Shaky investment needs to reap positive dividend

The 10th edition of the All-Ireland League, Division One kicks off this afternoon amid arguably the biggest crisis that has ever faced the club game in Ireland.

In the last decade, clubs have pumped millions of pounds into the game so as to avoid being cast adrift in the professional age. The most the winners can recoup in official prizemoney is a mere £30,000, so there is no hope of reimbursement.

Were the AIL a business, it would probably have been declared bankrupt by now.

One former club president, while bemoaning the fact that he had paid three lifetime memberships to his club (and that, needless to say, is in one lifetime), estimated that the cumulative debt amongst the AIL clubs is in the region of £15-20 million.

That may well be stretching things. Besides, much of the outgoings have been - and continue to be - absorbed by benefactors either motivated by a sense of obligation or on an ego trip. But clearly something has to be done.

The clubs have already sustained a stinging rebuke from Irish manager Donal Lenihan as they and leading players (and moderate players) have combined to create a false market place which puts unwanted pressure on representative players to appear for their clubs.

On foot of this ever-worsening vicious circle, clubs within Leinster, Ulster and Connacht have met this season and there has been broad backing in all three provinces - especially Connacht and Leinster - for a return to amateurism.

To what degree self-regulation can work is debatable, of course, for how do you stop the ambitious from making hush-hush payments?

Clearly a lead will have to come from the IRFU. They could, for instance, recompense clubs that produce provincial or international players.

The problem is highlighted by the unabated wave of close-season transfers. The cumulative turnover in playing personnel amongst first-team squads in the first division this year is something in the region of 127 - at an average of over 10 per club.

The turnover is just as striking down the divisions. Loyalty, one of the great characteristics of the club game, is being well and truly eroded.

Developments such as the selling off of international match tickets to fund first-team squads only serves to alienate the club membership further.

All the while it's a case of diminishing returns. As the market place for players and coaches, not to mention facilities, has increased, so the returns have diminished, not least in terms of crowds.

Bumper attendances still occur occasionally - such as the crucial Cork Constitution v Shannon game at Temple Hill in the final series of round robin games last year - but generally they've steadily declined. A case in point was last season's semi-final between Garryowen and St Mary's, which drew a crowd of 3-4,000 when back in the early '90s it would have been double that.

In part it's the product of overkill and rugby's ever more convoluted seasons - this World Cup season being a prime case in point. Undoubtedly, the expanded role of the provinces, both in the interpros and the European Cup, have hit the clubs, too.

Perhaps, the nine-year hegemony of Munster clubs has also dulled interest amongst supporters - even some Munster ones. But there's no doubting that the product simply hasn't been good enough.

Ironically, the product is liable to improve this season. For starters there is the belated advent of the Super 12-type points scoring system, incorporating four points for a win, two for a draw and one bonus point for scoring four tries or more, or for losing by seven points or less. There will also be sin-binning, which should theoretically reduce the persistent killing of ball and open up games.

Furthermore, the re-drawing of next season's AIL map will mean a reduction in the numbers relegated. In fact, there will be no automatic relegation from any of the four divisions - the bottom club in each instance having the escape route of a play-off. Combined with the Super 12 system, this ought to encourage teams to play more progressively.

As to the ultimate winners, history has taught us to look no further than Munster. The big three of Garryowen (this judge's bet), Shannon and Cork Constitution have the capacity to make the top three again. Dungannon are interesting dark horses, however.

A stronger division contains other self-professed play-off candidates in St Mary's, Lansdowne, Young Munster, Buccaneers and Ballymena. Which means of course, that one fancied squad (whatever the investment) is going to finish at least as low as ninth.

Can they handle that?