Only fights used to attract all 30 players to one half of the field

It’s not only the way Gaelic football is played that has changed in recent times. The language used at training, as well as before, during and after matches also bears no resemblance to that of the days of catch-and-kick, goalmouth schemozzles, blocking, drop-kicking and corner-forwards being the first to be taken off regardless of how they might be playing.

Way back, the only bus to be parked was the one carrying the away team, the Press were irreverently – or maybe properly – known as hacks, and if all 30 players were in the one half of the field, it was because there was a dirty row going on in the goalmouth.

Like the one in the Louth and Laois championship match at the beginning of the 1990s, and another a few years later when Meath and Mayo met in the All-Ireland final.

Footballers who regret those days would have to concede that compared to now, teams back then weren’t the best equipped. There could be a tear in a jersey or a number hanging off, and rarely did each player wear the same colour of socks.

Worst of all was teams going on to the field for the kick-around with just one football, even for county games. The backs would go into the goalmouth, while the rest would hang around the 50-yard line in the few minutes before the throw-in. If you wanted a kick you’d have to ‘go for it’, and, of course, several would start the game without getting the touch of the ball.

Now there are more footballs than players on the pitch, and if they had to go through the series of exercises and sprints pre-match that are now undertaken, many of yesterday’s players wouldn’t be able to start the match never mind finish it.

There’s no doubt today’s fitness levels are greater – if they weren’t players wouldn’t be able to play the type of football being asked of them.

Training’s more sophisticated and, I suppose you could say, more scientific; players are told what to eat (none of your big fry on a Sunday morning), and for those who wear the county jersey, there’s no question of being out of pocket.

If there was a poll taken on which is the more attractive, today’s game or the one it’s replacing, votes, I’d say, would be divided on an age basis, the older going for the traditional, others for what is modern.

A lamenting friend, also on the cemetery side of 70, queried me recently. He feared there would be no-one watching the game in ten years’ time “if it keeps going as it is”. I disagreed. There would be as many as there are today, and the playing pitches would be just as thickly populated.

As I see it, the younger generation will grow into the game as it’s now being played, either participating or following it. They’ll learn how to defend in numbers and attack on the break. And onlookers won’t moan as the ball goes from one side of the field to the other and then back again, and if there’s any chance of an interception, they’ll expect a back-pass to be executed.

There’ll be no-one to say ‘look at your man’ if the goalie ends up on the opposition ‘40’; and if one half of the field empties very quickly, they won’t think there’s been a repeat of the ‘90s Croke Park – maybe the half-time whistle has just been blown.

I’ve heard, and been part of, a number of debates on the merits and demerits of today’s game. At one of them, one of the chaps said: “You never see Kerry at it – they always go forward.” Not true.

It happened no later than the All-Ireland champions’ recent league game with Armagh. They had come from one point down to go two in front coming towards the end.

David Clifford got the ball in the left corner, and finding his way blocked, made a back-pass instead of taking on the opposition, as would have been expected of him. Several more passes followed until the ball landed in his goalie’s hands.

Long having handed in my player and mentor’s badge, I’m not privy to what is said in dressing rooms. Whatever it is, I’m sure the language is much different to what it once was.

Some examples from my underage days:

“Stand back and face a high ball.” We’d be told that before the game, and again going out for the second half, even if we were ten points behind.

“Lorry, (or blarge, or beatle) the ball when you get it.” Lorry, or any of the others, meant kick it as hard as you can. None of your cross-passes there.

“Take your points and the goals will come”. Nearly as old as the game itself, and still relevant.

“Watch for the ball coming back off the crossbar.” One that has also stood the test of time.

“Lie down, you’re coming off.” There was a time when a player couldn’t be replaced unless he was injured. So, if a he wasn’t doing well, he was told to feign injury by a selector (managers had yet to find their way into the GAA lexicon). Nowadays rarely does a team finish with an unchanged line-up from the one that started.

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Moving on to adult football:

“Don’t put your hand where your boot will fit.” I didn’t take Stephen White’s advice before a national league match with Antrim at Knockbridge and suffered the consequences – missing about six months of inter-county activity with a badly bruised finger which I hadn’t bothered to get properly treated. (You know: “It’ll be alright.)

Subsequent visits to Navan Hospital and the two clinics, Santry Sports and Blackrock, failed to straighten the digit. (“What age are you”, one of the consultants asked. When told, “Go on, not worth it.)

And to finish, something from print, television, hearsay, the GAA and soccer, some of it unattributed:

“Play the way you’re facing.” (Former Ireland and Manchester United defender, Jackie Carey, in his time in management.)

“Play the game in their half.” (Jack Charlton)

“You’re all footballers, so know what to do. So all we’ll do is kneel down as say three Hail Marys.” (Anon)

“There’s a little bump in the pitch about 30 yards from the Canal End – all the points come from there.” (One-time Antrim manager, Kevin Armstrong, was right....about the bump on the ‘old’ Croke Park. Today’s pitch is as flat as a pancake.)

“Let’s take advantage when they’re taking a throw-in – at that point they’ve only got ten on the field.” Graham Taylor, former England manager.