Tyrone highlight injuries bill

ALL-IRELAND FOOTBALL champions Tyrone are the latest county to experience increased costs in the business of preparing and supporting their teams.

In his report to next Tuesday's annual convention, county secretary Dominic McCaughey highlights the increased costs of the players' injury scheme, which proved a significant lost-making venture in 2008.

"A quick but simple view makes it very apparent that the scheme within the county lost a staggering €388,235," he says, "despite the subscription per adult team increasing to €1,000. Clubs' and county teams' subscriptions for 2008 amounted to €180,900, while claims for wage losses, paid to injured players, and reimbursement of medical fees paid to physios, medical consultants and private clinics, totalled €569,135.

"If the scheme was based only on a county's contributions it would have fallen apart many years ago; the scheme is fully funded by the association, which draws from the counties, the provinces and from national level through percentages deducted from gate returns for league and championship games."

McCaughey also points to some changing trends within the injury scheme: "A more detailed examination of the statistics indicates that, as last year, medical and dental fees accounted for 80 per cent of the total payments which came to Tyrone", while "50 per cent of claims related to injuries sustained to feet, ankles, knees and legs."

Another issue highlighted is the purchase of the 40-acre property at Garvaghey last April, which is now destined to become the latest county training ground of excellence: "It is the intention of the county committee to develop this property as a headquarters for Tyrone GAA with the construction of an administrative centre, together with six playing pitches including one artificial surface," explains McCaughey.

"In order to realise this physical development, a massive fund-raising programme will need to be implemented during the next five years; this will be a big challenge for our association, but Tyrone is now widely-recognised as always rising to the challenge, wherever it appears."

One motion of note is that "this county convention believes the formal connection between the GAA and Australian Rules Football, and the development of the International Rules game, has out-lived any usefulness it might have had; is making no contribution to the development of Gaelic games but is instead damaging them; and should be formally ended immediately and the planned 2009 International Rules series cancelled".

Elsewhere, this evening's Galway hurling board convention will hear that it cost over €1 million to run their business in 2008, with two-thirds of it spent on looking after county teams. The senior squad produced a travel bill alone of €247,000 - almost €5,000 for every week of the year.

However, the overall figure of €1,019,848 was a reduction of almost €100,000 on the 2007 figure, partly compensating for the drop in income of around €25,000, leaving the board in the red to the tune of around €97,000.

In Carlow, the cost of preparing the various intercounty teams has shot up dramatically, an almost 75 per cent increase on the previous year, and thus pushing the overall expenditure for 2008 above the €1 million barrier.

Figures released to Carlow clubs ahead of Sunday's annual convention show that €730,000 was spent on preparing county teams this past year, up €310,000 from 2007.

Carlow County Board's income totalled €885,000, but expenditure also rose from just under €600,000 last year to €978,000.

When the county board and Dr Cullen Park accounts are combined, total expenditure reached €1,020,000, but while the board accounts show a loss of €93,000, that is offset by a surplus of €78,000 in the Dr Cullen Park account, resulting in an overall loss of just €15,000 for the year.

SUNDAY: Ulster Club Senior Football Championship final re-fixture (extra-time if necessary): Crossmaglen Rangers (Armagh) v Ballinderry (Derry), Brewster Park, 2.30, J White (Donegal).