Donegal motion to have sleeve sponsorship approved by Croke Park

A Donegal sponsored motion that counties and clubs can have sponsorship on the sleeves of jerseys was approved by the Central Council of the GAA at their meeting last weekend.

The  new arrangement will mean that counties and clubs have a new method of securing revenue to help run their teams. Donegal first mooted this change in November 2019. Central Council discussed the matter back then but didn't feel it was the appropriate time. 

Donegal GAA revisited the matter a year later in November 2020 and at that stage county chairman Mick McGrath delegated Central Council delegate Sean Dunnion and county secretary Declan Martin to pursue the matter.It was dealt with at the Central Council August meeting and rubber stamped on Saturday last.

"I would welcome the decision as it opens another opportunity for cash-starved clubs," said McGrath, who praised the work of Dunnion and Martin. He added that further guidelines will be issued by Croke Park on the sponsorship opportunity in the coming weeks.

"I know Donegal will be actively seeking companies for the sleeves of our new jersey, which is due to be launched for the Christmas market on November 1," said McGrath.

SPECIAL CONGRESS
Meanwhile, Donegal GAA are awaiting the agenda for the Special GAA Congress to be held on October 23, which will deal with outstanding motions from the 2021 Congress.

Among those motions are two very important proposals which could have far-reaching impact on the GAA at club and county level. The future of the All-Ireland championship is up for decision.

There are two new proposals as well as the existing Super 8s and Qualifiers. The new proposals include a provincial championship where counties would move to ensure four groups of eight while there is also a proposal for a league/championship of the top 16 with the other 16 playing off in a 'Tier 2' competition for the Tailteann Cup.

McGrath says that once they get the agenda of the meeting that they will have discussions to get a mandate for the county's delegates. Personally, he said he enjoyed the Super 8s. 

He said: "There was a great buzz in Ballybofey and in Castlebar, even if we lost. We went into both games carrying a lot of injuries."

He added that the discussion on the future was needed and he was in total agreement with the split season to give clubs their chance.

"We saw what happened this last few years. Covid gave us the opportunity for the split season and people are happy with it," he said.

At the moment it doesn't look like there will be any pre-season competitions like the Dr McKenna Cup and McGrath is disappointed with that.

"I feel they should return but with a proviso that anybody who has played senior championship should not be allowed to play,” he said.

“That would give county team managers a chance to look at new players and those who didn't get a championship outing. It would be much better than teams organising challenge games.”