Pat Spillane is continuing his crusade against the GAA’s split season, claiming that physios and sports clinics have never had it so good due to a surge in injuries caused by over-training.

“A physio told me that the GAA split season is God’s gift to physios and sports clinics,” he wrote in his Sunday World column.

“That waiting rooms are packed, particularly with inter-county players. The most common injury in the past was a hamstring. In recent years it has been overtaken by the knee, often the ACL.

“It’s gas. Forty years ago when I got my ACL injury it felt like I was the first in the country, because no one had heard of it, and certainly no one had come back playing after suffering it.

“How times have changed. Now 12-year-olds are getting those injuries. Thanks to the over-use of players, it is one of the most common injuries. Another common injury the physios are telling me is osteitis pubis, which is severe pain in the pubic bone and joints."

The Kerry great asked: “What are the causes? The answer is over-use, over-stress and over-training.

“The cure is up to three months’ rest – good luck with that if you are a GAA player because it’s a luxury you cannot afford.”

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