"Kerry have been able to saunter into an All-Ireland semi-final for years"
August 16, 2016
The Kerry team have their photograph taken before the Munster SFC semi-final clash against Clare at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.
©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan.
Former Down star Conor Deegan says it's high time the football championship structure was revamped.
Having witnessed Kerry sail through almost uncontested to the last four while the demands of a much-tougher provincial campaign in Ulster resulted in no northern sides getting past the quarter-finals, Deegan - an All-Ireland winner with the Mourne County in 1991 nd '94 - believes a restructure would make things fairer for everybody:
"For me, the only way around this is to make the championship a Champions League format. You go into an open draw and cut out all the nonsense," he told The Belfast Telegraph
"I think what they will do with the provincials is they will have a championship of sorts, and then your Ulster championship will in effect become your McKenna Cup.
"There is a huge disparity, but it has been there forever. Kerry have been able to saunter into an All-Ireland semi-final for years, as long as they beat Cork. I wouldn't say uncontested, but year after year they could develop and grow and peak as a team for August."
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