The outcome of Saturday’s votes and the huge margins in favour of trialling the Football Review Committee (FRC) proposals to improve football did prompt the thought that such success owes a lot to the suffering and intense frustration of various other work groups and taskforces, who in the past similarly tried to make the case for change.
“That’s the way to do it,” said one happy official.
Years ending in five and zero are within the GAA “rule change years” which partly explains the raft of motions at Saturday’s special congress in Croke Park.
Not that it’s the full story.
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The impact of this provision has been diluted by Central Council’s power to allow proposals from the standing committee on the playing rules at any stage — or playing rules matters considered to be an “emergency” to go to congress. So, if it’s sufficiently important, a way can be found.
At one stage Tyrone even managed to guide through a motion reducing frequency of rule change years to every 10 rather than every five — reducing administrators to near-despair
This flexibility has been incrementally introduced and not without dissenting voices. There have been frequent assertions down the years that football was fine as it was and needed only to be left alone.
At one stage Tyrone even managed to guide through a motion reducing frequency of rule change years to every 10 rather than every five — reducing administrators to near-despair. Like all such decisions with baked-in buyers’ remorse, it had to be unravelled and the status quo ante restored at a subsequent congress.
Playing rule changes have traditionally been hard to steer past delegates. In a previous change congress in 2010, with a total of 123 motions on the clár, then president Christy Cooney decided to get an unscheduled start on the playing rules motions on the Friday night.
Inspired by this spirit of dispatch, delegates addressed the proposals in much the same manner as they would clay pigeons. Down they went.
Protocols also made the task even harder in earlier years. At the 1995 congress, a series of hurling proposals had to be channelled through Carlow’s delegation — only to be blitzed — simply because until the late 1990s, there was no mechanism for Central Council to propose motions at congress and a county had to be found to sponsor change.
Their task was to promote the reforms that for the first time diluted the impact of knock-out formats by permitting defeated Leinster and Munster finalists to re-enter the All-Ireland championship
It was this sobering outcome that persuaded the Hurling Development Committee a year later to prioritise communication and information campaigning.
Their task was to promote the reforms that for the first time diluted the impact of knock-out formats by permitting defeated Leinster and Munster finalists to re-enter the All-Ireland championship.
The history of intended reforms is littered with debris from overloaded agendas that were dismantled along the way. Even success stories like the 2012 FRC, chaired by Eugene McGee, which introduced the black card, shipped collateral damage on the way through with some reforms rejected.
Tributes have been paid to the relentless focus of the FRC. Committee members privately acknowledged that they could see what other counties were up against when facing Dublin during the Gavin years. His ability to organise, create a sense of purpose and unfailingly meet targets drove the project.
Speaker after speaker on Saturday related how committee members had addressed county meetings to promote the ideas and defuse misgivings. As the president, Jarlath Burns, put it: “That was very hard work going up and down the country at this time of the year. It was a very, very cold week last week, a lot of frost on the road ... and as a result of that, county by county was coming back to me saying, yeah, after listening to one of the committee members, we’re going to go with them.”
Previous committees also had their moments and it is not as if reforms were impossible to sell in the past but for a deliberative process to be organised, conducted and finalised in the space of nine months and to secure all of its aims — 48 motions out of 48 — was a serious achievement.
One of the significant responses came from FRC member and former Kerry All-Ireland winning player and manager, Eamonn Fitzmaurice who elaborated on comments from county chairman Patrick O’Sullivan during the debate about the decline of football
At least as important a factor, though, was the consensus sentiment that football needed help. For all that we had a great championship with unexpected winners, there is a crisis for the GAA in the collapse of attendance, especially in Leinster and an improved game may not be a comprehensive response.
But it will be a start.
One of the significant responses came from FRC member and former Kerry All-Ireland winning player and manager, Eamonn Fitzmaurice who elaborated on comments from county chairman Patrick O’Sullivan during the debate about the decline of football.
“In terms of attendance, in terms of interest, it certainly had declined dramatically over the last couple of years. There still were good games, but there was a lot of the same game and I’d be very excited in general, both for club and county next year.
“We’re going to have a new game. It’s going to be faster, it’s going to be more direct, it’s going to allow our players, who’ve never been as skilful or as well-conditioned to express themselves in a manner that’s going to be entertaining for the crowds that are going to be there.”
There was a tincture of cynicism about the self-congratulation afterwards even though very little could be ascribed to the FRC. As Gavin cautioned: “We’re not there yet and in some ways, the work only starts now.”
In a year, the work will be complete if football is enhanced by the proposed changes and widely recognised to be a better experience for all. The next 12 months will pass judgment on the whole project — but that’s all they were looking for.
