Playing in a senior All-Ireland final in either football or hurling is a very special occasion. It is one an individual never forgets and one that many youngsters dream of, as they kick or puck a ball of sliotar off their gable wall at home, or at the local ball wall.
Even for those that do participate in finals, not many players have the privilege of playing in such a classic and memorable game as last Sunday between Clare and Cork.
An All-Ireland senior final is a national occasion – one where time stands still and the whole country slows down to watch the games.
Last Sunday was truly spell binding and the display of Tony “Wizard” Kelly will live in the mind of anyone lucky enough to be in attendance for a lifetime.
We watched the game in an Irish pub called The Shamrock (original or what? ) over in Blanes, just down from Girona.
It is for sale if you have any interest?
The wi-fi where we were staying was just too glitchy to even watch a poor Gaelic Football game, never mind the beautiful game of hurling, which meant sitting amongst a large gathering of Cork and Clare supporters who roared on their teams with admirable passion and gusto.
At the end of normal time, I do not believe there was a single supporter in The Shamrock or at Croke Park who would have objected to a replay.
And by the end of injury time, both sets of supporters we were sitting amongst were wailing for a draw. And a replay.
The players had given their all, men had been withdrawn with cramp and fatigue and due to a lack of impact or being on a yellow card.
The fans were sated by what they had seen after the first seventy-five minutes.
Forcing players into another twenty minutes of play to decide who would be the 2024 hurling champions seems idiotic in the extreme to this observer.
Not only is it unfair on the teams and management involved – it also deprives 82,000 people of the chance to go back to see another eighty minutes of high-quality fare in the replay, or some supporters who could not go the first day, might get to go on the second outing.
What is wrong with spreading the love?
Monetary madness not to have a replay
As the son of a man who was the eldest of ten siblings and a man brought up in the hardship and poverty of Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s, on a small holding in the parish of Annaghdown – I thankfully know the value of a euro.
Money is not easy to gather for any individual and likewise for any club or county.
In the Maigh Cuilinn LGFA and the Maigh Cuilinn GAA club we do a Lotto, Bag Packing, Marshal at marathons and 5Ks etc.
Anyone who is involved in sports clubs knows that money is easily spent and hard gathered.
For years – GAA haters have informed me that the GAA, stood for the “Grab All Association” – now that acronym is defunct as the GAA turns it’s back from a possible windfall of around €6 million from an All-Ireland final replay.
Traditionally the GAA to its’ credit – have reduced the ticket prices for replays, hence the reduced projected revenue.
We know the logic of not having replays is to shorten the inter-county season, and in principle I agree with that.
However, exceptions should be made for All-Ireland finals.
An All-Ireland final is different.
Around 75% of GAA revenue is returned down to the clubs and for capital expenditure so a replay is a real boon for the entire association.
Playing in an All-Ireland final is a memory for life – whether you win or lose.
Allowing players who draw an All-Ireland final to come back fourteen days later and have another attempt at deciding a winner, is the fairer and better way to do things, as opposed to having extra-time the first day out.
During extra time, player fatigue and player injury are rampant, and a manager could find himself without three or four of his most important players going into the second period of extra time and their whole season on the line.
The result becomes about who has less injuries, as opposed to who has the best players.
Plus, the referee can understandably be totally wrecked following seventy-five/eighty minutes of action, never mind adding another twenty onto his shift.
Tough on the referee too
Limerick’s Johnny Murphy who refereed last weekend’s final looked to be out on his feet by the end, which was no surprise considering the pace of the game and the fact that he got a knock on the head during the game.
It turns the final few decisions of an All-Ireland final into a lottery as evidenced by Murphy missing a totally obvious jersey pull that would have sent the game to a replay, even after extra time.
The GAA’s intercounty season is too condensed and having the football final on July 28 and the hurling final on July 21 is a not a good decision.
It is too early for me.
Even if the hurling went out to the first Sunday in August and the football to the third Sunday in August - it would allow everyone to savour the occasions a bit more, to enjoy the build-ups as opposed to them being ripped through as if something that has to be finished as soon as possible, compared to something to be cherished and enjoyed to its full.
