By Niall McCoy

LOUGHINISLAND manager Jody Gormley has said that he is “mostly pleased” with the new fixture plan for the GAA season in Down – although he does believe that relegation should have been removed given the unique circumstances of 2020.

The former Tyrone and London player also feels that the time has come to seriously examine the possibility of splitting the GAA season in two.

For 2020 though, the league season will be halved while the Senior Championship will essentially remain the same with the Qualifier system staying in place.

There is one major change with relegation now linked to championship as the four teams who lose the first two rounds will go into a play-off. The same will happen in the Intermediate Championship.

“I’m mostly pleased but the one thing that maybe sticks out is that promotion and relegation are through the championship as opposed to the league,” said the former Antrim boss.

“If you lose two games you’re into a relegation play-off and the team relegated will feel hard done by.

“It’s a bit of an anomaly for me. In some counties playing this year is optional, so how can we have promotion and relegation?

“Then you may have key players who decide against playing, maybe they have family members at risk.

“I don’t think there would have been too many complaints if it had been avoided this year.”

Still though, Gormley believes that the majority of the plan was good and he praised the GAA for getting action back on the agenda.

“I think if you had said two months ago that we would get football, championship and everything, we would have taken your arm off.

“It’s something to look forward to. I’m happy with the structure of championship football in Down. It’s very workable and it will serve the county well.”

The Senior Football final is scheduled for September 20 along with the Intermediate decider. The Junior final is set to take place two days earlier.

The Senior Hurling final will take place on September 19 while the Intermediate and Junior hurling competitions will not likely be played until late October.

Clubs had been handed the option of playing up until October 11, and Gormley feels that Down should have made more use of that window.

He feels that it is just another example of the disconnect between the club and county game, and he has called on the GAA to examine radical changes.

“I would have liked a little more time rather than the championship being as compressed as it is,” he said.

“It’s a quick turnover, and I do understand they have to facilitate a lot in a short space of time.

“It does highlight the fact that the GAA, in my opinion, now have to look at the fixtures and won’t have a better opportunity to do so.

“We need two seasons, a club season and a county season. The clubs season in the first half of the year or whatever way you want to divide it.

“It will lend itself to county players wanting to play with their clubs more and everyone gets a fair crack at it.

“County panels can be selected during the clubs season, that seems the logical way to do it.”

n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com