There are two the comments about the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues that get under my skin.
When I hear “the leagues should begin in October like they always did” I automatically raise my eyes to heaven. The second comment that makes me groan usually comes from inter-county coaches or players when they are pawning off a poor display by saying, “it’s early yet” or “it’s only the league”.
There was a time when these expressions held a modicum of truth. That was in the last century when the National Leagues in hurling and football began in October. Back then the reigning All-Ireland champions and defeated finalists (especially in football) were at disadvantage. This is because they were expected to come down off the high of playing in the All-Ireland final and play ordinary league games within a month of either winning or losing the holy grail of the All-Ireland championship.
It was also a fair bet that county championships in the counties of the All-Ireland finalists were running late. This meant that players had to juggle county and club commitments. It often to counties being represented by sub-standard teams.
Yet even then, the leagues, especially the football league, were useful pointers to what would happen later in the summer. In the 1970s, 80s and 90s the month of April was the month of the unwieldy play-offs of the quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals. If you check the records for the 20 league competitions between 1981 and 2000 you will see that the vast majority of provincial champions (back then they were no qualifiers) also qualified for the play-offs of the football League.
The hurling league was slightly different. Winter hurling complicated the issue. Limerick for example, who always seemed to have a super training ethic, would thrive in the winter season and regularly make the play-offs of the National Hurling League. Six weeks later they would look completely out of their depth in the Munster Championship when the ball was flying off the top of the ground.
Between 1981 and 2000, Limerick won four national league titles and were runners up on one other occasion. They never appeared in an All-Ireland in any of the years of their league final appearances. Their two did two All-Ireland final appearances came in 1994 and’96, and were without success.
Offaly is another hurling county that have completely upset the national hurling league form book. They did win a league title in 1991 and lost the league final in 1981 when they went on to win the All-Ireland, but for the most part, Offaly hurlers chose to hibernate or win All-Ireland club titles for Birr rather than compete with any degree of intensity in the National Hurling league.
The change from the old six-month league campaign to the current three month competition had done wonders for the leagues as competitions and for the All-Ireland championships too. The new structure is now in place for nine seasons and in those nine campaigns there have been five All-Ireland/league doubles. Tyrone (2003), Kerry (2004, ’06, 09) and Cork last season. In hurling, Kilkenny have completed four doubles since 2003.
The February start to both national leagues has condensed the focus of the coaches and the players. It has given a start and middle to the season – the end as it should be, depends on how a county progresses in the All-Ireland championship.
It is not just the teams that have on All-Ireland titles that have benefitted. Teams in the lower leagues have benefitted too. For example last year’s final league tables gave more than a broad hint of what lay ahead for the summer. Cork finished second in Division 1 and won the final. Down finished top of Division 2 and lost their final. Sligo finished second in Division 3 but won that final. Even though they lost the Connaught final dramatically to Roscommon, they defeated Galway and Mayo in the same season for the first time ever. Finally, Limerick finished second in Division 4, won the final. They took the eventual All-Ireland champions, Cork to extra time in the qualifiers before losing. The 2009 league table tell a similar story.
The National Football League is now a very good indicator of which teams are gaining momentum over the spring. While there may still factors such as injuries that may upset a team’s form, the general trend has been that any county that string five or six league wins together is likely to figure in the later stages of the All-Ireland football championship.
Starting this weekend, every county knows that its worst case scenario is nine games in football and nine games in hurling for the entire seasom. That is what they will play if they fail to reach their league division final and lose their first provincial championship and first qualifier games. This will probably be the faith of 16 counties in football. Eight more football counties will have between 10 and 11 games the season 2011. Only four counties are likely to have 15 games or more in a season. Cork had 16 games last year.
No team can possibly know during the league if they are going to have a 10 game or a 16 game season. When 70% of you entire season could be played in the National League, every game should count. This is why I get irked when I hear league results being dismissed.
There may be problems with the National Leagues as a competition. They still fail to attract large crowds, especially in the early rounds. Realistically however, the league is the only competition where a county team can home to develop into a championship winning side. Counties won’t win All-Ireland titles in the spring, but the can certainly lose them.