One of my favourite things about our national games is the casual interaction with supporters who just want to chat about the latest hot topic.
I am not talking about the cesspool of social media, where anonymous accounts rage endlessly and courage comes cheap behind a keyboard - that’s a topic for another day.
This is about real conversations. Bumping into someone while buying milk. Walking the dog. If someone wants to talk GAA, I am all ears. And what always strikes me is how no two people ever see the game in quite the same way.
Right now, the hot topic is the split season.
Let me be clear from the start, I am firmly in favour of it. In fact, if I had to pick one or the other - inter-county or club - in some parallel universe, there would be no Galway v Mayo, no Cork v Kilkenny. Just club. Every weekend. No hesitation.
That might sound extreme, but it is just personal preference. After years of covering inter-county GAA professionally, I grew completely disillusioned with what the elite level had become. Sterile, distant, and increasingly detached from the community game it is supposed to support.
County game has lost its soul
The faux elitism is exhausting. Managers and players are giving interviews that say absolutely nothing. Copycat coaching setups. Analysts who speak like they invented the sport. And worst of all, the outrageous amounts of money thrown at the county game - millions every year - while local clubs scrape together fundraisers for lifeblood developments. That money could transform the grassroots. The lifeblood of the GAA.
And to be clear, this is not a uniquely Galway issue; it is endemic across the country.
In contrast, the club game is raw and real. Yes, it is flawed. But there is something undeniably brilliant about the imperfect intensity of a local derby in Tuam Stadium or Kenny Park. It is pride of the parish. There are no endorsements. No media briefings. Just men and women playing for their neighbours.
Split season brings order
The split season gives this authenticity a proper window. For too long, club games were slotted in wherever they could fit. The club game was an afterthought at GAA HQ.
Now, players can plan their lives. Families can book holidays. Managers can properly plan seasons, not just hope fixtures fall kindly. It brings order to chaos.
So it is frustrating - honestly, infuriating - when every week brings another swipe at the split season from national media, pundits, or podcast panels. Even GAA President Jarlath Burns recently floated the idea of extending the inter-county season. As if seven months of prime weather and full focus aren’t enough.
Seven months! How in the name of God can a sport not complete a season in that time anyway?
But that is not a split-season issue. It is an outright competition structure problem. The National Hurling League and provincial football championships are dead ducks but still devour calendar space. That is where you can let the inter-county season breathe. Not a rollback of hard-earned gains for club players.
Of course, some people miss the old traditions. Making a September trip to Croker, the endless weekends of big games. I get that. It’s spectacle. It’s the pinnacle. But it should not consume everything.
And let’s be honest, some of the most vocal critics of the split season have skin in the game here - newspaper columnists, TV analysts, podcast hosts. Extending the county season benefits their bottom line. The cynic in me suspects that is the real motivation…and I doubt I’m far off the mark.
Respect the majority
Meanwhile, 95 per cent of players in the association are club players. The GAA is, and always will be, a participation sport. The split season was a bold step forward - but there is more to be done. Especially in dual counties like Galway, where clubs are excelling in both hurling and football. That effort should be celebrated, not punished by a squeezed, chaotic local fixture list.
Because here is the truth: for every child dreaming of playing in Croke Park, there are hundreds more who just want to pull on their parish jersey and represent where they are from. They deserve structure. They deserve games. They deserve respect.
So, if you bump into me on the sideline or at the shop and you want to talk split season, you already know where I stand.
Inter-county has had more than its fair share.
Club first. Always.
