Delegates give thumbs up to new championship system

Date Published: 14-Dec-2010

FRANK FARRAGHER

FOOTBALL Board delegates gave a strong vote of approval to an overhaul of the championship and league set-ups for all adult grades in the coming year. The new system — passed by 64 votes to 29 — incorporates a separate relegation set-up for both the league and championship.

There was strong support for the motion which was put forward by the Monivea-Abbey and Carna-Caiseal clubs, although it was strongly opposed by St. Brendan’s.Sean Langan (Monivea-Abbey), who proposed the motion, said that it would give clubs more competitive games, especially during the summer months, and would also make the league more competitive.

Carna-Caiseal’s Seán Ó Cualáin, said that the new system would ensure that junior and intermediate players would now have the same right to a good structure as the senior players.

Seamus Lohan (St. Brendan’s) said that the system currrently in place was a better one than what was proposed — he feared that the league would not be competitive and players would be lost to soccer during the winter season.

Football Board Secretary, Seamus O’Grady, said that there was too much of a comfort zone in the current league set-up with only one team going down. The three-up and three-down league arrangement would give the competition added impetus and make it very competitive, he added.

Chairman John Joe Holleran said that he hoped there might be a consensus to ‘give the new system a go’, but it was put to a vote and carried by 64 votes to 29.