#TheToughest Issue: If introduced, will the GPA proposals for a new Football Championship work?

The GPA last week unveiled proposals for a pretty radical system to overhaul the existing Football Championship.

But, should the proposals get through Congress, will they work in reality? Conor Heneghan of JOE.ie says: YES It’s a brave man who puts his head above the parapet in the GAA because, probably more so than in any other aspect of Irish society, there are any amount of people just waiting to shoot you down. Cast your mind back over every major decision that has been made in this history of the association and you’ll find that it met with opposition every step of the way. The introduction of the back door in both championships, for example, or the overturning of Rule 42, were hardly met with overwhelming positivity when mooted and subsequently acted upon. Thankfully, there were enough progressive people in the GAA to ensure that a new direction has been taken when needed and a new direction is certainly needed when it comes to the structure of the football championship. It would have been a miracle if the proposals put forward by the GPA met with universal approval within the GAA community and, naturally, there has been opposition in some quarters. Are they perfect? No. But they are certainly interesting enough to be given a shot and maybe after we’ve experienced the new structure for a few years and can see what works and what doesn’t, we can tweak things to get closer to the perfect championship structure, which is but a thing of mythology at the moment. I don’t want to get too bogged down in negatives because I’m here to make a case in favour of the GPA proposals, but in the interests of balance I should point out that I do have a couple of notable issues with them. For a start, I believe the Championship should be tiered, even though it was the wish of the players from the lower-ranked counties that a tiered structure should not be introduced. Each to their own, but as far as I can see, it’s the easiest way to try and prevent the systematic beatings that have occurred in recent years. I also wonder about the physical effects that a very busy calendar will have on players who have full-time jobs to worry about. They surrender an awful lot of personal time as it is, but recovering from matches is a lot different from recovering from training and, especially in the National League, there appears to be a lot of games in a short space of time. If you’re under-21, studying at third-level, good enough to represent your county at senior level and play for a club team with ambitions beyond a county title, then you’re in for a busy year. But, I digress. Let’s focus on the positives. The calendar has a far more definitive look than has previously been the case. Allotted time for club players and no nine-week wait between games for counties in the Championship, as has been the case in Connacht for whoever has played New York in recent years. There’s a genuine incentive to performing well in the league and to go all out to win the Provincial Championships. There will be more Championship games for all counties. Yes, I wondered about the amount of games that counties will have in the league but Championship is Championship and a minimum of three is better than a minimum of two. Because it’s a group stage, meanwhile, defeat in the first Championship game won’t be as deflating as it can be in the current system and you’d hope it wouldn’t lead to a mass player exodus to the US during the summer either. Most importantly of all, it’s what the players want. They’re the ones who’ll be playing in it, they’re the ones who dedicate their lives to it, they’re the ones who’ll attract thousands of people to grounds up and down the country all year long and they’re the ones who millions of people will be watching. It’s only right that their voice should be loudest. In an age of instant analysis, when virtually nothing is given time and space in which to prosper, it’s inevitable that if the GPA proposals are introduced (and I have my doubts they’ll get through Congress), they’ll face an instant backlash. But what’s the alternative? Leave it as it is? Retain a system in which the Championship doesn’t come alive until the quarter-finals at the earliest and the validity of the Championship structure continues to be the main topic of discussion throughout the summer months. The GPA have put an awful lot of work into this and the least their efforts deserve is that they be given a shot. If nothing else, that 45 shootout in the event of a draw after extra-time sure sounds ridiculously entertaining. Conán Doherty says: NO Please stop trying to fix this game. For one, it doesn't need fixed. Sport is sport and it should remain competitive and about winning as its first port of call. Secondly, suggestions like what the GPA have put forward do nothing to even address these perceived fallacies in the game of Gaelic Football. Eight groups of four teams might not be a bad idea, in truth. But leave it at that, please. Stop messing it up with stupid, rash, minute details because you heard this on Twitter and someone said that on Facebook. Some of the proposals are that boggling that it really has highlighted the frightening reality that we've entered into a trial-by-social-media age for the GAA. Eight groups of four, grand. But how on earth is ranking those groups based on provincial championship performance fair? Down could play any one of Monaghan, Donegal, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry or Cavan in their first round. Nine of the 12 teams in Leinster aren't even in the top two national league tiers. Don't pretend like playing in Ulster is as relative to playing anywhere else. For one. We've heard cries all summer about teams hammering other teams. So what? Get over it. That's sport. You don't change the rules to punish better sides or teams who have worked harder. And, whilst some of the proposals are worryingly designed to cut down the hammerings, it would do nothing of the sort anyway. 10 teams outside of Division One handed out beatings of 10 points or more throughout the 2015 championship. This is not a top tier problem (it's not even a problem). And seeding teams first, second, third and fourth is hardly going to cut that down. Actually, it just ensures that fourth seed teams are sitting ducks every single year. This whole attitude of trying to help out weaker teams is quite frustrating and unfair, too. Yes, we'd like to see everyone competing but, again, don't be giving teams a leg up at championship time. All that should be happening in championship is the best team should be winning. Nothing else. So this idea of giving fourth seed teams home advantage here, there and everywhere is unmerited. What else? Right, the qualifying system from the groups. Jesus. First team goes through to the last 16, teams two and three go into a play-off in the last 24. Why? Why bother playing a round robin if only one team is eliminated from it after three games? All you'd have to do is beat the fourth-seed side and then not worry about anything for another four weeks. It completely undermines championship football. And the 45' shootout idea - after two extra times. Give me a break! There wouldn't be five players in our club - never mind one of our teams - able to hit a 45', at the end of a game too. What a ridiculous suggestion. They couldn't have just proposed penalties? The round robin idea, it might be worth a try. The rest of this nonsense needs to be thrown out before it is even looked at.

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