GAA director general Tom Ryan: 2020 was ‘a very grim year’

In his third annual report, GAA director general Tom Ryan reflected on what he called "a very grim year". Normally, he said that he was in a position to say that, "on balance we had a good year," but that 2020 had cast "too much of a shadow and was too traumatic for everybody".

He went on to deal with the pressing issue of finance.

“Our success is not defined by financial performance, and nor should it be,” he says in his report about a year in which revenues fell by nearly 60 per cent from 2019’s record €74 million and in which counties lost a cumulative €4 million, although some made a small surplus.

“Nevertheless the past year has proved very damaging to the Association from a financial point of view, with the likelihood that the after effects will be felt for some years to come. The extent and nature of that damage is evident elsewhere in this report, but the topic bears reflecting upon here too.”

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Government support was vital to the functioning of the association and totalled €28 million, including the €14 million granted to run the All-Ireland football and hurling championships.

“But the Association will flourish again long after this pandemic is over, and we need to maintain certain momentum in the meantime - albeit on a greatly reduced scale. With time, with the restoration of public health and the resumption of normality I have no doubt that we will recover.”

One positive spin-off of the crisis was a reduction in the amount of money spent on preparation of intercounty teams, an issue that Ryan had highlighted as in last year’s report.

“Despite a reduced schedule of activity for the year ended 31st October 2020 for the inter-county game, a total of €18.8m was spent in the year on preparing county teams. Admittedly this represents a reduction from €29.7m in 2019 but it is still a sizeable resource commitment. The reduction was delivered through the truncated inter-county season along with a number of new and novel measures.

“We saw the introduction of maximum panel sizes of 32, and a limit to three training sessions per week. We introduced a centralised system of player expenses management to facilitate better analysis and more timely payment. Crucially too, our players all agreed to a reduction in the player mileage rates which it is important to acknowledge. In short, everybody played a part when called upon.

“Similar discipline will be required again in 2021, I suspect, as the Pandemic persists. Covid aside, we should build on the lessons of 2020 in order to derive a long-term sustainable structure and scale for the resourcing of the inter-county game. The next step, perhaps, is to streamline the scale of backroom expertise enlisted by counties. Consider too, rebalancing our demands on players’ time - away from training and in favour of matches.”

Speaking at the remote meeting to launch his report, the DG also weighed in on the current debate on cynical fouling and the introduction of a sin bin in hurling. Reviewing the hurling season, Ryan drew attention to the motion that goes to the imminent congress.

“There were some fouls on field of play and maybe if we had a different structure, a different disciplinary set-up we would have treated them a bit differently. Part of the basis of responding to that is the black card debate that’s going on at the moment and we will have a motion before congress in a few weeks time looking at that.”

In his report he addressed the matter, referring to the reluctance of hurling counties to support the black card in hurling at last year’s congress but urging that the motion on introducing a sin bin into the game as an experiment in this year’s championship, be given “full consideration”.

“I know that there is a counter argument that says we don’t need black cards and such in hurling. I’m not deaf to that point of view, and I know that was the consensus in previous years, but I do think the time has come to give it serious consideration again. Not just as a response to specific matches or fouls. . . more because that is our ongoing responsibility.

“In some respects the time to take action is when a trend emerges that needs to be reversed, not later when more drastic remedial action might be needed.

“The proposed experimental Playing Rule change - in the forthcoming championships - provides a balanced and proportionate basis for dealing with the underlying problem and will facilitate the development of an evidence base against which proposed changes - and their impact - can be evaluated.”

He also acknowledged in the report that even though the improvised season had been a comparative success, there had also been disappointments, specifically the inability to complete the county championships, describing it as “a blight”.

The GAA called off the remaining club finals after scenes of celebration in various counties were shown to be clearly in breach of Covid regulations.

“We didn’t fully deliver on all of our objectives. We scheduled a return to mass participation at juvenile and club level first, and I like to think that went well. When I look back on the year those few weeks stand out as one of the real positives. So, it is a matter of real regret that we didn’t manage to finish the championships in every county. I regret also that this was largely our own fault.

“Faced with the health risk and reputational damage from a number of high-profile post-match events we had no alternative but to suspend the games in the remaining counties.

“That day and that decision weighed heavily on me. Our job is to promote games, not to stop them but there was a greater imperative that we couldn’t shy away from. I sincerely hope those championships can be concluded. I estimate we missed out on the playing of 11 senior finals, which was a blight on an otherwise excellent programme of games.”

He reaffirmed the association commitment to the Casement Park development in Belfast even though there is now a moratorium on all new applications for development grants.