Ex-Waterford footballer Donie Breathnach says he fears teams “being forgotten a little bit” if a second tier system was to come into the All-Ireland senior football championship.

Breathnach’s native Deise men pushed Clare all the way in their Munster championship opener earlier this month before eventually falling to a one-point defeat in Ennis.

Speaking on calls for a tier championship, the dual star says it would need to be done in the right manner if that majority of counties wanted it.

"My big fear for it is that it would just end up with teams being forgotten a little bit. If the majority do want to go for a second tier, then it just has to be done in the right manner,” Breathnach told the Irish Independent.

"It has to be promoted in the right way and the rewards have to be there for the players or otherwise they won't get interest and buy-in from players and management.

"Lessons can be taken from the way hurling has gone, it has become slightly elitist. The top teams seem to get better and the teams outside that are largely going more towards the periphery.

"I would hate to see football going the same way and if the tier two is to happen it needs to be given priority for the first year or two certainly. There has to be a prestigious element to it.”

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