GAA will seek further financial aid package to help navigate through rest of coronavirus pandemic

New year calendar drawn up in anticipation of no spectators

Silver surfers: Dublin’s Dessie Farrell and his backroom team lift the Sam Maguire at the weekend

©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Silver surfers: Dublin’s Dessie Farrell and his backroom team lift the Sam Maguire at the weekend

Declan Bogue Twitter

December 22 2020 10:55 AM

The GAA are set to appeal to the Irish Government for another grant in order to run off the 2021 National League and All-Ireland Championships.

At a virtual press conference confirming the structure of the 2021 season yesterday, the GAA's Director of Player, Club and Games Administration, Feargal McGill, made it clear that the Association would make a fresh appeal to make up the shortfall experienced with spectators still unable to attend events.

"We will find a way, as we always have, of financing competitions," he said.

"It would be terrific if the Government would help us again, but we will just have to wait and see on that."

Asked if the GAA would pursue it, he answered: "I think so. We can have those conversations. We have not had them yet. Obviously, everyone in sport is looking for Government help, it is not just the GAA. Down the road, I have no doubt those conversations will take place."

Gaelic Games received a total of £28.5 million to run the remainder of their competitions after the coronavirus pandemic struck in March, with lockdown following.

The master fixture list has been sent to the various units for approval and features a completely split Championship between county and club. However, the domestic leagues will require clubs to play without any county players, such is the scheduling.

Senior intercounty teams will be permitted to return to training on January 16/17, less than a month after the All-Ireland final was played.

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National Leagues in both codes will commence on the weekend of February 27/28 and the leagues will be split up into geographic regions.

That now means, for example, that Division One football will have two sections, the northern element featuring Armagh, Monaghan, Donegal and Tyrone.

While teams will play three games, there will be semi-finals among the top two teams in the northern and southern sections and relegation play-offs. Championship action will begin on the weekend of April 17/18 and run all the way to July 17/18 and the weekend of the All-Ireland final.

A few alterations will be coming in.

The Tailteann Cup for second tier counties will apply to teams in Division Three and Four who did not reach their provincial finals.

The final will be held as a curtain-raiser to the senior All-Ireland hurling decider.

A back door in the football Championship will return and there will be no Super8s round robin section.

From July 24/25 it will be exclusively club Championship season, with provision for provincial and All-Ireland tournaments.

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In the meantime, county boards will be fretful as to how to make ends meet. No funds will be available to counties until April and just how the apparatus around county teams, with the expenses incurred in meals, travel expenses, medical expertise and so on will be met is the great imponderable.

"There are financial challenges there. There is no doubt about that," added McGill.

"This was approved with an asterix from our finance committee. We do have to go away and come back with a plan on how all of this will be paid for.

"We are proceeding on the basis that we won't have attendances, and attendances are still the key financial driver for the GAA. So there is a job of work to be done there and that is going to be discussed at the January Central Council meeting."

McGill also explained the reasoning for going 'county first', rather than clubs.

"It looks unlikely there will be any change in restrictions in the first quarter of the year, so you would be saying there will be no GAA activity at all in the first quarter of the year," he said.

"For all of those reasons, we go county first.

"You are probably doing the right thing by 450,000 (the number of club players) people rather than 2,000 people. It is as simple as that."

GAA will seek further financial aid package to help navigate through rest of coronavirus pandemic

New year calendar drawn up in anticipation of no spectators

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