Hard to spark slow-burning early stages

Seán Moran On Gaelic GamesWith all the fuss about crowds at championship matches, it's as well to bear in mind a few things. For a start it's pointless judging attendances this early in the year. The buzz virtually never starts until the provincial finals are in full swing and the surprise contenders have by definition yet to emerge.

That's not to say there's nothing worth discussing in relation to the appeal of the championships. In his inaugural speech as president, Nickey Brennan shared certain apprehensions with congress. "While attendances at intercounty games in general are excellent it is noticeable supporters are becoming more selective when considering which games to attend. The attractiveness of our games will ultimately determine attendances and getting the right format to the various competitions is the key.

"We are quite poor at marketing our games and I intend addressing this issue during the forthcoming championships. While both our senior championships continue to deliver high-quality skill and entertainment, I don't believe we have got the formula quite right yet."

The most obvious question here is, "what is there to market at present?" As constituted the championships aren't really conducive to a marketing campaign. They're not at the sharp end of the season where events can be hyped up and the format is wrong for generic promotion, simply because, still essentially knockout, it can't guarantee teams an equal number of matches or defined participation.

Marketing can only achieve so much. In other words the current review of the championships, primarily the hurling, being conducted by the GAC, will be more important in the long run than marketing and promotion. Then bear in mind that any reforms will have to be audited for their impact on the club scene and an increasingly mutinous general membership.

At present the appeal of the championships is constrained by the nature of the competitors.

Leinster football is the biggest box-office of the provincial championships. The province has 11 active counties and has been terrifically competitive in recent times - to the extent that the title hasn't been retained for 11 years, an unprecedented period. That's well and good but the province has also been the weakest at All-Ireland level and the weakness of the traditionally big crowd-pullers, Dublin, Meath and Kildare, in sustained terms has left the Leinster Council at the mercy of smaller counties.

In 2004 the emergence of Westmeath was historic and due reward for a lot of effort and success at underage but, with Dublin one of the early victims, it didn't set the turnstiles clicking. For instance, last year's Leinster championship had over 80,000 at both the semi-finals double-bill and the final.

Twelve months previously it took a replay of the provincial final to mitigate the losses and even still the figures didn't match 2005's. Without the Westmeath-Laois replay the deficit over these three matches would have been 45,000.

Wexford's football support has been a continuing source of bafflement to the Leinster Council. Of last year's 80,000 semi-final attendance, Wexford's ticket up-take was just 4,000. For the recent quarter-final win over Meath, only around 1,000 tickets were requested.

This, however, is a syndrome that afflicts other counties with strong followings for one code but little interest in the other. Limerick footballers have been enjoying their most successful years at senior level in over a century but their support remains fractional compared to that prepared to follow the county hurlers. Dublin hurlers are an example on the other side of the coin. Even when reaching provincial finals in the early 1990s, the hurlers were unable to tap into the vast football support.

Success and optimism also plays a major role in the size of attendances and they can be hard to define on a county-by-county basis.

Everyone will await the deliberations of the GAC with interest but it's also worth remembering when scanning the limitations of the current formats that reforms in both football and hurling over the years from the original hurling second chance to the qualifiers have had the effect of focusing importance on the All-Ireland quarter-finals as the starting point of the elite season.

Perhaps it's inevitable the earlier stages of the championship are now suffering by comparison.

Finally, there is a poignant irony in discussing such knotty administrative problems in the wake of the terribly premature passing of one the GAA's most thoughtful personalities. In a way it's at odds with his character and personality to say the late Bobby Miller, who died at the weekend at only 55, evokes most strongly the memory of cold, dark evenings. I first met him on a wintry afternoon early in 1993 for an interview at a fund-raiser for Éire Óg in Westmanstown, Dublin. He had just guided the Carlow club to its first Leinster football title and talked enthusiastically about the team, its style and matters in general.

That Éire Óg team were very unlucky not to win the All-Ireland that year, a controversial refereeing decision in the dying moments of the drawn match with Skibbereen denying them the title. They also had a modern feel, based on a support game and deep-lying forwards. He had an accountant's mind for detail and could talk forever on all aspects of team preparation, from coaching and fitness to the then rarely admitted-to area of sports psychology. He also had a range of progressive opinions on all areas of GAA activity.

There would be other such occasions, from the perishing stillness of a December night at training in Carlow to the uninhibited jubilation at Leinster club finals and one memorable November afternoon in Tullamore when he managed Carlow to the All-Ireland B title. In the middle of the field afterwards just before the presentation ceremony he stood there in the familiar trench coat while two women thanked him for all he had done for the county.

The strongest memories in recent times were of the pre-Christmas conviviality at the Philips Manager of the Year function, which he frequently attended either as a monthly winner or the guest of Seán Swan, whose electrical business in Carlow sponsored Éire Óg. Conversations were - to understate - broad, at times ranging from football to psychotherapy before his invariable leave-taking to drop in on Kilmacud Crokes. Coat on, big smile, season's greetings and out into the twinkling night. His final departure in high summer seems all the more untimely.

smoran@irish-times.ie