Mayo could make history as last team to win National League under old format
John Melvin
CURRENT National League champions, Mayo, may go into the history books as the last team to win the Division 1 title by playing in a final.
Delegates at the monthly meeting of the Mayo GAA County Board voted overwhelming to get rid of the Division 1 and 2 finals, with the winners of both leagues being declared on their points tally following the end of the campaign.
At a previous board meeting some weeks ago, Mayo had voted to retain the current format by having a league final but it seems the matter was discussed at club level and a decision was made to scrap the current format, due mainly to the pressure being put on teams by the new inter-county championship format, which sees a lot of games squeezed into a short time period.
Delegates cited the situation where Mayo had to play a major championship match against Roscommon a week after winning the league title against Galway as the biggest reason for voting to replace the final.
Central Council delegate Paddy McNicholas said he accepted Mayo had voted on this issue some weeks back and decided to retain the league final, as did a number of other counties who seemed to have a change of heart having first voted to retain the old format.
“There were a particularly strong support from Division 3 and 4 teams, and that is understandable,” said Mr. McNicholas.
He added: “The CCCC want to get rid of the league finals and six per cent of the counties want to get rid of them. Some of the top counties spoke in favour of it at a meeting on July 15. So the option of getting rid of the league finals is still on the table.”
In a letter to the board, the Central Council outlined five different proposals regarding possible changes to the start and finish dates for next year’s National League, as well as the start and finish dates for the championship.
Were Mayo to retain their title under the present scheduling they could be playing New York in the first round of the championship after winning the league.
A number of delegates felt the current championship format also needs changing as it was unfair asking teams to play the following week after playing in an All-Ireland quarterfinal.
Said Balla delegate John Holian: “I think the preliminary quarterfinal winners being out the following weekend was just too much. That is something that has to be looked at.”
Swinford delegate Peter Geraghty said he felt the new championship format made the All-Ireland final a non-event and it needs to be looked at.
Said Mr Geraghty: “I think the All-Ireland on the last Sunday in July is a total non-event. If you weren’t involved in it, you wouldn’t even know it was on.”
The matter will come before a Central Council meeting this week and it does look as though the league finals in Division 1 and possibly Division 2 will be scrapped.