Sligo manager Niall Carew has called on the GAA to provide extra financial support for smaller counties to avoid a monopoly at the top of the game.
Carew, who is currently in talks with the Sligo County Board concerning his own future, insisted the financial strain on smaller, rural counties is so severe that any hopes of bridging the gap to teams like Dublin and Kerry could soon disappear for good.
Carew said other counties were also feeling the pinch as they try to fund the cutting-edge technologies that are vital for preparing teams, and he thinks smaller counties have no hope unless the GAA help out with extra funding to close the gap.
“Croke Park needs to wake up and smell the coffee. The budget for the smaller counties isn’t a fraction of what the bigger counties are getting and how can you prepare a team the same? How can you compete with that?,” said Carew.
"The work isn't here for the lads so county boards have to pay them to drive from Dublin or Galway for training. The bigger counties like Dublin, Meath and Kildare don't have that issue.
“We are lucky here in Sligo, we have really good support, but we are a small county. When you think that Sligo Rovers and Connacht Rugby are also pulling out of the talent pool everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Skill level
“Everyone says: ‘It’s down to the skill level and it doesn’t take much to catch the ball and kick it’. But it is the fractions of a per cent that gets you over the line. It is having these facilities and services that attract players into county set-ups. That’s where Croke Park has to step in to help the likes of Sligo; the county board need help to keep the game going.
“It’s only when you go into management that you realise the size of the problem. People don’t see that and I don’t think they want to see that in Croke Park either.”
After three years at the helm of the 2007 Connacht champions, Carew looks likely to be handed a fourth season in charge, but it is also possible that his head could be turned by vacant positions in Westmeath and Wicklow, closer to his Kildare base.
This summer, defeat to Mayo ended their provincial championship hopes, while a loss to Meath in Navan saw Sligo exit the qualifiers. But with the backing of the Sligo players he is likely to be reinstated.
“There was no point in me looking to go another year if the players weren’t happy and they have told men they are,” said Carew.
“We’ll have to see how it goes when I speak with the county board. There is nothing decided as of yet.”
