City clubs line up on final day The AIB Club football final rolls into town soon and for a change we have two of the major cities on this island represented. The GAA was built on the idea of the small rural parish forming the closely-knit rural football unit and by and large that has stood the test of time. But with population explosions in the large towns and cities it was only a matter of time before the big picks followed expectations. St. Galls of Belfast, given the passion and commitment of their surrounding population, are assured of a massive following on St. Patrick's Day. The record for an attendance at the finals may well be broken. If Salthill Knocknacarra from Galway city had the same hardcore support as their opponents, then a record could be guaranteed. In a somewhat ironic commentary, this sprawling area of house and people has perhaps the smallest following of supporters in Galway football. Salthill is home to many tribes-the non-nationals from Mayo, Ros and Clare loved their time in college so much, they stayed for the anthem. They have now established hamlets on the seafront and are joined on a daily basis by people of other colour and creed. If this football lark ever takes off (and a win on March 17th would be a big announcement) this club could rule for years. Experience has taught this rarely happens and even Nemo Rangers, the power brokers from Cork, are finding out that clubs are taking theses championships very seriously indeed. It all has to do with live TV and AIB sponsorship and advertisements. It is cool to be the Club Champions of Ireland and no stone is left unturned by hundreds of clubs nationwide as they strive to win this most prestigious of titles. Salthill/Knocknacarra will start favourites even though I did not expect them to get this far. They looked average against the Roscommon champions but put their best foot forward in taking out the long time fancied Kilmacud Crokes. Obviously they have serious quality for a team at this level - Donnellan and Armstrong are big guns but the balance in other places means everything. The accidental tourists come in the form of a top class free taker in Maurice Sheridan (Mayo) who will captain the team. After a long career, much of it heartbreak in the county colours, how fitting a walk up the Hogan Stand would be for this player? And another couple of Mayo men - Gordon Morley and Anthony McDermott - whose families are closely connected with our counties football fortunes, will man the defensive barriers. Throw in Mark Butler (selector) and this Band of Brothers is complete. Mark is an old college mate and due a big win having lost as a player in 1991. In our house, St. Galls meant only one thing - long trips to Belfast for Division 1 basketball matches. With all the club basketball names being subsumed by sponsor's titles I'm not sure if they compete at this level any more but obviously their footballers do! Their path is by far the most impressive and they will have no fears whatsoever about their opponents. I expect one of the best club football finals since, well, the last one when my own club Ballina Stephenites won the Andy Merrigan Cup. It is a magical moment and I would love to see the Galway team win the day. But sport, as all of the Mayo men mentioned above will know, does not pay much attention to the notion of a player deserving something. I wish both sides the best-enjoy Croke Park, play hard, play fair and plan to be going up the steps. The GAA is swamped by award schemes. And for one good reason-they regularly capture the public imagination because they are short sharp resumes of a player, a season or a game. And anything that gets you to tune into these awards is good news for the media. No wonder journalists and sports sections are at the heart of the matter. Now from the left number: The All Stars Awards; man of The Match Awards (Television, Radio and Print) GPA Awards; Player Ratings; Texaco Awards; Player of the Year Awards; Club/County and Country Player of the Year Award and on it goes, seemingly forever. Sponsor meets player, club/county gets cheque and it is a win-win situation. Or is it? If one is to judge by recent spats these awards are nothing but trouble for many of the teams and players involved. Remember Padhraic Joyce and his Player of the Year fiasco? How many All Star Awards led only to controversy and players, managers and parents falling out? Man of the Match Awards and the old RTE crystal or watch caused plenty of rows. And I do not need to stay in the present for examples. I sat at the table of disappointed players on All Star nights and the atmosphere was shocking. Clubs and counties went silly over a perceived wrong to one of their players. Rumours of politics and business friendships playing a part in the selections will always surface and it creates a very difficult scene for a manager to control. Teammates take umbrage, tensions build up and we can finish with the absolute nonsense of the recent McGuigan controversy. Here Frank senior threatened to denounce his own award because his own son did not get a gong in 2005. I am not sure how this episode finished up, but it's messy, no matter what angle you come from. Man of the Match awards are just as bad and the background noise in a club, county or dressing room can often be embarrassing to the actual winner. Pundits make decisions, often within minutes of a game concluding. There is pressure for a name so that interviews can be arranged and presentations made. This presents no problem in 90% of cases but the tight calls are difficult and some players and families take omission personally. Now that money, holidays and cars are beginning to surface as material treasure (where once it was for the glory!), expect matters to further disintegrate. The GPA rolled a grenade in recently with the announcement of their awards. Players, or a select committee of them at any rate, will choose their own Players/Team of the Year and I understand that a keen sponsor is lined up. When last the All Star awards went this way, many of the players did not even bother to vote. We'll wait out on this one for now And believe it or not, being over-looked for one of these awards, no matter how trivial, can remain a sore point for many years. To highlight the daftness some go to, I once heard of a team that kept track of what players on their side marked opponents who ended up as MOTM. It became apparent over some time that marking a certain wing back bestowed short odds on you getting the award. A bit of harmless fun you might argue? All fine indeed until a loose comment or remark in the changing rooms or at an after match meal, wrapped up as a joke, led to the scheme being leaked to a bigger audience. The embarrassment remains to this day. Tweet

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