Walkovers given in almost a seventh of adult Offaly GAA games

THE alarming and very thought provoking statistic that walkovers were given in almost a seventh of the adult Offaly GAA games in 2026 was provided at a meeting of the County Board on Tuesday evening.

Competitions Control Committee secretary Pat Teehan told stunned delegates that walkovers were given in a whopping 74 of the 548 adult league and championship games that he fixed.

Mr Teehan was unsure of the reasons for the huge volume of walkovers but said it had a huge impact on their schedules with five team groups becoming four and four team ones becoming three in some cases.

Stating that they need to examine this whole area, he promised to do a more detailed analysis of the walkovers ahead of Convention in December to examine if some clubs were repeat offenders over a few years – he said that if there were clubs running into problems every year, they would talk to them about the number of teams they were entering.

The only “positive” out of the walkovers was that it did lead to money for the County Board with a €100 fine imposed for each game not fulfilled.

Kilclonfert delegate Fergal Smyth admitted that they were one of the guilty parties but he explained the difficulties they ran into with injuries. Mr Smyth maintained that they had just two subs for one game, including himself at 47 years of age while he had planned to play in the game they conceded the walkover in but they had just ten players available.

Mr Teehan agreed that some clubs ran into genuine difficulties but said “74 is too much”.

Erin Rovers delegate Eamon Dunican referred to a club that conceded a walkover in the Senior Football Championship last year and didn't fulfill its junior fixtures this year – he didn't name the club but was referring to Durrow. He said as a result of them not playing, they had a four week gap between the first and third rounds this year and he suggested that the fine was too little and should be increased.

“Walkovers have huge consequences for other clubs,” Mr Dunican declared.

Kilcormac-Killoughey delegate Cormac Mahon said they gave walkovers in the Intermediate Football Championship and explained that players who had committed to playing withdrew because of the risk of injury to concentrate on hurling. “They tell you they will play but if one or two get injured, it has a knock on effect and we could be down half a dozen. Their priority is hurling.”

Delegates agreed that regrading teams is not the solution and would instead punish clubs who are fielding in a lower grade.

It was agreed to discuss the matter again.