Schedule row might get 'rise' from Donegal players

BBC News

24-06-2025

Chrissy McKaigue says he does not think it is fair for Donegal to have a six-day turnaround for this weekend's All-Ireland quarter-final, but believes the row may ultimately extract the required performance from Jim McGuinness' players.In a statement on Monday, Donegal said the "welfare of our players was not adequately considered" after their request for a Sunday fixture was turned down. The Ulster champions beat Louth in the preliminary quarter-finals last Sunday and will face Monaghan at Croke Park on Saturday (16:00 BST) for a place in the last four. Galway, who also won a preliminary quarter-final on Sunday, have been given an extra day to prepare for their last-eight encounter with Meath, which throws in at 13:45 this Sunday. Donegal had to play four games to retain their Ulster title before playing three All-Ireland group games. Having failed to top their group, they needed to beat Louth in a preliminary quarter-final to reach the last eight proper. The Monaghan quarter-final will be Jim McGuinness' side's ninth game in a 12-week window, but McKaigue - a two-time Ulster Championship winner with Derry - said it points to a wider structural problem with the GAA calendar."I can be accused of being biased in Ulster because I'm living in Ulster, but there's no other provincial championship that's as competitive as Ulster," said McKaigue. "Most of Ulster teams in the year past were in Division One or Two, so theoretically the ability and level they're playing at is much higher. "There's much of the structuring of the way things run that are unfair. For Donegal to have to go through a preliminary round in Ulster and where they're at now, I don't think it's fair but it's symptomatic of the way the GAA has been run for years."
McGuinness was previously unhappy that Donegal were ordered to travel to Roscommon for their neutral ground group game against Mayo. And while McKaigue has "no doubt" McGuinness is "garnering a siege mentality", the former All-Star defender says it is difficult to argue with the county's stance. "No team in the championship has played more games than Donegal. Whether people like to hear it or not, they had a considerably further distance to travel against Mayo than Mayo did," added McKaigue. "I suppose if you can't look after your own county and your own team, Jim McGuinness is thinking 'what's the point?'. "He does reinforce this message quite a bit, that he feels Donegal don't get their respect or the resources that other counties might get at times. He's quite intelligent in how he plays that card but on this occasion you'd have to say his arguments are based on logic. "But there's an element that he wants a response from Donegal in the quarter-final and he knows that may be the best way to get the support of the people in Donegal and a rise from the players."