John Fogarty
FOR a time there, we wondered just how much Allianz were going to put up with before they said enough was enough. How, year after year, they could plough their money into the sponsorship of the National League with hardly enough bang for their buck.
Sometimes, it seemed more trouble than their association with the GAA’s second biggest competition was worth. It all started four years ago when the ridiculous decision was taken to stage the NFL Division One final on the same day as the Heineken Cup semi-final between Leinster and Munster. Nickey Brennan, GAA president at the time, went as far as apologising for what was a real scheduling brain-fart when a terribly low 7,598 turn up in the Gaelic Grounds for the Kerry-Galway game.
On top of that, the Division One hurling semi-finals in Thurles which featured a Kilkenny-Tipperary clash were also fixed for the same day and attracted a measly crowd of 9,250.
Throw in the GPA’s 15-minute delay during that campaign and 2006 turned out to be a new low for the National League.
But it got worse. Two years ago, Cork’s strike completely distorted the outcome of both codes’ Division One although the GAA had a case to answer for after awarding two points to the teams the county’s footballer and hurlers failed to play.
To add to that, the 2008 NFL Division One final between Kerry and Derry was fixed for Parnell Park (a 400-mile round trip to and from Killarney, 300 to and from Derry city) the same day as a Heineken Cup semi-final featuring Munster. Other divisional finals were held in Navan and Portlaoise. Then Derry manager Paddy Crozier said the failure to play the games in Croke Park was an injustice to the sponsors.
Last year, Cork’s hurlers fielded a weakened team in their opening three games, Clare, Limerick, Kilkenny and Waterford coming up against a completely different team to the one faced in the initial stages by Dublin, Tipperary and Galway.
Take into account the virtually constant rules changes tried out in the competition and the non-appearance of any GAA official at a number of Allianz press events and it’s fair to say that the National League has had a bad run of it.
But there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Coming in the wake of the rightfully-lauded season ticket initiative, which is being taken up by hundreds of supporters across the country for another season, is confirmation that Dublin’s footballers will be playing all four of their home league games at Croke Park.
As part of the bargain, the hurlers will play two of their three home fixtures under the lights at Headquarters, which can only improve the appeal of the often spectacular albeit minority game.
There is some irony in the fact the GAA have turned to the National League to help them compensate for the lucrative revenue stream provided by the IRFU in the spring months for three consecutive years when it was top level rugby that the Association fed the NFL and NHL to in 2006 and ’08.
But there’s the promotion aspect of the initiative too and that is what has to be concentrated on. Provided the games are marketed to the hilt, they will annex more press and public attention in a period of the year which has been dominated by rugby. Even if the Saturday games are likely to be broadcast on subscription channel Setanta Ireland, the move is a strong one for the GAA who have made 2011 the year to take fans from the armchair to the stand seat. Ticket prices are value for money with the packages for the entire six-game programme being particularly attractive.
The switch to Croke Park may also go some way to appeasing those who myopically believe the league should return to a pre-Christmas start. They belief the two months of inter-county inactivity is surrendering vital market space to rival sports (yet rugby and soccer's summer is the GAA's winter, some semblance of a close season is necessary and hurling is a six-month game... argh, an argument for another day).
As Dublin chairman Andy Kettle says, their move to Croke Park is a win-win situation. For Dublin, for the GAA, for the public and the players, it ticks all the boxes. And it’s no longer a novelty. No more glittering openers in Croke Park followed by the deflation of humdrum Parnell Park in subsequent rounds. This is a plan for sustained high-profile fixtures.
The hope is that by the time April 2nd comes round and Dublin’s footballers are facing Down in their penultimate Division One proper game they will still have plenty to play for and there will be grounds to continue the initiative in 2012. It may put more pressure on Pat Gilroy’s men to perform in a competition they haven’t won since 1993 but that’s no bad thing.
Mick O’Dwyer once famously uttered, “The league is the league”. It’s become one of the most plagiarised lines/excuses yet five of the last eight NFL Division One winners have gone on to win the All-Ireland. They showed the competition respect. The Dublin County Board and the GAA now see it as an opportunity. For different reasons, if their capital’s footballers do the same they may reap the rewards they’ve been searching in vain for. Shirt sponsors Vodafone would be happy; Allianz wouldn't be disinclined to it either.
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