Premier County spending big and the best thing ever written about a Kildare GAA ground.
Tipp are spending how much each week on training?
Running inter-county teams isn’t cheap. In fact, as we have seen with many county boards and their dire finances, it now costs serious money to fund a team, especially if the do well and progress in the Championship.
So spare a thought for Tipperary. The good news is that they have teams still on the go in six different competitions as we speak – senior hurling, senior football, minor hurling, minor football, U21 hurling and intermediate hurling – but facilitating that number of teams is expensive. Very expensive.
Tipperary chairman Sean Nugent told the Irish Examiner today just how costly an exercise it is.
“We were looking at figures there recently and we would estimate we’re spending something very near €25,000 a week on team training costs, which is huge.
“I would be of the opinion myself that the provincial councils and Croke Park have been very good to us in regards to coaching and development grants and that sort of thing, but the finance that goes into preparing teams is a major concern at the moment.”
“In terms of finance, yes it’s definitely very difficult. We’ve been lucky in Tipp over the last number of years to have had good sponsors.
“We’d have Enfer for nine years and they were very helpful financially to us. Now we have a very good Skoda sponsorship. Having said all that, competing in the amount of grades we’ve been has put serious costs on the county.”
As the old saying goes, success doesn’t come cheap.
A world-class review of Kildare’s county ground
We have spoken before about the issue of Kildare’s home ground in Newbridge, St Conleth’s Park. The lack of facilities there have forced Kildare onto the road all summer and while it is so far, so good enough is enough for Leinster Leader writer Tommy Callaghan. He devoted a few paragraphs to the state of St Conleth’s, and they make for great reading.
“The dressing rooms are about as big enough for a couple of five-a-side teams; the referee’s area is overcrowded once the linesmen join the match official and as for the press box, Jesus, don’t get me started …
“For a county that boasts one of the biggest followings in the country it is nothing short of disgraceful that we cannot hold a home game that is likely to attract anything close to 8,000…
“St Conleth’s Park remains, in this writer’s view, an absolute ideal location in the centre of town if it can get not just a makeover but a complete and utter revamp…
“If the refusal of the CCCC to allow Kildare play Limerick in round three of the qualifiers does nothing else, it might, and I emphasise might, just help to concentrate the minds and finally put an end to the embarrassment that Kildare GAA’s number one ground is. The time for a splash of paint, fresh soap and new ‘smellies’ in the loos to keep the natives on side is well and truly gone.”
We would love to read Tommy’s Trip Advisor posts.
