Putting the sparkle back into football

A losers' round for the 16 teams beaten in the first round of the provincial championships is among the proposals being considered by the GAA's Football Development Committee, which this autumn will bring forward proposals for reform at a special congress.

The committee's next meeting is in a week's time when those proposals will be considered for referral to the GAA's Management Committee. "Even though the ideas aren't as far-reaching as the last FDC's, they'll still introduce sufficient change to give everyone at least a second game in the championship," says FDC member Martin Carney.

Were this additional round to be organised on an open-draw, nationwide basis, it would inject much needed innovation and novelty into the championships.

"I've found this year's provincial championships very tiresome and jaded," says Carney. "Cork and Kerry played quite a good match in Killarney although the teams played well at different times of the match, but it was the only quality game in Munster. The Ulster final was good as well without being a classic, but overall this hasn't been a gripping summer."

According to Carney, the poor quality of this year's Connacht championship has been just one of the factors in a disappointing season which he believes underlines the need for change in the football championship. A respected football commentator, Carney was also a member of the previous FDC whose far-reaching package failed to gather support at last April's GAA annual congress in Galway. He has been unimpressed with the football championship to date, particularly in his own province.

"Certainly the provincial championship in Connacht didn't offer a credible competitive structure. The quality of football has not been very good even if Sligo-Mayo and Roscommon-Leitrim were close matches and when you see the margin of defeat Leitrim suffered, you can see how far back the rest are in the pecking order behind Galway."

The most damning aspect of Sunday's Connacht final is that Galway's comprehensive eight-point win was seen as a creditable enough result for Leitrim. With their small population, the beaten finalists were acknowledged to have achieved significantly by defeating Roscommon in the semi-finals and reaching what was only their second provincial final in 33 years.

Yet the lack of serious competition - with Galway breezing their three matches against New York, Sligo and Leitrim - was particularly disappointing in the light of expectations as the championship approached. Sligo had developed momentum in recent years and had concluded a largely successful League programme, Mayo were defending champions and Roscommon had reached their first League semi-final since the year of their previous Connacht title, 1991.

"The major revision of our expectations," says Carney, "came with the defeat of Sligo. I know there's a debate as to whether Galway were exceptionally good or Sligo exceptionally bad, but it showed that Galway only had to concentrate on a match to blow away a team which seemed to be improving.

"Sligo did a lot of damage to themselves with that defeat and whatever ground was made up by defeating Mayo in the first round was more than lost. Whoever takes over there (from Mickey Moran) will have a huge job to convince those players that they have a future in inter-county football."

Football people in the West can take heart from the fact that at least - unlike some years ago - the province at least can boast credible All-Ireland contenders in Galway, champions two years ago. The problem for John O'Mahony's team is that their provincial championship hasn't prepared them for the searching intensity of an All-Ireland semi-final.

This is a departure from recent years when Mayo led the way in the province and together with Galway, guaranteed a major fixture in the Connacht championship. "It's not Galway's fault that Mayo's fortunes are in decline," according to Carney. "But while they could still probably give Galway a hard match, in national terms Mayo have gone back."

The broader picture he feels isn't particularly uplifting either. Tight matches in Leinster and the surprise results have failed to quicken the pulse. Carney believes this is because the whole system is now outdated.

"The entire championship has lacked sparkle. Maybe I'm particularly conscious of this because I supported a radical revamp at Congress and it didn't happen but the structures are jaded and we need change."