It is with great pleasure that,on behalf of the Fermanagh Competitions Control Committee (CCC), I present the 2017 Fixtures Masterplan. This document is being presented to the Fermanagh County Committee on Monday 6th March 2017 and at a specially arranged briefing for club secretaries, senior/reserve team managers and a players’ representative from each club on Wednesday 8th March 2017. We believe in being open, honest and accountable to members of the association in Fermanagh and we have endeavoured to engage with the appropriate bodies and individuals to explain why we have taken the decisions we have and to address any questions or queries there may be as early as possible.
I am indebted to and extremely grateful for the commitment, input and support of each member of the CCC, in what is a challenging role in a busy sub-committee of CoisteChontaeFhearManach.
As you will be aware, CCC is responsible for organising all competitions in Fermanagh; for processing transfers; for dealing with objections and counter objections to games; dealing with referees reports and matters arising from them including disciplinary issues and investigating and processing matters relating to the enforcement of the rules and match regulations.
For all of the above matters, the CCC has plenary powers. As stated in our terms of reference, the Chairperson of CCC shall present a Progress Report on the committee’s work of at County Committee meetings.
As a committee, we are very conscious of the current challenges facing clubs across Ireland with regards to the pressures on the calendar, particularly with regards to fixture scheduling, the regularity and certainty of games and the varying needs of different groups of players within our association. This is a debate that continues nationally and this is no different in Fermanagh. But there is only so much that is within our control. Until the inter county calendar is sufficiently condensed, at both Provincial and National level, we will, like other counties, struggle to make everyone happy. However, we have tried our best.
After all, we are all members of clubs ourselves and we are all involved at various levels of our clubs. We have an extremely challenging role in making decisions, which at times we know will not be universally popular. However, we have put in place key principles to guide us in our decision making process, which will allow us to be consistent and strategic in our thinking and hopefully allow all stakeholders of the association to understand why we have arrived at the decisions we have, regardless of whether there is universal agreement with the outcome.
From the end of the National Football League on 2nd April 2017 until the start of the Ulster Club Championship on 28th/29th October, there are 29 weekends on which to organise all of our internal fixtures. To put this into perspective, that is 18 rounds of Senior Football League Fixtures (along with the respective semi-finals and finals), the Senior/Intermediate/Junior Championships and the Reserve Championships. Over the course of these weekends, the Fermanagh Senior team will also be in action, hopefully on many occasions.
As has been the case in recent years, we have made provision for, and indeed formalised, the playing of ‘Games for Club Players’ without some or all members of the Inter County Panel. Whilst all of us, as players, mentors, administrators, supporters and spectators, want to see the best players playing for our clubs as often as possible, there are hard choices to be made.
Do we play little or no senior football through much of May/June and potentially July and August, and only get into playing senior league football properly once Fermanagh’s run in the championship comes to an end? If so, the reality is that games will end up being organised in the months of November and December.Our experience tells us that the only people who want to be playing football at that time of the year are those involved in the Provincial Championships, proudly representing their clubs and counties.
We do not accept that such a model is a realistic or favourable way forward and as such, we have decided that regular senior matches will continue to be played over the course of the season, regardless of how the Fermanagh county team progress, in order to avoid winter senior league matches or ending the season early. The only uncertainty is whether, and how many of, the County panel will be playing for their clubs in any given fixture.
We have endeavoured, in so far as possible, to organise these ‘Games for Club Players’ that allow for the best possible match ups in terms of balancing the number of Inter County panellists from the clubs involved. As a result of that, at this stage, we are only able to provide the first seven rounds of Senior League Fixtures as the progress of the Fermanagh team and issues such as predicting replays or progression through the Provincial Championship cannot be addressed. Furthermore, the introduction of a new regulation allowing for players in the 26-man match day panel that did not play for Fermanagh on the previous day to be involved in ‘Games for Club Players’ on a Sunday, predicting how many players will be unavailable per club is an extremely difficult forecast. However, we have been and will continue to be as fair as possible.
The current league arrangements, with the introduction of considerable ‘safety nets’ has made the introduction of ‘Games for Club Players’ much more acceptable to clubs as there is now no automatic promotion or relegation in either Senior Football League and any club that may have a higher than average representation in the Inter County Panel has a chance to prove themselves with a full team out during the league playoff stages, which will once again take place after the Championship block.
In organising the year’s fixtures in this manner, we believe that we are keeping our league competitions as competitive as possible, for as many as possible, for as long as possible.
We hope you will support us in practical terms and with your goodwill as we attempt to meet our own challenging targets and to meet the varying needs of all of our stakeholders over the course of this season. We have endeavoured, in so far as possible, to produce a finalised schedule of fixtures for the year, however, on occasion, events will transpire that will be outside of our control and as such, this schedule may unfortunately be subject to change, which shall be at the discretion of the CCC.
Finally, on behalf of the CCC, may I take this opportunity to wish all of our players and our clubs every success in 2017 in reaching the goals that each individual and team has set.
Is mise le meas,
Phil Flanagan – Chairperson
Fermanagh Competitions Control Committee (CCC)
Tel: 07985955555
Email: chairperson.ccc.fermanagh@gaa.ie
ÁrbPrionsabail – Our Principles
Our key principles in decision making have been as follows:
- Players, along with all our stakeholders, deserve and require fixture certainty
- Having a season with a definite completion date for all internal competitions
- Clubs support a regular flow of games for senior club players through the summer months, including ‘Games for Club Players’
- That there are ‘safety net’ and ‘reclaiming lost ground’ opportunities within the end of season league formats
- All rounds of the league competitions shall be completed before any of the championship starts
- Sustain a season long interest in club training, with championships, as the climax of the season and offering the best preparation possible for going into the end of league formats
- Organising adult competitions where games are competitively important and meaningful throughout the season
- Consistently, fairly and strictly enforcing all competition regulations, particularly with regards to postponements, compliance with the 13 day rule and accurate First 13 lists
- Meeting the welfare needs of all players, club and county by recognising that there are club player needs and county player needs, and they are both equally important within the amateur ethos of the GAA
- The need for those who have a ‘say’ in club fixtures (County Committee, Senior County Management team, CCC and Club Management groups) to respect the desire and need for players to play regular games for their clubs.
SFL 1 & 2 Fixtures 2017
| GCP? | Notes | ||||
| Sunday | 09 April 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 1 | ||
| Saturday | 15 April 2017 | 5:00 PM | Round 2 | ||
| Saturday | 22 April 2017 | 6:30 PM | Round 3 | GCP (36) | Team Bonding Weekend |
| Friday | 28 April 2017 | 7:30 PM | Round 4 | ||
| Sunday | 30 April 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 5 | ||
| Friday | 05 May 2017 | 7:30 PM | Round 6 | ||
| Sunday | 21 May 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 7 | GCP (26+) | Fermanagh v Monaghan |
| Sunday | 28 May 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 8 | Potential GCP (26+) | Fermanagh v Monaghan Replay |
| Saturday | 03 June 2017 | 7:00 PM | Round 9 | Potential GCP (36) | Ulster QF |
| Friday | 09 June 2017 | 8:00 PM | Round 10 | Potential GCP (26) | Ulster QF |
| Sunday | 25 June 2017 | 6:00 PM | Round 11 | GCP (26+) | Ulster SF or 1B Qualifier |
| Sunday | 02 July 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 12 | Potential GCP (26+ or 36) | 1B Qualifier Replay – 26+ 2B Qualifier – 36 |
| Sunday | 09 July 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 13 | Potential GCP (26+ or 36) | 2B Qualifier – 26+
Ulster Final – 36 |
| Friday | 14 July 2017 | 8:00 PM | Round 14 | Potential GCP (26) | 3B Qualifier – 26
Ulster Final – 26 |
| Friday | 21 July 2017 | 8:00 PM | Round 15 | Potential GCP (26 or 36) | Ulster Final Replay – 26
4B Qualifier – 36 |
| Friday | 28 July 2017 | 8:00 PM | Round 16 | Potential GCP (26) | 4B Qualifier – 26 |
| Friday | 04 August 2017 | 8:00 PM | Round 17 | Potential GCP (26) | All Ireland QF – 26 |
| Sunday | 13 August 2017 | 1:00 PM | Round 18 | Potential GCP (26 or 36) | All Ireland QF Replay – 26
All Ireland SF – 36 |
