McShea's Say: The GAA’s fixture fiasco is turning the league into a farce

Last Sunday morning, I met a friend who is a keen Donegal supporter, and he told me he was on his way to the local bookmaker to place a bet on Tyrone to beat Donegal in their league match in Letterkenny.

His rationale was that he had seen the Donegal line-up and, with what was close to a shadow team, and Tyrone in serious need of the points, he thought, as he put it, "that Tyrone were a shoo-in." Even so, I was very surprised because this man would never have backed any team playing Donegal in his life.

A short time later, I met my friend again, and he told me that he had not placed his bet because, nationwide, no bookmaker was accepting wagers on that game.

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That is the first time I have ever heard of a GAA game having betting on the result suspended, and it simply confirms the utterly unacceptable situation that has arisen in relation to fixture planning and the so-called master fixture calendar that is now in place.

One reason for what was termed the streamlining of fixtures was to enhance club football. I do not know of any of the 32 counties where this objective has been achieved. Here in Donegal, the quality of club football has not been enhanced, and some clubs are struggling to get the numbers required to fulfil their fixtures.

In its present guise, the league is a little short of a sporting circus. How else could one describe a competition where the incentive of winning is seen clearly as an impediment to championship success?

I believe that our club game has been decimated by the advent of the modern fixture list. It is easy to be critical without offering a suggested remedy, but I firmly believe that a simple solution would be to revert to playing our All-Ireland finals in September.

One of the greatest days of the year was when the All-Ireland club finals were an integral part of our national holiday by being placed on St Patrick's Day.

The fact that what was a depleted Donegal team battled manfully against Tyrone does not in any way justify what is happening at this time. After winning their first three league games — when they played very well — the talk emerged: "Do Donegal want to win the League?"

I hope that common sense prevails soon and that the unfair situation currently in place, where a team must play in their provincial championship seven days after winning or losing a league final, is confined to history before the commencement of next year’s fixtures.

With Leitrim unable to fulfil their league fixture at the weekend, this is a major cause for concern. While acknowledging that the county has a very small population, I still believe that Leitrim should have put a team out. No doubt many young footballers in the county would have relished the opportunity to wear the county jersey last Sunday.

Now that the new rules are in place, the quality of football has improved and is very enjoyable. Before Jim Gavin and his team introduced their positive recommendations, everything was about systems.

If coaches were not happy with a performance, they put it down to individual error or the system breaking down. I never liked that terminology. Many coaches were so controlling that everything was done by the system.

There is much to like about the new rules. It is great to see such large numbers supporting our team, and when Donegal introduced some regulars against Tyrone, their class was very evident. However, the talk regarding the strength of the squad is, I believe, somewhat premature, as not too many of the fringe players have given manager Jim McGuinness positive indications about securing a championship place.