Planned club players body may get formal GAA recognition

Plans for a new Club Players Association (CPA) may yet gain some formal approval or recognition from the GAA.

According to Declan Brennan, the former Monaghan selector who last week announced his plans to establish the club players body, the CPA "don't aim for any confrontation with anybody" and instead are open to engaging with Croke Park.

"We will be setting out our objections over the next week to 10 days, in terms of the timeframe, and how we're going to go about it," Brennan told The Irish Times. "We'll then be setting a date on November 5th, for the formal launch, and I'd say that will take place within the next 10 days to a fortnight

“So I wouldn’t really like to comment on that until after next weekend. Of course we don’t aim for any confrontation with anybody, and of course we’re going to engage with everybody, especially the GAA. And in due course I think people will know what that is.

“We’re about 75 per cent of the way, have about 25 per cent to do, with everyone being given definitive roles going forward, again with the timeframe and objectives of what we want to achieve in the period of time. So that’s to be clarified, over the next week, but we’d be very surprised if we’re not launching within the next 10 days to a fortnight.”

The objective of the CPA is to give club players a sufficient voice in GAA, particularly in terms of fixtures, and the lack of games during the intercounty championship season. The Gaelic Players Association (GPA), which represents the intercounty players body, was established in 1999, but wasn't formally recognised by the GAA until 2010.

Motivation

Brennan has described his motivation for establishing the CPA as people “telling me they’re totally frustrated by the lack of respect” when it came to club “fixtures being put on at short notice”. He also suggested: “We need to help the administrators in Croke Park, who have so much bureaucracy and red tape to go through, that they can’t manage it.”

He comes with considerable experience on the matter: a six-time Monaghan county football champion winner with Clontibret, four as manager and two as a player, Brennan also played a key role in DCU winning the Sigerson Cup in 2006. He runs the DBSM sports centre of excellence in Castleshane.

When first announcing plans for the CPA last week he said there were over 10,000 messages of initial support: “It’s unbelievable. At this stage we’ve stopped counting. We’re just putting everything into a data base, utilising people’s goodwill to help us out, and all that will be available for public viewing over the coming weeks.

“But at the same time not surprising, because as you’ll know, these issues have been rumbling on for a number of years. People in fairness have been trying to sort it out, and we’d be hoping all this would be of help to the GAA, to get something across the line, to benefit anybody.”

Earlier this week, Roscommon club Kilmore also announced their plans to form the first local branch of the CPA, citing their considerable frustration at having to play two games within 24 hours over the weekend.

Club chairman Tommy Kenoy, the man behind one of the original campaigns to open Croke Park to other sports, submitted a letter to the Roscommon County Board, Connacht Council and Croke Park outlining the issues, on behalf of club players and members, who are "are appalled at the downward spiral within which club fixtures have existed over recent years".

“We have reached a point where our club is no longer prepared to accept competition structures that give no certainty or regularity to club games and expose club players to unjustified and unwarranted physical and mental demands,” he wrote.

Brennan declined to comment on exact nature of Kilmore’s grievances, but did say: “It seems Roscommon are not happy with their situation, as they’ve every right to be. And I suppose we’ll get looking at their situation, but in fairness to the group that we have involved, it wouldn’t be for me to comment on any individual case like that there, at this stage. But anyone looking to endorse what we’re doing we’ll go forward with, anyone that wants to help.

“As an individual, or group, I don’t have a mandate yet to say yes, do this, or do that. All I can say is that we continue to get phenomenal support from throughout the country, and the level of messages have been phenomenal.”

Kenoy had highlighted Kilmore’s case last weekend when they played a Roscommon intermediate final replay on Saturday before turning their intention to the Connacht club IFC quarter-final against Galway’s Monivea-Abbey on Sunday.