Mickey Harte has claimed that it would be a disgrace to get rid of the Allianz League finals.
The GAA has come under fire for the number of games players have to play in the modern era. Some have questioned if the number of games is actually a good idea for the players playing their respective sports.
For example, recently, former Tyrone footballer Peter Canavan claimed that scrapping the Allianz League finals would help players with welfare issues. However, the integrity of the competition is also important, as claimed by the Tyrone legend.
“The nature of the league with the league finals is that teams that are already through could play weakened teams,” he said on RTÉ’s Allianz League Sunday last weekend.
“And that could be to the detriment of some teams. It could put some teams down.
I would say there would be a lot of support if they decided to look into the structure of the National League and do away with the league finals. I know that mightn't go down well in some quarters.
“The integrity of the competition is paramount, and at the moment, I don't think you're getting that.
“And if it were a straight race to the top, then Kerry would be going out trying to win their last game, and Donegal and Armagh would be doing likewise in their last game in Division 2.”
Jordan Flynn of Mayo in action against Ciarán McFaul of Derry during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Mayo and Derry at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. (Photo By Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile via Getty Images)Canavan's comments may be welcomed by some, but for his old manager, Mickey Harte, he disagrees and says doing away with the league finals would be a disgrace.
“I think it would be a disgrace to take away the league final, and imagine the same for the teams down the leagues who have the chance to play a league final in Croke Park. It is the highlight of their year, and it is as big a day as they are going to get for a lot of them,” he told reporters after Derry’s emphatic win over Roscommon last Sunday," said Harte
“So why would you take that away? It would be an anti-climax if today the league was over and the team that is ahead would win the league. I would not like that. If that were in place, we would have won the league today, and I don’t think that is something to get excited about.
“If you go to Croke Park and play in a final, it is a day out, and finals are made for teams to challenge.
‘I don’t know what the big deal is. One more week’s football, and if that means shoving the championship back a week, then so be it.”
Harte's Derry will face Dublin in the Division One final at 4pm.
