30 May 2009
Antrim County Chairman John McSparran tonight challenged clubs to seriously reconsider the current arrangements with club fixtures in the top divisions of both hurling and football leagues.
“I was approached by a number of well respected people from some clubs tonight at the Under 21 football final and over the past couple of weeks. They were very unhappy at the apparent lack of club fixtures, particularly at this time of the year. None of these individuals are currently involved in administration within their own clubs, but the common complaint was that at a time of the year which is most suited for playing games, our senior clubs are not being given fixtures”.
McSparran went on to explain to these individuals that these clubs have repeatedly made it clear to the Competitions Control Committee that they do not now want any fixtures unless all their players are available to them. “The CCC has consequently arranged fixtures in such a way that their county players are therefore available to them for all league games. Because County team preparation and fixtures are now at their peak, this means that very little club activity in the higher divisions is possible. That is the arrangement that clubs agreed to at the beginning of the year”.
“In my address to County Convention, I called on clubs to abandon this madness. I do not believe that club activity ought to be abandoned because county teams are involved. I understand that some clubs might well be more disadvantaged than others due to the unavailability of county players, but the fact that these clubs have a greater number of county players must indicate that they have greater strength in depth than others. The current arrangements where the vast majority of our club players are disenfranchised from playing at this time of the year because of county teams must be ended”.
The County Chairman went on to say that there never is a perfect situation where every player that could be available to a club is realistically available for a particular fixture, for a multitude of reasons. “Injuries, suspensions, holidays and personal commitments all impact on how a team might perform in a certain fixture. However, we seem to be more obsessed with devising ways and means not to play games than what we are supposed to be doing, in ensuring that we do play games. I am repeatedly told by some club officials that their club cannot afford to be relegated and that unless their county players are available for all club fixtures, they probably will be faced with relegation. I really find this hard to accept.
In hurling, just one club is promoted and one relegated. I am confident that our league structures are much better in hurling now than they have been for years. Two years ago two of our current Division 3 clubs were in Division 1. Then there was a "wake up and smell the coffee moment". Relegation is not such a disaster that it once might have been. Promotion presents an altogether different challenge though.”
“In football, I believe that we need to get down to 8 team leagues where the fear of relegation will be seen as less disastrous. It is this fear-factor that is currently our prime motivation for arranging fixtures in the way that we currently do. It is time we got back to basics and understand that our primary objective is to play our games and winning, losing or drawing is of secondary importance”
The County Chairman was robust in defending the Antrim CCC organisational abilities. “When our CCC gets together with their provincial colleagues at the end of the season, we can confidently demonstrate that we have organised and administered a far greater number of fixtures in both codes than any other Ulster county. That myth that this is an Antrim problem is complete and utter nonsense”.
McSparran concluded by challenging clubs to contact the Antrim Competitions Control Committee to request fixtures now, rather than wait until October or November and that he would welcome debate on this matter at the next of the County Committee.
