The decision, announced during the week, that the grants to the clubs participating in the AIB All Ireland League this season will be vastly increased from last season, is to be welcomed. By any standards the grant of £30,000 to each of the first division clubs is considerable and the same can be said for the pro-rata payments down the divisions.
Furthermore, in making the announcement at the outset of the season, the IRFU has adopted the right attitude. The clubs now know exactly what they will get and can plan accordingly.
Last season the clubs complained that they were at a very distinct disadvantage, being deprived of gate receipts and bar takings because the league did not start until December. Those complaints were valid. As a consequence, the IRFU decided, by way of compensation, that they would give grants to every club in the league to make up for loss of revenue. At that meeting on November 17th, it was announced that in giving the special grants, it did not mean that they would continue to offer such subsidy on an annual basis. The union has, however, not only done so again this season, but has increased the grants appreciably.
The Oliver Twist syndrome of wanting more will always be alive and well and despite the payment of £20,000 to each of the first division clubs and pro-rata payments down the divisions last season, some first division clubs complained that it was not enough. One of the clubs whose representative was first on his feet with the complaint knew, as well as we all knew, that his club has never taken £20,000 in a season on the gate for home AIL matches.
It was, too, at that meeting last November that the clubs voted down any change in the structure of the league for this season, thus maintaining a 14-club first division. That will be reduced to 12 next season and 12 is still too many.
When the league was started seven years ago, it was, from the outset, a great success. It is still absolutely fundamental to the game in this country and I do not think anyone would argue against that. But over the last few years it has been evident that it needed some amendment, as competitions often do. And I have no doubt that one of the problems has been that the first division has too many clubs. That has created an imbalance and produced too many one-sided matches, with too many predictable results. Inevitably in those circumstances, there is a knock-on effect in attendances and other respects.
For instance, for the first three years of the league there were only nine clubs in the first division. Those were the best years in the league in most respects, the interest was immense, the matches competitive, the attendances good. After three seasons the number of clubs was increased to 11. In 1993-94 the bottom club in the division, Wanderers, got just two points. The number stayed at 11 clubs in the following two seasons. In 1994-95 the bottom two clubs, Sunday's Well and Dungannon, won two matches each out of 10. The following season, when there was no relegation, the bottom club, Instonians, won just one match.
Last season the first division was increased to 14 clubs. Instonians again finished bottom winning just one match of 13. That was against the other club who were relegated, Old Wesley, who won three of their 13 matches. Significantly, the top eight clubs all had a win average above 50 per cent.
THERE IS prize money at stake in the four divisions this season and that is another advance. But the first division has 14 clubs again and that apart, there is in my view a flawed method of deciding the championship. When the league matches are completed, the top four in the first division will play off for the title in a knockout series. That I believe to be nonsense.
I would have no problem with a Premiership competition between the top four clubs. That gives incentive and keeps interest alive and would be a worthwhile competition. But it should be a competition in itself not a league decider. As things stand, we could have the club that finishes top of the league with 13 wins from 13 matches not winning the title.
It is quite possible, indeed very possible, that the fourth placed club in the league may lose as many as four or five matches and still win the championship in the knockout competition. For instance, the club that finished fourth in the first division last season, St Mary's College, lost four and drew one of their 13 matches. They finished seven points behind the league champions Shannon.
Knockout competitions are different in essence to leagues. There are different elements and factors involved. A league title is supposed to be an award for consistency. The prize money breakdown for the league and the play-off series also has an imbalance. The winners of the league series will get £15,000. The same sum is on offer for the winners of the play-off series.
What is a great pity is that the IRFU had a very good opportunity to have a really appealing knockout competition that would have an AllIreland dimension. It could be based on the league series, that would give every club in the league the opportunity and the incentive to participate.
There has been much talk about an All Ireland Cup. There are just not enough dates available on a crowded schedule to accommodate a cup competition separate from the league.
But there is a way that an All-Ireland Cup could take place. Instead of having a knockout series to decide the first division championship, what the IRFU could and should do is have a knockout competition at the end of the league, based on the league.
The first four clubs in the first division could be joined by the two top clubs in the second and the winners of the third and fourth divisions in an eight-club competition. The four first division clubs could be seeded at the quarter-final stage, thus meeting the clubs from the other three divisions for places in the semi-final.
Such a competition would have great appeal. It would also give every club in the AIL the opportunity to qualify for the competition and an added incentive within the league structure to qualify for the knockout cup.
The Old Bateman Cup, the All-Ireland Club championship that did not resume after the 193945 war was played between the cup winners in the four provinces. A competition as outlined above would be a a cup with a true All-Ireland dimension, with clubs competing for qualification within their own sphere of activity in the various divisions. It would be a cup competition to provide a really worthy climax to the season and those who really win the league will not have to go out and win what is in effect a cup competition as well before they are decreed league champions.
