Club Transfers: The Elephant in the Room

Gaelic footballers drive to Dublin

 

The successful completion of Eamon Fennell's bid to transfer to a new club may have opened the can of worms the GAA was hoping to avoid. Why else would his transfer have taken 5 years? The issue of the day is the movement of rural GAA players to Dublin as they try to find work in the capital and avoid emigration. Controlling the transfer of players is a sensitive issue because, after all, the players are amateurs and who is the GAA to tell anyone where they can and cannot spend their time.


Nevermind terrible players like myself; we can transfer all we want and Croke Park shouldn't worry. Problems arise however when inter-county players from rural counties are flocking to a small group of elite Dublin clubs. The spirit of competition is destroyed if St. Brigid's, St. Vincent's and Kilmacud Crokes lineout sides consisting of 7 or 8 county players from outside of Dublin.

Laois County Board Looking Out for Themselves
Laois has been hit particularly hard with Colm Begley and MJ Tierney making the move to the Big Smoke. There's talk of the Laois County Board taking action to stop the attrition.

The Laois Board will have no ethical problem blocking transfers. At the same time, they  of course do nothing to help the players find employment.  This is a failure to address the root cause of the problem. It would seem being a member of the GAA in Laois is a liability rather than an advantage. Way to look out for your own interests and not those of the young men you claim to support.


Gilroy Suggests a Draft
The situation has become serious enough that Dublin Manager Pat Gilroy recently shared his thoughts. He thinks a draft might make the transfer of rural players to Dublin clubs more balanced. This idea is riddled with problems. First, the players aren't professional. They need to be able to choose where to live based on employment opportunities - not be forced to live within commuting distance to a club that 'owns' them.

I guarantee this is not the last we'll hear of the transfer issue this year. Then again, maybe Croke Park can just sweep it under the rug for 5 years. If you don't think that's possible, just as Eamon Fennell.