GAA's loss is soccer's gain?

TYNAN'S TAKE: COLUMN BY STUART TYNAN

THE last few weeks have been nothing short of head spinning for all involved in the local soccer and GAA scenes.

Just when it looked as if all action was going to be wiped out from their respective calendars, we now have full schedules released for both codes. The GAA season will begin with the first round of the Michael Walsh leagues on the weekend of July 17 while the soccer season kicks off with Calor Gas Super and Premier Cups that same weekend.

However, I believe the decision to get rid of the Mayo GAA Senior Leagues is a disappointing one. It is a great competition which goes a long way for players in preparation for getting ready for the club championships later on the year. The Michael Walsh league and other divisional league and cups are, with all due respect, nothing more than glorified friendlies and simply do not match the intensity that the senior leagues do provide.

While the attention of county players will turn to the Connacht championship several weeks later, it leaves the club players with little to no competitive action until next year once the club championship ends on the weekend of September 18.

The soccer season could provide it for them. The Mayo Super League and Premier League will have a revised format this year, with Leagues One and Two remaining unchanged, but still promise plenty of competitive action until the leagues conclude at the end of November.

Plenty of players around the county do play both codes. Castlebar Mitchels trio Aidan Walsh, Neil Douglas and Danny Kirby were all involved in Castlebar Celtic's league and cup campaigns at various points over the past year. Chris Rowland (Lahardane and Glenhest Rovers), Matthew Flanagan (Balla and Manulla), Conor Heneghan (Hollymount/Carramore and Ballyglass) and a number of others also play both and are crucial members of their respective sides.

The soccer transfer window is open from July 1 to September 30. Could we see a huge influx of players from GAA sign up for the likes of Westport United, Ballina Town, Manulla, Claremorris AFC, Glenhest Rovers and Ballyglass to fill that competitive void?

Don't rule it out.

CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND

THIRTY years Liverpool have had to wait for the Holy Grail once more.

To put it into perspective, the Premier League and Champions League had yet to be formed, Jack Charlton was about to cement God-like status among the Irish soccer public and the Soviet Union was still in existence. You get the picture.

It wasn’t exactly that long of a wait for me - I was less than a year old when Liverpool captured their 18th league title on April 28, 1990 – but it felt like an eternity. I remember watching the likes of McManaman, Rush, Barnes and Fowler tearing up Anfield in the mid-90s and I was hooked for life.

I have seen some good to very good sides in my lifetime. Gerard Houllier’s team in the early 2000s. Rafael Benitez’s side in the mid-to latter part of that decade and the Luis Suarez inspired team of 2013-14 that until now, came closer than any other Liverpool side before it to the league title.

Most of those teams did deliver success in some shape or form. Houllier’s ‘forgotten treble’ of the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001, Rafa’s ‘Istanbul’ in 2005, the 2006 FA Cup (or the Gerrard Final) and other trophies along the way. Except the one that mattered most.

What followed any title challenge was a slump which would take several seasons to rebound from. I must admit I began to wonder would it ever happen. Then Jurgen Klopp arrived in October 2015 and everything changed.

With the backing of owners FSG (who deserve plenty of credit for making Liverpool a commercial juggernaut), Klopp has transformed the club from top to bottom. From also-rans to a relentless, winning machine.

Instead of being underwhelmed from the arrivals of the likes of Mario Balotelli, Christian Poulsen, Paul Konchesky and Loris Karius over the years, we have seen footballers of Salah, Robertson, Mane, Alisson, Van Dijk and Fabinho’s quality arrive and under Klopp’s tutelage, make this team unquestionably the best Liverpool side since the glory days of the 70s and 80s.

After last years’ agonising near-miss, they have simply blown away the opposition in what has been nothing short of a procession. If it was a horse race, everyone else would have been pulled up before the second circuit. Unless any of the other big clubs get their act together in the short-term, Klopp’s Liverpool team will have this league (and maybe Europe) to themselves over the next five years. A very pleasing prospect indeed!

Our own Liverpool fanatic Bernard Hughes has had to endure years of slagging off the likes of Manchester United fans Aiden Henry and Frank Burke as well as our resident Manchester City fan Tom Kelly in the CT offices so I am sure Mr. Hughes, along with myself, are going to very much enjoy ourselves over the next year or so.

All we need now is to see if Mayo can deliver the best Christmas present of all come December 19!

NO BACK DOOR

THE GAA have rolled out the calendar for the inter-county season, and Mayo will have to have to hit the ground running. And fast.

The Allianz Leagues will be finished off before the All-Ireland Championship begins, and anything less than victories away to Galway on the weekend of October 17 and at home to Monaghan a week later will mean Mayo will be playing Division 2 football in the league next year.

It will not be the end of the world but to lose our Division One status after such a long time will be a real disappointment, all the more considering Mayo won the league title only last year.

Whatever happens, there will be little time to dwell on it as Mayo will begin their latest quest to deliver Sam when they take finally take on Leitrim in the opening round of the Connaught championship.

There will be no second chances or back door this time around however, with the GAA reverting back to the straight knockout format for the first time since 2000. Win and you go on; lose and your season is over.

That is where Mayo have been at their absolute best over the past decade. When it’s all or nothing, Mayo have been able to produce a level of performance only the likes of Dublin or Kerry have been able to match.

It will all come down to on the day. No second chances. No back door. No replays. For Mayo, there is no other way they would want it.

*Pictured: Neil Douglas celebrates after scoring a goal against Breaffy in the 2015 Mayo SFC final. Neil, who also plays for Castlebar Celtic, may get more competitive action this year playing soccer than Gaelic football, like a number of other players in Mayo who play both sports. PHOTO: SPORTSFILE