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Colm Cooper: 'Play the All-Ireland Finals earlier in the year'

Colm Cooper

Colm Cooper

By John Harrington

Kerry footballer Colm Cooper believes the GAA should play the All-Ireland senior football and hurling finals earlier in the year so county boards have more time to play off their club championships.

GAA Ard Stiúrthóir, Paraic Duffy, has proposed a restructuring of the All-Ireland Football Championship that would do just that by playing the All-Ireland hurling and football finals in August.

And Cooper thinks inter-county players would have no issues were that to happen.

“I don’t see any big problem with moving the finals to a little bit earlier to allow for the club season if it helps the club season,” he says.

“I don’t see any big issue with that if it’s going to improve the club set-up and allow games to be played, because I think it’s unfair on clubs to be playing right into December.

“It’s a difficult time to be playing football and thankfully the weather has been pretty good up ‘til now. I would see no problem in the hurling and football finals being moved forward by a couple of weeks.”

Many counties put their club championships on hold for as long as their county teams are involved in the All-Ireland Championships.

Not surprisingly, this has led to a lot of frustration for club players who don’t have the opportunity to play at the height of the summer and then have their championship campaigns shoe-horned into a hectic schedule later in the year.

Noel McGrath, Loughmore-Castleiney and Colm Cooper during the game in Killarney.

Noel McGrath, Loughmore-Castleiney and Colm Cooper during the game in Killarney.

The growing disillusionment has recently led to the establishment of the Club Players Association, and Cooper believes their concerns are valid.

"Look, the club structure is what makes players,” he says. “It's the first place you put on your boots and it's the last place you probably put on your boots. it's the heartbeat, it's people in the club making sandwiches for teams after.

“It's what the GAA is all about, and the best things in the GAA are from the club structure, so I don't think that should ever be threatened in any way.

“Look, it's one of the best characteristics of what we have in the GAA and I think we should be safeguarding it, to be honest.

"I think there's frustration certainly from the club people, because they don't know when they're going to be playing and they don't know when their championship is going to commence again after the summer.

“And then they don't know when they're going to have access to all their players. So that's difficult for club managers to plan and they probably feel that, look, the club is what the GAA is all about, that's what it's built on, and we're not getting a fair hearing here in many cases.

“So maybe that's where the frustration of the club manager comes from. But there's two spectrums and I've been lucky to see both sides of it.

“When you're with the county, you want tunnel vision on trying to achieve getting to Croke Park and winning an All-Ireland with Kerry. And that's the Kerry manager's job.

“His job isn't to facilitate the club structure. And the same, the club manager is only worried about his club team trying to win a county championship.

“So everyone has their own priorities but, at the moment, it's creating tension and frustration and from what I'm hearing, I don't think we're going to see a solution any time very soon."

Cooper on a lonely but well-worn road

Cooper on a lonely but well-worn road

On Sunday, Cooper will play in his sixth AIB Munster Club Senior Football Final when Dr. Crokes do battle with Waterford champions The Nire.

He’s been victorious in four of the previous five provincial finals he’s contested, but never went on from there to win an All-Ireland Club title.

So far his record in the All-Ireland series stands at three All-Ireland semi-final defeats and one All-Ireland Final defeat. Those failures have only made him all the more determined to someday be part of a Dr. Crokes team that goes all the way.

“Look, I’ve been very open and honest about this for years, it’s a medal that I’d love to win,” says Cooper.

“I’ve two brothers who have won it; people in the club have won it. It’s a competition I hold very close to my heart and it’s the ultimate for any club player so of course I want to win it but there’s five other guys here today who are thinking the same thing.

“If you were talking to the guys from Slaughtneil, Corofin and Brigid’s, they’ve all been there before and some of them have got over the finishing line and others haven’t.

“They’re having the same problems as us and we’re all dreaming of the same goal: to be there on St Patrick’s Day. But there’s a few hurdles to jump before then. We’re all dreaming of that but you can’t look too far down the line.”

Cooper has not decided yet whether he will be back playing in a Kerry jersey next year and won’t do so until the club season ends with Dr. Crokes, whenever that may be. He suggests he probably will continue playing inter-county football if he feels in good physical shape next year and still has the hunger to go again.

Colm Cooper is named to start for Kerry.

Colm Cooper is named to start for Kerry.

From the way he was talking about his immediate goals yesterday, it sounds as though that fire still burns in his belly.

“It’s just to continue playing and win, basically,” he said. “Is that to win more with Kerry? Does that mean I’m not retiring? For as long as I’m playing I just want to keep winning, if that’s with Dr Croke’s or Kerry – whatever.

“I hear the cliché too often: if I win this I wouldn’t care if I never win again. I’m not at all like that. I want to win next Sunday and I want to continue winning in 2017 as well.

“When you are a competitive animal, like so many of us are, you just want to continue winning all the time and a club medal would be high on the list.

“So it is just to keep winning as long as you can, because if you look at any great sports people's career, you look at the longevity and how long they can do.

“That is why you have to admire the Brigids and Corofin lads, who have had success and are still going. That is something I would take on board a lot, how long they keep on churning it out.”