Campbell Park, including one who told me I couldn’t park at the front of the Annagher filling station.
To his credit, when I gently queried, as I walked back up the hill from my faraway parking spot, why a Jaguar was now ensconced there, he had the decency to look a little shame-faced.
There were no fewer than three men guarding the entrance to where the precious half-time tea and sandwiches were being served, but at least their leader believed me when I verbally confirmed that I was a member of the press, without having to proffer my GAA pass. Often that display is met with open contempt, as if I’m holding a poo.
Familiarity can lead to friendliness, but it can also breed the clichéd contempt. Some stewards at regular county grounds appear resentful of their role and their annoyed attitude towards the media is mirrored towards the paying public.
A change could do everyone some good.
Of course counties need to be able ensure spectators pay in rather than merely wander in, which necessitates turnstiles or some form of enclosure, and Health & Safety standards must be met, for toilets, safe standing areas, etc.
Once those conditions have been satisfied, though, at this time of year counties shouldn’t only be forced to move matches away from their main ground by bad weather.
They should think about bringing the county teams to different grounds in the first place – or the second place, or the third place…
* Ian Brown, ‘singer’ from The Stone Roses.
