Andy McEntee would favour change in GAA football championship

Meath senior football manager Andy McEntee has joined the ranks of those who feel the All-Ireland SFC, including the Leinster championship, badly needs to be revamped in order to provide a fairer environment for club footballers.

McEntee has been busy in recent weeks going around to games in Meath as championships reach conclusion, but he thinks that something radical needs to be done so that club players don't have to wait until late October or early November to play in county finals.

His call comes as Simonstown Gaels and Donaghmore/Ashbourne prepare to meet in the SFC final on the second last day of October.

To support his view he referred to how games such as the Cavan SFC replay Castlerahan and Ramor Utd was called off on Sunday because of heavy rain.

'It's a massive issue for club players and unfair on them considering what they are asked to do from one year to the next.

“You look how county finals in Ulster have been called off because of weather conditions.

'It just makes life every difficult for club managers and club players to be holding off all year and then to be asked to rush crucial games, four or five games into a short period. County players wouldn't be asked to do that, it's unfair.

McEntee's solution would be to shorten the inter-county programme, effectively removing the provincial championships from the busy schedule.

'There's no reason for us to start in May and finish at the end of September. You could start the championship in June and finish in the middle of August with the All-Ireland final,' he insists.

'As such the Leinster championship as a compeition doesn't really exist any more, it's not a competition. We heard Dublin players saying last week they don't celebrate winning Leinster anymore.'

McEntee would like to see the eight teams in both Div 1 and Div 2 of the league making up four groups of four with the top two in each group going into All-Ireland quarter-finals, with a similar format for Div 3 and Div 4 teams in a subsidiary competition.

With regard to the draw for the Leinster SFC made last week McEntee says he's taking nothing for granted with Meath due to play the winner of Louth or Wicklow. Meeting either county could, he says, be a 'tricky' assignment.

'The truth of the matter is you could probably throw a blanket over teams in Leinster as regards how the results might go.

“They could go either way. If you take Dublin out of the mix a lot of the teams are at the same level' he added.