Opinion: New changes to FAI sporting calendar brings pros and cons

There are big changes coming to football in Wexford and Ireland as a whole….

The FAI are changing when the football season takes place. The current system follows the school year playing from September-April/May. It is also the months that is used in England and most of the countries in Europe. In theory, it should work well in Ireland with football using the winter/early spring months and the GAA having the Spring-Summer months. Like everything, there are pros and cons to this. Some elements work well, some not so well. But this sporting calendar as we know it is going to change.

FAI Director of Football, Mark Canham has introduced the Football Pathways Plan (FPP). In a nutshell the plan is to develop Irish football. Can you imagine what it would be like for Irish football if; Irish teams were consistently competing in the finals of major tournaments, League of Ireland teams were in the Champions League and children were playing at least one hour of football a week. There are many elements to turn this from plan into reality from Canham and if you would like to read the full 55 page document you can do so here.

One of the more controversial points that has proved a difficult stumbling block for Canham and the FAI is the moving of the calendar. Canham and his team want to align the grassroots/amateur game with the League of Ireland season which runs in the calendar year. Canham feels the need to “maximise the year and maximise playing time.” A split introduction or a phased introduction is now being considered. Firstly with 6-11 year olds, then 12-16 year olds and lastly 17-Adult.

There are many pros and cons to this proposed change to the calendar. One of the biggest challenges around the country and particularly here in Wexford, is that clubs don’t seem to want the change. The last vote that was put to the clubs in Wexford finished in a resounding win for the No vote. There are some leagues that already operate this calendar year model, Mayo and Kildare for example, while Waterford recently voted to bring in the change. So there is some appetite for the change across the country, but not in Wexford it appears.

There are some obvious negatives from the outset. There could be a heavy loss of players with many players having Gaelic Games as their number one priority which of course is their right. If there is a mass exodus of players it could lead to a loss of teams which in turn could lead to fewer divisions. It would be a shame to see a smaller Wexford Football League as it is currently one of the bigger leagues in the country. There is also a crossover of coaches and refs. A high number would both coach and referee both sports and could also be forced into a decision regarding where they focused. Another potential issue raised at forums and online is that it would hinder players, coaches, volunteers on when they could take holidays or how they would manage their personal calendar around the football one.

It is not all negatives with the proposed switch, there are some positives to Canham’s proposed switch.

One of the big selling points is game time, for both kids and adults. At times there could be weeks between games due to poor weather during the winter. This lack of gametime has proven to be a big factor in development or lack of development in kids. Then in adults it can lead to very disjointed seasons and teams finding it hard to get into a rhythm with such extended periods between games. Moving to the summer should provide the football community with more stability in terms of scheduling.

There is also an argument amongst certain individuals that losing players due to other sporting commitments would not be a negative. It would lead to having teams and a league of dedicated football players rather than those who only play when it suits them. It could lead to a greater balance in competition as some clubs around the county are vastly different depending on what time of year you play them and what players they have available to them which creates a distinctively unfair advantage.

We have all looked at our fixtures at the beginning of the season and looked when we were due to play certain clubs and uttered “that’s a good time to play them they won’t be at full strength yet.” With a more dedicated football team that would be removed from the game which could be of benefit. It is widely known that GAA and the football community have had a rocky relationship at times with a ban on playing other sports outside the GAA. That has softened in recent years and if this switch to the football calendar was to come in, could it lead to even better relations? For both to work and co-exist there would need to be a lot of ongoing communication for scheduling purposes.

Before giving my opinion, I thought it would be best to seek the thoughts of someone with a magnitude of football experience on both sides of the football calendar. I had a chat with Head of Football Operations of Wexford FC, John Godkin to see what he thought about the proposed switch:

John told me that the “Jury is still out and there is plus’ and minus’ to everything.”

The big pluses are better weather, more play time for kids and the current transfer system for players moving between amateur and League of Ireland is a disaster with the split calendar.

John told me the main negatives he sees which are other sports calendars, particularly GAA and how he feels it could hurt smaller communities more. John felt that kids are possibly playing too much at young age between football, hurling, Gaelic football, club sports and with the schools.

John felt that it could be a factor in why kids fall away from sport at the ages of 16, 17, 18 years of age, with perhaps burnout and this calendar switch could lead to an earlier decision on where to focus. It was a very interesting point was made that I had not considered. If kids make an earlier choice on what sport to focus on, it could lead to greater development for all sports, not just football.

John then told me about the experience he has had with young players making their decision:

“Kaylem Harnett made the decision to focus on football for his Ireland career. Lee Chin won an Oscar Traynor with me at 18 and went to Waterford for a few years and had opportunities to go to England but decided to focus on Wexford.”

Those are two interesting anecdotes from John and goes with his idea that if young players made their decisions earlier it could lead to even better development for the players and sport involved. Lastly, John urged cooperation in this as it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when:

“It’s going to happen, fighting with it won’t get us anywhere.”

Personally, I go back and forth on this issue. I am very much a traditionalist; I like the current calendar now. However, I do think we should all be open to change particularly if it is going to improve the standard of football in Wexford and beyond.

I don’t think an attitude of worrying about losing players to GAA can be at the forefront of any argument. We need to be firstly worried about how we can improve the standard of football across the board. I also believe the grassroots/amatuer game and League of Ireland should mirror each other. The fact they are running off different calendars is madness. The games need to align.

I firmly believe for this change to truly work and suit everyone there needs to be some cooperation and willingness from both the football community and the GAA. I don’t see a reason why the calendars can’t coexist and help each other.

To echo what John Godkin mentioned above, this move is going to happen. The plan has the full support of the FAI Board. The calendar change was approved by the FAI Board on October 22nd. It will now go to the final General Assembly of the Amateur Football Chamber for their voting. Interesting, the Amateur Football chamber are having a meeting to discuss their ideas and thoughts on the change to the calendar before their final General Assembly. It would be extremely interesting to be a fly on the wall at that meeting to gather the public perception of the football leagues around the country.

Ultimately, I think we all need to be receptive to ideas and plans to improve Wexford football and football in general.

Do you have any thoughts or opinions on the above raised points? Please feel free to leave a comment to let us know.

After all, wouldn’t it be great to have a few more Kevin Doyle’s and Festy Ebosele’s as Wexford representatives on the Irish team to cheer on at World Cups in the future?