The state of Gaelic football

Sir, – I was aghast to hear the president of the GAA describe Gaelic football, as it is played now, as a wonderful game. What planet is this man living on? The cats on the road know that Gaelic football, or should I say Gaelic handball, is on a slippery downslope.

Having watched Donegal and Tyrone play in the Ulster final last Sunday, I’ve come to the conclusion that in the near future some match will end in a nil-nil draw.

We have adopted the same style as soccer, in that play now goes across the field from one cornerback to the other cornerback and then back to the goalie.

Both teams last Sunday, except toward the end, were content to play the game in the middle of the field, with scarce forays into the opposition half. Both teams seemed to be happy doing this. It was utter tripe.

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The sad part about all this type of play is that it is percolating down into juvenile and women’s football. Youngsters are now being coached to pass the ball continuously, and not even kick passes. Everything is geared toward hand-passing.

Can the GAA experiment, in say the minor football championship, with eliminating continuous hand-passing? The defensive system that’s all the rage with coaches now would not be possible if hand-passes were done away with. I, like many others, considered giving up attending Gaelic football matches for many years, but I stuck with it. This year, I gave up going.

Even a bad hurling match is highly skilled and entertaining, whereas the majority of Gaelic football matches are a snore-fest. – Yours, etc,

SEAN LANE,

Kildare.

A chara, – Your letter-writers had some interesting comments and suggestions on what purports to be Gaelic "football" (July 19th).

Another suggestion, in line with the way hand-passing is taking over, is to have a simple basketball net attached to one upright on each goalpost. This would lead to further improving handskills and save having to retrieve footballs kicked into the spectators’ ranks. It would also eliminate the need for four officials and “Hawkeye”. The goalkeeper would simply have to stand under the net to catch the falling ball. Savings all round and a faster game. – Is mise,

TED O’KEEFFE,

Dublin 6.