Carlow versus Laois football qualifier to test the appetite for Friday night games

The opposition to the staging of Friday night championship games has been at least partly defused by GAA president Liam O’Neill – although the backdrop of resistance and demand for potential compensation clearly remains.

Two of the highest profile football managers in the game – Donegal’s Jim McGuinness and Dublin’s Jim Gavin – are actually agreeable to the idea of such fixtures, although if asked to fulfil them, would insist their players were compensated for time off work.

However the All-Ireland football qualifier between Carlow and Laois, set for Dr Cullen Park at 7.45pm on Friday week, is going ahead. O’Neill outlined the reasons why in Croke Park yesterday. There was, he admitted, certain concerns from within from both counties, although having consulted with the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), the consensus was to let the fixture stand, as announced on Monday by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC), if only on an experimental basis.

“Well I don’t make the fixtures,” said O’Neill. “The process is the CCCC make the fixtures. I think the CCCC saw an opportunity, that has been talked about for some time.

"There was some reaction, which was not 100 per cent positive. Some was very positive. We had a word with the GPA. They expressed a view, before, that it was okay, that they would be generally in favour of trying it out. The position has presented itself now, and this was the view of the CCCC. You cannot find out how anything will work unless you try it out somewhere.

[CROSSHEAD]Brave enough[/CROSSHEAD]
"I'm quite proud of the fact the committee was brave enough to take the chance. I said, coming in as president, I would rather learn by making mistakes trying something new than sitting cagey, doing nothing, and keeping with the status quo."

What O’Neill was less clear about was the issue of compensation, either directly or indirectly, for time off work. Players have been compensated in the past (such as while travelling with the International Rules team) although compensation for playing championship matches appeared to be a different matter entirely, or at least in more direct conflict with the amateur status.

“The rules are the rules,” he said. “I couldn’t stand here as president and say I’m willing to bend a rule. That won’t happen. But we’re not taking any hard position on this. There’s no one in the GAA insisting we will have Friday night games in the future. We will look at it, and see how it works, and that will better inform us on any future position.”

For Gavin, although he’s also agreeable to the idea of Friday night games, there was the caveat that players would have to be compensated for time off work.

“If they are going to be taking half-days off work then absolutely, yes, they need to be compensated,” said Gavin.

"I don't think it's good enough for people to say that players can work until 5 or 5.30, get on a bus, travel to a venue, and represent his county a couple of hours later in a championship game where so much is expected of them.

Working week
"Monday to Friday would be considered a working week and if you are expecting players to play senior intercounty during the working week, in a competitive championship game, they need to be compensated."

As for what would be considered suitable compensation, Gavin reckoned that would be a matter for the GPA: “They give good guidelines. And if people don’t like it, then just play the games as they normally are, on Saturday and Sunday.”

For McGuinness, the idea of playing Friday night championship games would only make sense if players were compensated: “There is no way a player is going to go to work the day of a championship match. But they are not getting paid to play, they are getting paid for the time off work. That’s the difference, that’s the reality. They are playing the game on a work day. You can’t expect anybody to take a day off work without pay or a sick day to play a game of football . . ”