Fermanagh CCC (Competition Control Committee) Chairman Phil Flanagan has welcomed the decision to have a split season in the GAA calendar.

The Fixtures Calendar Review Task Force’s proposal that inter-county competitions begin in late February and finish up in mid-July with the All-Ireland finals, with the club window running from July 24-25 to the end of October, received full support from delegates at Congress last weekend.

And Flanagan feels that this move will only benefit club players. “The introduction of a condensed inter-county season will benefit club players across Ireland with an enhanced window for club football and hurling being made available. This will particularly benefit those counties who reach the latter stages of the All-Ireland Championships in a given year,” he said.

Flanagan does not believe that the changes will have a big impact on internal fixtures in Fermanagh, but he feels that clubs will welcome the fact that they will have guaranteed access to all their players from the middle of July.

“These changes may not have a massive impact on the scheduling of our internal fixtures, but all clubs can now be guaranteed access to all of their players from the second half of July, at the latest, and this can only improve the standard of games within the county,” he added.

He also believes that counties should benefit from the decision, as it should cut costs.

“There will also be a benefit to counties as the costs of preparing teams should be further reduced with a shortened campaign – the sustainability of which is an area of growing concern within the GAA,” he stated.

And he says that there is now an opportunity to further promote the club game, in terms of coverage. “The moving of the All-Ireland Finals from September to August, and now to July, will impact on the promotion of our games at a national and international level at an important time in the calendar.

“But there is now an opportunity for club games to be given much more prominence on regional and national television and radio, as well as the coverage already afforded to it by local media across Ireland.

“In Fermanagh, we will make maximum use of our own ability to broadcast games on Fermanagh GAA TV, to provide the maximum possible coverage of our games,” he concluded.