Should All-Ireland finals be played in September again?

On Lunchtime Live today, Liam Brazil from Waterford said the current GAA calendar is “unfair on clubs” and grassroots fans.

It follows comments by GAA President Jarlath Burns last week who said a return to September All-Ireland finals is possible - but only if the counties were willing to adopt uniformity in their club championships.

Finals had been played in September for over a century until 2017 and have been played in July since 2022 when the ‘split-season’ was first introduced.

30 July 2023; Dublin players celebrate after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Mr Brazil said the finals should never have been moved to July.

“At one time, people made a holiday out of the All-Ireland football and hurling finals but now it’s in July,” he said.

“It’s expensive to go to Dublin in July because it's already peak holiday time and I don’t think it’s right.

“It should never have been allowed to come back to July and I don’t know why county delegates allowed it at the time.”

September finals

Mr Brazil, who thinks the finals should be played on the first and third weeks in September again, said the GAA is ignoring clubs.

“I think it’s unfair on local GAA clubs and the players because there’s no talk about the clubs,” he said.

“At the end of the day, the grassroots and people supporting the county and clubs should get their say.”

18 August 2019; Padraic Maher of Tipperary with the Liam MacCarthy cup at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Off the Ball’s Eoin Sheahan said it would be logistically difficult to bring the All-Ireland finals back to September as “the GAA is not one organisation”.

“It’s a collection of 32 fiefdoms around the country that operate in hurling and football,” he said.

“Trying to get them all in line and having appropriate competition structures that would allow you to do it would be a huge challenge.”

'Pointless' provincial championships

Eoin said some people feel the provincial championships are a waste of space in the GAA calendar.

“We have provincial championships right now that are pointless,” he said.

“We know Dublin are going to win Leinster, Kerry are more than likely going to win Munster - half the provincial championships are really poor.

“The Ulster Championship is brilliant but there is now a movement towards pushing these to the start of the year as we’re losing valuable weeks on provincial championships.”

Limerick goalkeeper Barry Hennessy lifts the Liam MacCarthy Cup with his daughter after the All-Ireland Final, 17-07-2022. Image: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Eoin said it’s important to remember why the GAA first moved away from playing finals in September.

“That was because the calendar was too compacted after September where club games would be rushed in,” he said.

“Players would be playing ridiculous levels of football and hurling into the winter and it just wasn’t viable.

“Going back to September is pretty dramatic, but I can see a world in which the All-Ireland finals next year are played in August.”

The All-Ireland football and hurling finals will be taking place this year on July 28th and 21st respectively.

Main image: Croke Park in Co Dublin. Image: Stephen Power / Alamy Stock Photo