I think its an absolute disgrace this is been asked of players. The Leitrim players train as hard as any team without the resources and expectation. The least they deserve is to have the basics looked after. It is up to the county board to come up with the funds to ensure the players have everything they need to play to their potential. How are they supposed to do this when they now have to travel to Waterford on the day of a league game or antrim. No wonder Mulligan and Brennan are unavailable in 2015.

Rosfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 778 - 18/12/2014 17:39:55    1679362

Very good post. I didnt realize this was the case in leitrim. I still wouldnt agree that it should be a precedent for players to jump ship. The only thing that leitrim can do now is to start winning to spite their situation. Sometimes this can be the case, when a team is on the back foot or at a percieved disadvantage, the players rally and do better than expected. I think that there is a lot of disparities in the GAA. This issue of overnight expenses throws the PAirc Ui Caoimh development in a very wasteful light, considering what the 70 million can potentially do for smaller counties. I think that it is time for people to wake up to this.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 18/12/2014 17:49:18    1679364

The Leitrim team in NY seems to have plenty of resources. Is there more Leitrim could be doing to entice wealthy natives in the US to help fund the county team?

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11227 - 18/12/2014 19:37:18    1679385

This is embarrassing . What is the county board doing with their income?..has Leitrim no sponsors.?.

.tribute (Cavan) - Posts: 360 - 18/12/2014 20:32:13    1679399

Would agree Donegalman about puc- a massive waste. Tribute Leitrim do have sponsors but the are a small business who while giving a lot of money for them to Leitrim it is a hell of a lot less what bigger counties are getting and counties such as Cavan who are lucky to have a multi national company started in there county. In fairness to Leitrim the have a better ground then some counties who are a lot bigger and are about to open there centre of excellence that a lot of counties including my own are struggling to do.

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 18/12/2014 20:57:33    1679412

Donegalman
Your spot on kiddo, the GAA seem to have all this money for stadiums why can't they help out the smaller counties! Where is all the sky money Liam O'Neil?

KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 18/12/2014 21:00:46    1679413

There are some valid points here but it is ridiculous to start dragging PUC redevelopment into this argument. Are people saying that funds earmarked for the development of a stadium/area/new pitches that will benefit many people in the long term should be diverted so that a few people can stay in a hotel for one night?? (I am not just talking about PUC)

Players deserve to be looked after as best they can (and we know all about these issues down here as has been well publicised). Leitrim players deserve to be looked after the same as Dublin players. Gillingham players deserve to be treated the same as Man Utd players. They are not though. Teams have different resources available to them. They must make the best of those resources. I do not think this is a big story.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 19/12/2014 08:43:32    1679443

Comparing gillingham and Man utd. is fooling no one. Cork has five times the population of leitrim yet Leitrim footballers and cork footballers probably have the same size fan base.

Our main sponsoirship last year was if I'm correct less than 30000. It is greatly appreciated but means stories like these, of panels being told not to stay overnight, are going to appear.

Hudhastings (Leitrim) - Posts: 87 - 19/12/2014 09:20:53    1679445

Hudhastings
County: Leitrim
Posts: 67

1679445 Comparing gillingham and Man utd. is fooling no one. Cork has five times the population of leitrim yet Leitrim footballers and cork footballers probably have the same size fan base.



I make a point. You have a go at Cork football supporters!!!! If it makes you happy.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 19/12/2014 09:50:47    1679448

If my maths are correct - an overnight stay is maybe 100euro a head x 40 players/coaches = 400,000 euro x 50 overnighters a year = 20million euro, which is still only a tenth of the cost of pairc ui chaoimh's redevelopment.

HenryHill16 (Dublin) - Posts: 249 - 19/12/2014 10:04:08    1679451

bennybunny it is a big story. It is another example of the haves and the have nots in The GAA. Sponsorship and additional moniea available and not available to counties are now beginning to create unacceptable differences in terms of how counties are able to prepare. It is time that all shirt sponsorship monies raised by all the counties were paid in to a central fund and divied up proportionately and fairly in order to ensure that all counties have sufficient resources to prepare their teams properly. Money in The GAA cannot be allowed to become the factor that it has become in soccer and the factor that is now becoming in rugby.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 19/12/2014 10:13:58    1679453

HenryHill16
County: Dublin
Posts: 80

If my maths are correct - an overnight stay is maybe 100euro a head x 40 players/coaches = 400,000 euro x 50 overnighters a year = 20million euro, which is still only a tenth of the cost of pairc ui chaoimh's redevelopment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let me guess, Henry - you worked for Anglo? AIB? Bank of Ireland? Department of Finance?

Thomas Clarke (Tyrone) - Posts: 1002 - 19/12/2014 10:19:10    1679454

HenryHill16
County: Dublin
Posts: 80

1679451
If my maths are correct - an overnight stay is maybe 100euro a head x 40 players/coaches = 400,000

Have another go there maybe.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13705 - 19/12/2014 10:21:56    1679455

I dont think this is a bad idea if Leitrim want to cut costs. Surely if they were playing a game in Waterford then they would stay down there for one night. I think if they cut back staying in a hotel for closer to home games it will do them no harm.

deadybai (Kilkenny) - Posts: 63 - 19/12/2014 10:28:09    1679457

Nice response Thomas Clarke, i like it - just a bit giddy this morning and was wondering how many would bite!

HenryHill16 (Dublin) - Posts: 249 - 19/12/2014 11:02:24    1679462

bennybunny
County: Cork
Posts: 2620



Players deserve to be looked after as best they can (and we know all about these issues down here as has been well publicised). Leitrim players deserve to be looked after the same as Dublin players. Gillingham players deserve to be treated the same as Man Utd players. They are not though. Teams have different resources available to them. They must make the best of those resources. I do not think this is a big story.

It would be a massive story if you were a leitrim player. It is easy for most of us to go on forums and sound important from a safe distance, but the reality is that leitrim players deserve better than this. They put in a hell of a lot of training and sacrifice, and there usually is 3 long distance trecks for them in division 4, as it is made up of counties such as london, waterford, carlow and wicklow. Whereas I agree that it is ridiculous to expect the GAA to shell out every time someone has an invoice of some description, it is a lot more ridiculous to benefit the bigger counties, who have lots of sponsorship and resource (including my own btw), to fund projects that dont make any sense. If this is supposed to be the game of the people, there is a funny interpretation of this going on. The gaa needs to look after the grass roots, especially the players who make the sacrifices like the leitrim players do.

The arguement that gillinghams players are treated differently than man utds players is all well and good in a professional sense, but we are not a professional body. It should be a level playing field.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 19/12/2014 11:04:00    1679463

Henryhill,maybe your not a wiseguy after all.Are you sure you dont mean Zimbabwe dollars?

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 19/12/2014 11:08:24    1679465

Donegalman
County: All
Posts: 1790

1679463 bennybunny
County: Cork
Posts: 2620



Players deserve to be looked after as best they can (and we know all about these issues down here as has been well publicised). Leitrim players deserve to be looked after the same as Dublin players. Gillingham players deserve to be treated the same as Man Utd players. They are not though. Teams have different resources available to them. They must make the best of those resources. I do not think this is a big story.

It would be a massive story if you were a leitrim player. It is easy for most of us to go on forums and sound important from a safe distance, but the reality is that leitrim players deserve better than this. They put in a hell of a lot of training and sacrifice, and there usually is 3 long distance trecks for them in division 4, as it is made up of counties such as london, waterford, carlow and wicklow. Whereas I agree that it is ridiculous to expect the GAA to shell out every time someone has an invoice of some description, it is a lot more ridiculous to benefit the bigger counties, who have lots of sponsorship and resource (including my own btw), to fund projects that dont make any sense. If this is supposed to be the game of the people, there is a funny interpretation of this going on. The gaa needs to look after the grass roots, especially the players who make the sacrifices like the leitrim players do.

The arguement that gillinghams players are treated differently than man utds players is all well and good in a professional sense, but we are not a professional body. It should be a level playing field.

I am not trying to sound important and I am not having a go at anybody.
I did say that players deserved to be treated well.
All players in all clubs should treat their players as best they can and I am firmly of the view that administrators should always remember that no players = no gaelic games.
I have been on this forum for years and when Cork players were striking because of the way they were treated (having to urinate in a gym, players injured on a bus and not getting medical attention)I fully supported their cause (this was the 2002 version - later strikes were different reasons)
I am also an administrator for my club and like everybody else involved in clubs we have to balance the books. We cannot spend what we do not have. My club is tiny. We do not have a club bar. We treat our players well but only as well as we can. We cannot afford to give them free gear (t-shirts, track-suits etc). It is subsidised. Other clubs I know of give it for free as they have big sponsorship. That might be unfair but what can we do? should that club share their sponsorhsip with us?
The point about Man Utd was simply one of resources. It was an analogy and not a comparison.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 19/12/2014 11:50:17    1679477

Thomas Clarke

HenryHill16
If my maths are correct - an overnight stay is maybe 100euro a head x 40 players/coaches = 400,000 euro x 50 overnighters a year = 20million euro, which is still only a tenth of the cost of pairc ui chaoimh's redevelopment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let me guess, Henry - you worked for Anglo? AIB? Bank of Ireland? Department of Finance?


More like he still has a load of that Lufthansa money and he needs to launder it

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 19/12/2014 13:13:24    1679499

When did overnight stays for league games become the norm? I would have though a lot of players would not want to travel and stay overnight. Anyway I am with Benny on this one. There has and always will be disparities with resources across Clubs and Counties. Also throwing money at Letrim won't produce better footballers so what would the next step be - force players from the stronger counties to play with Letrim?

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1800 - 19/12/2014 15:11:01    1679519