Meath legend Trevor Giles: provincial championships 'don't excite me'
Meath legend Trevor Giles explains why he would not be disappointed to see the back of provincial championships, and discusses how the Royals can build on the momentum of the minor and ladies All-Ireland titles.
Friday 1 October 2021 14:57, UK
The GAA's Special Congress in October is set to decide the fate of the football championship format for the coming years.
With two new proposals on the table along with an option to remain with the status quo, there will be no shortage of debate leading up to the vote on October 23.
However, Meath legend Trevor Giles wouldn't be disappointed to see the back of the provincial competitions. Proposal B would see those removed from the championship structure, and retained as stand-alone tournaments.
"They don't excite me, they haven't excited me for a lot of years," said the two-time Footballer of the Year of the provincial championships.
"I know Dublin maybe have come back a little bit, but I expect a big bounce from Dublin next year having been beaten by Mayo this year. I expect a big bounce from them, so you couldn't say with confidence that next year's Leinster Championship is going to be very competitive.
"If they got rid of the provincial championships, it wouldn't cost me a thought whatsoever. The 1990s was a glory era in Leinster - we had Meath winning Leinster, Offaly, Dublin, Westmeath, Kildare - it was really competitive with huge crowds and it would be great to see it back to that again.
"But I suppose I don't see a really competitive Leinster Championship for the next few years, so if the proposals say get rid of the Leinster Championship and other provincial championships, that's fine by me.
"Ulster would be the difficult one in that it is really competitive and I'm sure the Ulster Council will fight tooth and nail to hold on to that, and I can see that and appreciate it.
"But the three other championships are lop-sided. There's only six counties in Munster, 12 in Leinster and it's just imbalanced. But I can see a day where the provincial championships are gone, absolutely."
Recent Meath success can provide bounce for men's senior team
The Royals enjoyed a remarkable end to the summer, as their minor team and senior ladies' side claimed All-Ireland titles.
Giles says the feel-good factor can provide a bounce to football in the county, and the victorious minors can make an impact on the senior side in the coming years.
"My own kids and teenagers in Meath went up and saw the minors and ladies winning the All-Ireland, so it has to provide a bounce in a few years' time, in that 14 and 15 year-olds dream of playing for Meath in Croke Park and winning All-Irelands," he said.
"It should provide a bounce in the next year or two, absolutely. With Meath, we've just been inconsistent. We had a big game there during the year with Kildare to get promotion to Division 1 for next year and we didn't perform that day.
"It was a great performance in the second half of the Leinster semi-final and we really competed with Dublin, so we need to be consistent.
"If you are a Meath footballer, you should be going to training this winter feeling you have a slightly more realistic chance of winning a Leinster Championship than maybe for the last few years when Dublin were so good.
"But whatever it is with Meath in the last 10 years, no matter who has been the manager, they've been unlucky with injuries. Key players seem to get injured.
"Ronan Jones just made it back for the Leinster semi-final this year, he's a key player. Shane Walsh missed the whole season with injury, a good young forward and he's missed out on a year of his development.
"So whether it's bad luck or whatever it is, Meath need all of their key players fully fit and available for next year.
"When we talked ourselves up in Meath, Dublin have taken us very seriously and absolutely wiped us like they did last November in the Leinster final when we thought we had closed the gap. This year we didn't talk ourselves up so much and we competed much better.
"In Meath we just need to get the head down, get everyone fit and available, train really hard and try to take the example of our minors and our ladies and when you are playing these stronger teams that you really have a go at them and just go for it and try and get as many scores as you can."
