LGFA brought its own game into disrepute on Sunday

Comment by Stephen Glennon

On a weekend when the ‘professionalism’ of Dublin GAA generated intense debate, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) was ensuring the ‘amateur’ ethos of their organisation was well and truly alive.

That assertion may even be an insult to the word ‘amateur’, but the disruption surrounding Galway’s All-Ireland semi-final against Cork – which left Tim Rabbitt’s charges with just seven minutes to warm up – was nothing short of a shambles. Indeed, if any LGFA official thinks it was good enough, then there is something wrong somewhere.

Let’s be fair. When it has come to promoting their All-Ireland showpiece in recent years, the LGFA has led the way, and the increase in attendance figures support that.

In addition, the great volume of work they do is carried out against the backdrop of not having their own facilities, being wholly reliant on the generosity of the GAA. This presents challenges, as was observed last week.

Yet, with last Sunday’s semi-final fixture, they got it so badly wrong and, what’s worse, on each occasion criticism of their handling arose, they issued blow-by-blow unapologetic statements exonerating themselves and denying all culpability.

Throughout, they have sought to blame everybody else, with President Marie Hickey’s response on the airwaves on Monday smacking of arrogance.

In last Sunday afternoon’s missive, they referred to the “health and safety” of the players and, yet, they showed no regard for the Galway players – some of whom had spent three hours travelling up to Dublin – by forcing them to commence their most important game of the year without a sufficient warm-up and risking injury.

From early last week, controversy clung like ivy to this fixture. The match was initially scheduled for Semple Stadium, Thurles, and, then, the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick – the background to this has been well documented – before Parnell Park in Dublin was commandeered, much to the ire of the Cork camp.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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