GPA chief executive Tom Parsons worried by scheduling in condensed GAA season 

GPA chief executive Tom Parsons has promised to tackle an uneven fixture schedule speaking at their AGM last week.

The players’ representative body called on the GAA to create a sufficient gap between league and championship competitions in order to tackle the condensed season.

Parsons, who played for the Mayo senior footballers from 2008 to 2021, has warned the GAA that any changes to competition scheduling must be facilitated within the agreed split-season model.

With the current inter-county competition schedule coming under criticism from many, Parsons used his address last week to hint that the players body will not stand for any tampering with the split season, insisting that the majority supports it.

But he claimed that the GAA is trying to 'squeeze' too much into the inter-county window and has called for an extended break between the end of the league and the start of the championship, insisting that provincial pre-season competitions should be abolished. 

"The GPA continues to strongly support a split-season for inter-county and club activity, which has been viewed positively by 85% of our players," said Parsons.

“A key challenge is the new structures were designed with the intention of pausing the pre-season competitions, and the GAA is trying to squeeze too many competitions into an agreed window for inter-county players.

“Our members are elite amateur athletes, with growing professional and commercial demands to generate more income for the Governing Bodies to fund grassroots activities and infrastructure investments. Balancing commitments to their club, county, personal lives, and professional careers, continues to be a juggling act that is becoming increasingly unsustainable.

“A shorter season and defined break periods for inter-county players remain an absolute priority. Expanding the season with increased playing demands is not a solution to protect amateurism or reduce the load on players.” 

The GPA members have no appetite for the inter-county season to increase, which runs from December to July.

“We don’t have a set position that it needs to be December to July,” said Parsons.

“That’s something that can be consulted with players but I would anticipate that as long as players are getting those break periods, that meaningful time with their clubs, that break period between county and club and vice versa – if that eight-month period shifted that is something we would absolutely consult with players.

“If that was designed to protect player welfare, and players were guaranteed certain rest periods, I’d be confident that could be something the GPA I think would get behind. We don’t have that hard data on that, but certainly if you look at anything that extends eight months, how do you do it? How do you give meaningful time to your club? And how do you design any sort of break period? It’s a huge challenge.

“But at the moment, to be honest it’s nine months because teams are breaching the return to training date, there are competitive games on January 2. There needs to be change to even achieve eight months.”