Former Kildare midfielder Earley to present a championship restructure proposal to the GAA

Former Kildare midfielder Dermot Earley is planning on presenting a new football championship structure to Annual Congress next year as the ongoing debate surrounding the summer's football schedule continues to dominate the scene.

Earley is the current president of the Gaelic Players' Association, and despite the GAA announcing their own plans to restructure the All-Ireland series as we know it, Earley and his colleagues are planning on presenting an alternative structure.

The Sarsfields clubman issued a restructuring proposal to the GAA at Annual Congress last year, but it failed to even make the floor for debate. He is undeterred however, and insists that their original plan has been tinkered with sufficiently to please all parties.

"We will look at a proposal, we will present another proposal to Congress. Our own proposal didn't make it to the floor of Congress," said Earley.

"One of the criticisms was that there was more games, they were saying that there was deadrubber games. When we presented it, we said it wasn't the be-all and end-all."

"We were willing to tinker with it a bit more. When you take in everything that has been put before us and everything that is said, hopefully we can find something that is right. If we don't find it, maybe we can combine with others and get the best. But the Championship does need a re-structuring."

He says the main reason that there is a need for change is due to the fact that some teams enjoy a much longer season and more games than others, which can be good for some but unhelpful to teams in Ulster.

"The main thing is, there is an appetite for change. If you took the current GAA structure and presented it now, you'd be laughed at. It's not fair. It's a shorter season for one team, a longer season for another. If you're an Ulster team, you have to play more games to win an All-Ireland than in Munster — that is not fair. It needs to change."

Earley was speaking in Croke Park yesterday after his father, the late Dermot Earley, was inducted to the GAA Hall of Fame.