GPA

[Offalys Future]

What is the general view on the GPA?

I must say i'm not totally convinced.
While they have done good and made County Boards, Councils etc aware of player issues, i feel that at every opportunity they are trying to undermine the GAA.

The GPA awards - these awards are voted for by the players but i would love to know how many inter county hurlers and footballers actually vote each year. In terms of prestige the GPA awards will never come close to the Allstars, but in order to gain interest from players, media etc, they give each award winner €2,500 and a car for the hurler and footballer of year which is more than likely sold for the money.

The monthly awards are a joke too, they have a text system that each member receives. He has to text who he nominates, again how many of the GAA players vote. And this is only open to GPA members which they say they have 1500 intercounty players. At present there are over 1900 intercounty players.
They also try to ruin the GAA/Vodafone monthly awards by having them on the day before.

And again this week they come up with this fair play award. And what does the winners receive only money, why does money have to be involved why cant it be just the prestige of winning this award.

My opinion is that all they look for is media attention.
If they were doing anything for the players well then why dont they tackle issues like players driving 150miles etc, players dropped from intercounty panels etc.

It was good to setup the GPA at the start but why didnt both the GPA and the GAA form a committee and work together instead of against each other. I know they meet every now and then but its obious both have two different agendas. At the end of the day the GPA only provide for the elite of the game.

In saying that they have yearly scholarships which they give college students money for the year, but why not do this in conjunction with the GAA.

As long as GAA stays amateur, then the GPA will have a sucessful lifespan, especially now in the era of corporate sponsorship.
I aint totally going with the GAA on this either, some of the above issues could have been resolved along time ago and there would be no need for the GPA.

Would be interesting to get peoples opinion on this issue.

[TheManFromFerbane]

I aint totally going with the GAA on this either, some of the above issues could have been resolved along time ago and there would be no need for the GPA.

I think this is the key issue really isn't it. For a long time players were treated like absolute sh*t. It was a disgrace and we should never go back to those days.

In my view the key turning point came when rugby went professional in this country. Players who used to be going through the same slog for no financial gain were suddenly separated. This created the momentum for the GPA.

However now that club rugby in Ireland is on its knees, I think its safe to say that the GPA no longer realistically expect pay-for-play (even though I think this is the key aim for many of the members, especially those at the top).

Players are now being looked after extremely well with regard to things that enable them to perform at the highest level. Gym memberships, nutritional requirements, gear, travel expenses etc...

Looking after these things on their own made it hard for some players to perform at their best. Now thanks to the work of the GPA they are no longer an issue.

However we must all be wary that we don't let things go too far. Like every union the GPA could turn into a good idea badly executed where the will of a few at the top control the many members. If the core values of the GAA are sacrificed for a few "special" players then that will be the beginning of the end...

[Lone Shark]

I personally think that it is anything but what it says. It calls itself the Gaelic Players association, but in actual fact it is the "elite intercounty gaelic players association". I add the word elite because their whole setup is designed to cater for the Seán Óg Ó hAilpín style player, the guy who wants to drive himself to absolute peak fitness, the guy for whom utter dedication with no distractions is the way of life. They have no interest in catering for the issues faced by the intercounty player who also wants to complete medical school, or the intercounty player who wants to be able to have some time to dedicate to his start-up business, or the intercounty player who worries that he's being forced to spend too much time away from his club for pointless traing, or the club player.... full stop.

I agree that in the modern era some form of players representation is necessary - however I loathe that everything they do is driven by money. Here's a rough summation of my main grievances....

(1) They complain that players are under-represented. Dessie Farrell was allowed a seat at central council in order to represent intercounty players, and his attendance is rare. His first question was to ask whether or not he could send a proxy. The hard drudgery of committee work is not really Dessie's thing, he prefers making bland complaints to any nearby microphone.

(2) They claim that the demands on players are too high - yet not once have I heard the GPA look for the demands on players to be reduced. The higher the demands on players, the closer we are to semi-professionalism - the current GPA demand. (A misnomer in itself - either you are paid or you are not. Try walking down the Grand canal some midnight in Dublin and finding a semi-hooker!)

(3) They claim to have all these members, but I sometimes wonder how these members convene, how they join, how they opt out.... Surely some form of membership fee should be charged. It could be as little as €30, not a significant amount to any player, but enough to allow them to publish accounts and then demonstrate the real will for players to take part. Right now I can't shake the belief that they sent a text message along the lines of "Text no if you don't want to join the GPA - otherwise we'll consider you a member"

(4) Whoever heard of a union being sponsored? Honest to God? Then they lost one of their most high profile members because he took a sponsorship deal with a rival company. No such thing as "well done, good to see one of our members doing well...."

On two seperate occasions I emailed the GPA in my journalistic capacity, asking for their views on all the non-monetary issues that are significant in the GAA, as well as asking how they felt that paying players was sustainable in the long run and how many teams they feel could be kept on in this environment. I also rang their phone number. Obviously I got no response.


A players representative body is a great idea, but the Boxers and Clovers of this world ain't going to get anything from Napoleon Farrell.

[Offalys Future]

Good points there,

Like if you take the recent talks with the government over player grants. Like the GPA isnt even a recognised body and here they were in talks with our government. I just think that if GPA and GAA formed an alliance they would be taking alot more serious and have better chance of achieving goals.

I still feel that GPA apart from the scholarships can and only will provide the bigger stars with these deals in the future.

[Lone Shark]

As a GAA member I will only support those grants when there is a commitment from the GPA that in the event of the government not providing the funding, they will under no circumstances expect the GAA to take up the slack.

Either that or explain how 133 intercounty teams can be paid for in the long run out of the GAA's existing coffers. (69 intercounty mens and 64 intercounty womens)

[Lea-Bally-man]

“Try walking down the Grand canal some midnight in Dublin and finding a semi-hooker!”

If you take a walk down the Grand Canal in Pollagh some midnight there’s a good chanc e you’d find a semi-hooker !