Gary McDaid warns against reshuffle talk around the senior championship structure

Gary McDaid believes that the conversation surrounding the restructuring of the SFC needs to shift and instead centre in on league formats and, especially, the state of reserve football.   

Speaking to Donegal Live, the Glenswilly boss feels that the current SFC foramt was originally put in place to allow clubs and returning inter-county players more championship games with their teams, with the current structure guaranteeing all players at least five senior championship matches.   

“Listen I hear people giving out about the structures of the senior championship at the minute,” said McDaid.   

“People are saying we should go back to the groups of four or we should go back to the home and away games.   

“There are a lot of people pushing for that knockout feeling but, to be honest, we have to remember why this happened, why the current championship format came into place.  

“It happened to allow clubs to have their county players for a few games. If we went back to the home and away format, and your club got beat in the first round, then you only have your county men for two games. That has to be highlighted and I think people are forgetting this.   

“Are you meaning to tell me that you take a player through a club since he was four years of age and when he gets to adult level, he only gets two games a year?   

“That doesn’t work and like I say, with the current structure, you’re guaranteed at least five games.   

“That’s good for clubs because they have the county players back and it gives the players time to bed in.”   

Focusing on areas that he feels need to be looked at, McDaid draws attention to the lack of bite and competition in the SFC reserve championship and feels it’s time for reserve teams to stop relying on their senior squads and play independently at a level suitable to the team in question.   

For McDaid, he feels that reserve teams need to ‘stand on their own two feet’.   

“It’s not the championship structure that needs to be looked at, it’s the league that needs to be looked at. I’ve been saying this for a long time, reserve football is dead in Donegal,” he explained.    

In restructuring this, the Glenswilly manager believes that reserve teams should be put in tandem with the senior leagues, where the Reserve Division 1 would become Division 5, with promotion and relegation all on the cards.  

“We need to restructure our leagues where we keep the first three senior divisions as they are and then put the reserve teams in lower leagues where they can stand on their own two feet where they get promoted and relegated on their own and they’re not relying on their senior teams.  

“I think if you put Division 1 Reserves into a Division 5 league, and so on, that way it would be much healthier and it would help the different championships.  

“We saw what happened this year with the St Eunan’s and Naomh Conaill teams not being allowed to enter the Junior A championship.   

“I thought that was a sin because in a lot of other counties that happens, where your second and third teams enter lower championships. That’s the way it has to go and we have to have an open mind towards this.   

“I would just scrap the reserve championship as well and put all the teams into championships that are more meaningful whether that is a Junior A, B, C, D, whatever.   

“I just think that’s the way forward and until we get that we should leave the rest alone.”