Allen and Carroll clear to play in Offaly SFC “B” as Gracefield pursue DRA hearing

EOIN Carroll and Ruari Allen are in the clear to play in the concluding stages of the Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship.

Speculation had emerged over the weekend over their status as the duo had played club championship in New South Wales in Australia earlier in the year.

Cappincur man Carroll and Gracefield star Allen had played with the Sydney based Clann na Gael and Cormac McAnnallen clubs respectively in Australia.

There is a rule in the Official Guide that you can't play championship in two different counties or jurisdictions in the one year – American sanctions are different.

However, it has now been confirmed that this rule does not apply for local championships in Australia. In 2016, Central Council approved a deviation to the rule and that clears Allen and Carroll to play.

It is great news for the two clubs and players and no one had any interest in them being ruled out but it is good that the clubs have received formal clarification on their standing. That 2016 deviation still stands and states that the rule relating to club championships only applies to the State Championships in Australia and not the local competitions.

There have been no State Championships in Australia this year and the players are fully legal to play. Cappincur meet Ballycommon and Gracefield take on Clonbullogue in the senior “B” semi-finals.

Both players are absolutely pivotal to their club’s prospects. Carroll has been a long serving player for Offaly, one of their most consistent performers in the past decade, despite some injury problems. A teacher, he opted out a couple of years ago as he took a career break to travel to Australia. He returned a few weeks ago, played in Cappincur’s group win over Walsh Island and will be hoping that Declan Kelly gives him a chance on his new Offaly senior football panel.

Ruari Allen is a similar type of player to Carroll, with a real physicality and power. He also played for Offaly and was really making his mark for them when he emigrated to Australia. His departure was a huge blow at that time as he still had a lot to offer. He has returned to play for Gracefield occasionally since then and he will be back for the semi-final, and final if they reach there.

The semi-finals are fixed for the weekend of September 9 and 10 but ironically, there is a doubt over them going ahead as Gracefield are pursuing a hearing with the Disputes Resolution Authority over the group finishing positions in the championship.

New rules for applying points difference in the event of a tie with three teams or more came into force this year. It meant that the scoring difference was only counted from the games involving the three teams who tied, Gracefield, Clonbullogue and Ballycommon in this case. Under the old rules where scoring difference was counted from all games, Gracefield would have been top and directly in the semi-finals. The new rules, however, meant that Clonbullogue were top and Gracefield third, with Ballycommon second.

Gracefield argued that the Offaly GAA championship regulations were not changed to meet the new rules and appealed to Leinster Council, where they lost. They then took their case to the DRA and tried to get last weekend’s quarter-finals postponed. The DRA ruled that they could go ahead as Gracefield had not met the criteria for interim relief but they stated that they were still entitled to a full hearing of their case.

Gracefield grinded out a hard earned win over Ballycumber in the quarter-finals on Saturday – Allen was not home for that. Despite that, they have pursued a full hearing with the DRA and have made a submission to them since the game.

That is angering clubs and County Board members now as there is no material or obvious benefit for them. No one has any issue whatsoever with the Gracefield players and their football team. In fact, it would be great to see Gracefield get back up to senior level, if they are good enough to win it. They are a proud club with a great tradition of contributing players to successful Offaly football teams. Donie Hanlon was the captain of the Offaly team that won the first Leinster Senior Football Championship in 1960 and played in the 1961 All-Ireland final defeat by Down. John Smith was a teak tough, rock solid full back on the 1972 All-Ireland champions and their contribution to the 1982 All-Ireland senior football title was absolutely immense with brothers, Mick and Pat Fitzgerald brilliant defenders and a young Padraig Dunne, sensational at midfield.

They have been successful in Offaly. Players from Gracefield combined with St Mary’s to win the Senior Football Championship as St Patrick’s in 1959 but Gracefield quickly went on their own. It yielded an instant dividend as Gracefield won their first championship in 1961. Prior to the formation of Gracefield in 1930, there had been different clubs in existence in their catchment area on the Offaly side of Portarlington parish – the River Barrow divides Laois and Offaly in Portarlington town. North Portarlington and Treascon, also known as the Blackthorns, also existed in the parish in Offaly, and there were times when they were in existence at the same time as Gracefield.

Eventually, the Offaly part of the parish united under the Gracefield umbrella and they enjoyed some fantastic success. Ironically, their big breakthrough came less than a decade after there had been an audacious move to transfer Gracefield into Laois in 1952. Unsurprisingly, that move was proposed by Laois and Portarlington GAA Club but amazingly, it also had considerable backing from Gracefield and a deputation from the area also supported it and argued for it.

The Offaly GAA County Board, however, gave it an emphatic thumbs down, stating that they should be trying to get back territory from the county which had moved to neighbours and not lose more. A deputation from Portarlington, Laois and Gracefield had argued for the switch at a County Board meeting and expressed their disappointment after it was refused, saying they felt it was “in the best interests of gaelic games in the area”. The Offaly board unanimously turned it down and ruled that players from the Gracefield area could play with any club in Offaly for one year.

St Patrick’s later emerged and then Gracefield became a powerful force. Whatever about 1960 and 1972, it is very doubtful if Offaly could have won the All-Ireland in 1982 without the profound influence of the three Gracefield players and they have provided stalwart performers on Offaly teams in most eras.

Gracefield also won the Senior Football Championship in 1970, 1972 and their last one in 1984. They won the first Leinster club title in 1970-1971 and were beaten in Offaly senior football finals in 1991 and 2002.

In latter years, they have fallen on hard times. Despite having a large population base on the Offaly side of Portarlington, in an area where a lot of housing development has taken place, the GAA club has not yielded the benefits. They were relegated out of senior football a few years ago and have also struggled at underage level in several years – they were unable to field an U-13 football team this year and conceded all their matches, something which has been noted and has caused concern at official level.

It is in Offaly football’s interest that a strong Gracefield exist and it would be great to see them getting their glory days back.

The annoyance at their objection is in no way related to their football team and players. It is about a club firstly trying to gain advantage through a loophole. Whatever about the merits of initially pursuing the case and trying to get a semi-final place instead of a quarter-final, now that they are in a semi-final, their insistence in pursuing it is really questionable.

Former County Board chairman Tommy Byrne is the chairman there and it has been suggested that there is a point of “principle” involved. The problem with that is what happens if they were to win their case and the implications it has for the other clubs in it and the championship and whether the welfare of those clubs and Offaly GAA is being in anyway served by it.

Having lost twice already, it remains to be seen if Gracefield can be successful a third time. The Offaly GAA County Board are offering a full defence but you never know what way the DRA will rule – Gracefield will have to very definittively prove their case to win.

If they did succeed, however, it is hard to see there being any winners, including Gracefield as the whole status and legality of that championship, and every Offaly one, will then be up in the air. In the case of the SFC “B”, if the old scoring difference rules were applied, Clonbullogue would have played Ballycumber in the quarter-final but it is impossible to see how the old rules can be used as this would be in direct contravention of the Official Guide. If Clonbullogue and Ballycumber did have to play again, it would only be giving Clonbullogue a quarter-final that they haven’t planned for and shouldn’t have to play and it would be giving Ballycumber a second chance that they wouldn’t want or seek in any way. Not only that but Clonbullogue would be fancied to win and if they did, they would still play Gracefield in the semi-final, if Monday evening’s draw still stood.

It could also delay the conclusion of the championship – that is if the whole championship or last round of group games did not have to be replayed. Or another possibility would be play offs to determine the positions of Gracefield, Clonbullogue and Ballycommon and this would delay the championship for weeks.

Any club is entitled to take an objection to the DRA if they want to but it is hard to see where Gracefield are going with this one. And the solutions could be unpalatable for everyone if they did succeed.

They are in the semi-finals, they have a great chance of winning the championship and have done really well to turn the corner this year. They have some excellent footballers, a perfect mixture of good young players, men such as Jamie Evans and Jack Walsh in their prime, and vastly experienced ones in Niall Smith and Ruari Allen.

No matter what happens in the DRA – the date for the hearing has not been set yet -, it is in everyone’s interest that all championships proceed smoothly and in a timely fashion and there is a greater good at stake here.