http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/horan-calls-for-standard-fixtures-276653.html

Have to say I agree with him 100%. It's ridiculous that county managers are able to put club championships on hold. It's completely unfair on club players whose season is put on hold for the whole summer, unable to plan ahead book holidays etc when they have no idea when championship matches will be played. It also an unfairness in that it punishes counties who try and keep their club championship ticking over.

I accept that there are cases in dual counties (like Tipp, where you need a Mathematics degree to work out how the hurling championship works in any case) where championships get held up due to the sheer volume of inter-county matches but in many cases there are no excuses- Donegal for example.

And fair play to the Mayo county board for having 3 rounds played and being at the QF stage by the start of August. It might hurt Horan but I'm sure it'll stand to Mayo football in the long run.

roundball (Tipperary) - Posts: 2514 - 29/07/2014 11:44:10    1627833

He is 100% right. Letting counties make these decisions for themselves is like turkeys voting for christmas. I actually think Dublin are even worse than Donegal, as those clubs have the numbers to play the games without their county players anyway. The reality is it is giving teams advantages over others in the inter county setup, while walking all over club players. Neither should be tolerated, nevermind both. Fair enough let counties work out how they can best be played, but there should be a rule that all championships have to be at the quarter final stage by the middle of august or they are punished severely. Maybe they could lose their spot in the AI club championship for example, with repeat offenders removed from the AI series the following year.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 29/07/2014 12:03:03    1627838

Kilkenny run their club games through the Summer and it deosn't do them any harm! Dublin is a disaster. I once played in a league final a day or two before New Years Eve! There have been under 21 finals played in January the following year! Total joke. I can remember seeing Vinnies with Keaveney and all the rest of them playing league games a week before Dubs were playing championship. What harm is it going to do? The way training is now there is more chance of injuries there than in matches. So fair play to Horan.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 29/07/2014 12:03:44    1627839

Same has happened in Tipp hurlingdub. Think the U21 championship finished up the following Jan or Feb one year. Think that might have been the year the senior and U21 hurlers and minor footballers were all playing in to September. This week they are asking senior club players to hurl on Wed night and then the weekend in championship. Some lads having to do this off the back of playing for the county hurlers or footballers last weekend.

TheMaster- Is it fair to say Mayo championship seems nice and streamlined? Groups + knockouts, everyone playing 3 or more championship games, well scheduled. I suppose it helps when ye've only a handful of hurling clubs to cater for.

roundball (Tipperary) - Posts: 2514 - 29/07/2014 13:55:37    1627919

Jaysus lads I don't know what the problem is at all.

We have great club football here every weekend, with big crowds attending, complete with the county players taking full part except on the Sunday before a county game.

Other counties should come up here & see how it's done.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 29/07/2014 15:31:23    1627986

I wouldn't go patting the mayo administrators on the back just yet roundball, there is plenty room to improve it. In truth it is just something they put a very small bit of thought into this year. They got their dates out in time and stuck to them. The amount of overhead was minimal and any county could manage it. They are actually playing the quarter finals of intermediate and junior the following week after the cork game, with the possibility of the senior being put on hold if we win. Simple and straight-forward really. In truth they could do so much more. Id propose a week break where there is a guarantee that no games will be played, so guys can go on holidays or whatever. In reality there are numerous weeks over the course of the year where nothing happens anyway, it is usually just too late for guys to arrange something by the time they find out. Treating players with a small bit of consideration, instead of making them carry the can all the time, would go a long way as regards making people feel appreciated, and ultimately keeping them involved in the game.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 29/07/2014 15:34:14    1627990

Ye boys from down the country seem very annoyed at the way Donegal and Dublin play their respective championships...... I can't speak for Dublin but most of clubs in Donegal have no problem with this, this year actually has worked out better than any other year, because the league has ran off very smoothly, so much so that my own club has only 3 league games left and potentially the league could be finished by end of August, which is no bad thing, considering only a few year ago I remember playing the last league game at the end of Novemeber, the other thing to consider is that it keeps teams ticking over and intrested with training etc..... Knowing that championship is still to come, most clubs could be knocked out of the championship come this time of the year and with 5/6 league matches to play but with nothing at stake.... This doesn't do any club or league any good..........

My point here is that it's everybody to their own.......

ben1977 (Donegal) - Posts: 364 - 29/07/2014 15:34:48    1627992

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 2984

1627986
Jaysus lads I don't know what the problem is at all.

We have great club football here every weekend, with big crowds attending, complete with the county players taking full part except on the Sunday before a county game.

Other counties should come up here & see how it's done.


Lol sarcasm much?!

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 7885 - 29/07/2014 15:39:23    1627995

I think its fair to say that the Mayo County Board has developed a well developed system certainly over the last 4/5 years to play club championship games during the summer months. All 3 round robin games are given set dates to be played on when the draws are made in February and these are not to be changed regardless of how the county team do. The league this year is also being run better with starred league games being played during the summer months meaning they have to be played without county players. All in all there are 6 starred games with county players only expected to play in 4 league games during the season which hopefully means that hopefully it will be wrapped up earlier and no nonsense games being played in November/December as had been the case in the past.

Stephenite (Mayo) - Posts: 9 - 29/07/2014 15:48:18    1628003