Lively discussion about Westmeath master fixture plan

What happens if Westmeath’s senior footballers get to an All-Ireland SFC semi-final in 2023?

Apart from the likelihood of the whole county switching into unrestrained party mode, such an achievement would have sobering consequences for clubs in Westmeath, tightening up the calendar for championship games.

The tension between desiring to see Westmeath inch closer to Sam Maguire and one’s club progress in their respective championships was on show at the Mullingar Park Hotel last Wednesday night, as Westmeath GAA fixtures secretary Keith Quinn presented the master fixture plan to delegates.

Mr Quinn has drawn up five scenarios for the running of adult club competitions in 2023 (Options 1, 2, 3, 3A and 4), each of which depend on how far Westmeath progress in inter-county competition. The running of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar next August also has to be taken into account.

The most attractive from the club perspective is Option 4, which assumes that Westmeath fail to reach the preliminary quarter-finals of the All-Ireland SFC. This will see football championships kick off on the weekend of June 24/25, ensuring a less packed fixture schedule. However, this is the most disappointing of outcomes from an inter-county perspective.

However, in analysing Options 1, 2, 3 and 3A, clubs perceived all sorts of difficulties from a player welfare perspective. Provisions for Westmeath reaching the business end of the All-Ireland SFC would see dual club players playing four games in ten days, as occurred on one occasion in 2022, Cullion’s Dermot Broughan said.

“If they [the players] were racehorses the trainer would be up for cruelty,” said Mr Broughan, pointing out how dual players were “physically jaded” last summer when some had to play four games in quick succession in the searing heat. He added that some of the scenarios presented went down the road of “flogging dual players”.

However, Patrick Doherty, Westmeath GAA operations manager, challenged delegates to come up with better scenarios than all of those considered by the CCC. When Mr Doherty floated the idea of cutting out replays for county football finals and deciding them on penalties, in order to free up a week in the schedule, clubs didn’t bite.

Pat Reilly (Brownstown) asked if the structure of the championship could be changed at a later date when there was a better picture of how Westmeath were faring at inter-county level. However, Mr Doherty said that national rules dictate that counties have “one go” at finalising their competition structures in a given year.

Colm Boland of Rosemount – one of the clubs adversely affected by the packed fixtures schedule last summer – accused the county board of “putting the entire county on hold for a handful of players”. Castlepollard’s John Rabbitt, meanwhile, urged caution when it came to scheduling and said that it was important “not to put rules and regulations”, or scheduling, ahead of player welfare.

Frank Mescall, Westmeath GAA chairman, said that he had “every sympathy for clubs” but they can’t have it both ways. He said it would be great to see Westmeath go far in an All-Ireland series. Westmeath was also one of very few counties where clubs were guaranteed a minimum of five championship games, which clubs wanted. Fixture planners were also constrained by the need to have all championships finalised in time for the Leinster club competitions.

Aiden McGuire (The Downs) dissented from the prevailing view among clubs, saying that club welfare was a “red herring” thrown out to distract from the fact that clubs had equal culpability for players’ struggles during busy fixture schedules.

He said that instead of focusing on ball work or other intense forms of training, they should be doing recovery sessions during busy schedules. “It’s not ideal, but it’s the best thing that can be done,” he said.

Mr Mescall followed up on this by saying that there was a “huge responsibility” on clubs to look after players as a rule. He said that he saw one club try to field an injured player during a match last year. “Sure enough, he broke down,” the chairman said.

During a busy pattern of fixtures, he added, clubs should change their training profile to “pool sessions or leg sessions” and encourage managers to be responsible.

Ultimately, the master fixture plan was adopted largely as tabled, with minor amendments adopted at the suggestion of Damien Keogh (Turin) and Dermot Broughan (Cullion), to ensure that a schedule of four games in ten days is avoided. “It’s that fourth game that’s killing players,” Mr Broughan said.