Today saw the Club Players Association launch at Ballyboden St Enda's GAC in Dublin. Martin McHugh made an impassioned speech about the current state of the club game.
Today at the home of Ballyboden St Enda's in Dublin, the Club Players Association was launched. It is a hugely significant move in the GAA as for the first time the GAA club player will have a body directly representing their interests.
The CPA is the brainchild of Declan Brennan, the former Monaghan selector who also managed at the top level with Clontibret, DCU and UUJ. Joining Brennan at the launch were his fellow Executive members Aaron Kernan, Kevin Nolan, Liam Griffin and Micheál Briody.
Martin McHugh, All-Ireland winner with Donegal in 1992 and father of current Donegal players Ryan and Mark McHugh, was also present at the event. McHugh has been back managing his home club of Kilcar and so has first-hand experience of the plight of the modern club player.
And McHugh made a passionate speech to the assembled media, saying that club football is in a "bad state" and imploring the GAA not to "kill the goose that laid the golden egg."
McHugh used the example of his own club - and the gap of three months between their first Donegal senior championship game (against St Eunan's) in May and their second match (against Killybegs) in August - to illustrate the current problems with GAA club fixtures.
All footage is courtesy of Jerome Quinn media.
Brennan also spoke about the difference between the CPA and the Gaelic Players' Association, which represents inter-county players. He said that with the CPA there would be no "jobs for the boys, no salaries".
It would be interesting to hear what the CPA representatives would make of the leaked 'Player/Coach Contract' attributed to St Brigid's GAC in Dublin. The document laid out strict instructions for players including orders to tog out in the dressing room before and after a game and only to go on holidays during breaks in the season (and get such trips passed by management). The reaction to the document on social media has generally been one of disapproval.
(You can access Jerome Quinn media through Facebook, Twitter and via Quinn's website.)
