CLONTIBRET boss John McEntee believes safeguards would have to be put in place to protect clubs from inter-county managers if a split season is to be introduced.
The GAA took a significant step towards implementing a split season when there was significant support for its introduction at a meeting of the fixtures review taskforce on Wednesday night.
In recent weeks, the Gaelic Players’ Association (GPA), Club Players’ Association (CPA) and GAA president John Horan have all given their backing to a model which would separate club from county activity.
The earliest possible implementation of a split season appears likely to be 2022, although there is plenty of road yet to travel as a motion would have to get central approval before gaining sufficient support at next year’s Congress.
Former Armagh and Crossmaglen player McEntee is “very much in favour” of a split season, but admits he has some concerns about how it would be managed.
“They need to put safeguards in place to give the club a level of protection,” said McEntee, who comes up against former team-mate Oisin McConville on Sunday when his Clontibret side face Inniskeen in a crunch Monaghan championship clash.
“There’s the fear that inter-county managers will still continue to train and get their tuppence worth throughout that period of time. Inter-county football is all about specialism, they’re the best footballers in the county, training to the best standard, which is grand, but young fellas need football.
“Inter-county managers and coaches need to be able to develop a relationship with clubs, to go around, get advice and guidance on how training should facilitated that could better everybody. Have it in such a way that not only are they seen as two separate entities but the actual inter-county scene helps to develop the club scene, and gives them an opportunity to play football and be better focused.
“That way whenever they come to the county the only thing they’ll actually have to focus on is whatever systems they are working on. The players are well conditioned, they are already up to match standard.”
With such a focus on strength and conditioning work, particularly at inter-county level, that could present a potential headache.
He said: “For counties the off-season is when you do a lot of your strength and conditioning work; you can’t do that while training for your club and playing for your club. You can’t do heavy running and heavy lifting when you’re trying to play football for your own club.
“So that type of potential conflict needs to be resolved. But look, if there’s a will at inter-county level, great.”
Following Wednesday’s conference call, it is understood that GAA officials will come back to the taskforce in two weeks with a design based on the plan presented by the GPA.
In making the proposal, the GPA was keen to ease “unsustainable demands” on players in the current structure and instead suggested a 23-week inter-county season that runs from February until the end of July.
GPA representative Ronan Sheehan, the current Down hurling boss, briefed fellow taskforce members on the proposal.
It is possible that new Championship formats would be put forward as a result, though whether any of this takes place in 2021 remains to be seen, with president Horan believed to favour implementation the following year.
The CPA – who withdrew from the fixtures taskforce earlier this year, claiming it was “a Trojan Horse, designed to give cover to the GAA authorities to ratify the status quo while having the appearance of consultation and thoughtful deliberation” - has already called for a fixtures-focused Special Congress to take place in 2020 as had been planned.
