Kilkenny, who have won just two games in the last five seasons, have decided to opt out of the National Football League which starts at the end of the month.

Kilkenny County Board chairman Ned Quinn said: "We are simply out of our depth at the level at which we are being asked to play, and we are not able for it." Kilkenny have been trying for some time to get clearance from Croke Park to drop out, but the powerful Management Committee has blocked the move. However, they received support from the Leinster Council during the last few days and they are definitely pulling out.

"We are not doing any service to the game in the county, or anywhere else by carrying on the way things are," Quinn added.

Kilkenny would have been playing in Division Two with Westmeath, Antrim, Louth, Offaly, Leitrim, Wicklow and London in the coming league. And a little over two weeks short of the start of the competition, they find themselves without any players or a manager.

Former manager Peter Dukelow said: "The players kept being knocked down, but they always got up and carried on. Now they have had enough. We were like boxers being asked to fight above our weight. We weren't able for it." Dukelow said that when the GAA restructured the league in recent years they made a hard job even more difficult for weak counties. Kilkenny found themselves grouped with teams like Kerry, Galway and Mayo in recent years and on two occasions they were hammered to the tune of 28 points.

When scoring averages were introduced as a means of deciding places in the knockout stages, Kilkenny found teams going all out to run up big scores against them and they were virtually helpless to do much about stemming the tide.

"It was always a struggle, but after the restructuring of the league, we had no hope," said Dukelaw. Kilkenny will take a break for at least a year, but they will continue to field teams in the Leinster minor, under-21 and junior championships.

Meanwhile, suspensions ranging from one month to 13 months and heavy fines have been imposed by the Waterford County Board following an investigation into the ugly scenes that marred the closing stages of the county hurling final on September 19th in Walsh Park.

Both Ballygunner and Mount Sion have been fined £1,500 each while Mount Sion's Roy McGrath has been suspended for 13 months, one month for having been sent off for an off-the-ball incident during the second half and a further 12 months for coming back onto the field of play during the melee which occurred deep into injury time. McGrath's younger brother, Eoin, and Ballygunner's Paul Power have each received a one-month suspensions, having been sent off during the melee. Power will be available to assist Ballygunner in next Sunday's Munster club championship game against Kerry champions Lixnaw in Tralee.

The Connacht Council last night approved the motion put forward by the games committee to introduce a back-door system to the provincial championship. The proposal, voted upon by two delegates from each of the counties involved, was approved by 11 votes to 4.

The new system means an extra three games in the Connacht championship and offers a reprieve to teams beaten in the first round. New York were not represented at last night's meeting but are understood to support the initiative, which will be in operation for next summer's championship.