GERARD O’KANE: The pros and cons of different club championship formats

LOOKING across the respective county championships in Ulster, it’s a case of the cream always rises to the top. With the exception of St Eunan’s, Letterkenny in Donegal, all of the other eight counties still have their favourites standing at the quarter-final or semi-final stage.

Yes Enniskillen Gaels in Fermanagh have already been knocked out, but given Erne Gaels are the holders, they might see it differently. And, in Fermanagh, where one team rarely dominates, we could hear Derrygonnelly’s take on that too.

Given that eight out of the nine counties – Tyrone being the exception – host group stages or a second chance back-door game in their championship, the cynic in most people might say, sure, it’s designed to give the stronger teams a second bite at the cherry and boost crowds.

Having been at the coalface long enough, I don’t think that’s the reasoning. Everyone loves an underdog story, it gives people something to get behind. It’s more about giving county players a chance to play more than the usual two or three club games a year. Depending on how successful your county is, some lads barely get any club league games, which is fair enough. Why should 95 per cent of football within a county be held up until the county season is over?

Sometimes club leagues are delayed deep into the season to allow county players to filter back and play half the league games, but that means leagues don’t start until May. Not much fun for the average club player, and it kind of defeats the split-season idea. When the league does get going, players might end up playing three games in seven to ten days just to get the leagues finished before the championship. There is no one-size-fits-all, and counties have the prerogative to run things as their clubs mandate.

Derry, for example, have reverted to a system used more than ten years ago, and in terms of format, it has come full circle and is fairly suitable.

At present, in their respective 16-team championships, Derry have 15 knockout games and 12 second-chance games – a total of 29, all with varying degrees of jeopardy.

Tyrone, by contrast, have 15 knockout games, full stop. From that perspective, the Derry setup offers more for both players and fans. They get the same amount of knockout games, plus 12 extra for value for money. One slip or a couple of injuries doesn’t have to define your season. If you’re good enough, no matter the format, usually the best team wins the championship, so the route taken doesn’t really matter.

The quality of football cannot be judged solely by championship style. To suggest the standard drops because of one back-door game is nonsense, no one goes out to try to lose.

Differences in standard can be down to venue or simple class gaps, where two or three teams are above the chasing pack rather than having a cluster of evenly matched sides.

I’ve watched a fair bit of the Derry Championship and what I see is likely a combination of all these factors. All senior games so far have been at Owenbeg. In many cases, the games appear a little flat, the pitch is big, contact is limited, and games can look passive. But it could also be that one team is just so much better that they make difficult elements look simple.

Owenbeg, as a venue, ticks all the boxes: neutrality, seating, car parking, food, toilets. Families can come, kids can run around and stay dry, and the amenities are top-notch.

I’ve also been to intermediate games at club grounds, for quarter-finals. The football might not match the senior standard, but the atmosphere has been fairly good. That said, I’m not a fan of moving club games to grounds with no covered stands this time of year. Trying to see past a sea of umbrellas is not how I like to spend a day at football, especially when the weather is unpredictable.

So there you have it, I’ve managed to write a full column on the pros and cons of club championships, even touching on venues and logistics, without ever committing to discussing the football itself or making predictions. At this rate, I should have been a politician.