Corofin’s Gary Sice isn’t convinced the GAA have found the best slot in the calendar for the All-Ireland Club championships.

In 2020, for the first time, the All-Ireland Club football and hurling semi-finals and finals will be staged in January. Traditionally the finals were on St Patrick’s Day and the semi-finals in February.

If Corofin are to get back to that stage, the reigning All-Ireland football champions face a battle. They are due to meet Tuam Stars in a replayed Galway SFC final this weekend followed by a Connacht semi-final against either Ballintubber or Glencar-Manorhamilton on Sunday week.

The calendar is congested both sides of the New Year and Sice admits it’s difficult to know when the club championships should be concluded:

“I’d play it on Christmas Day, it doesn’t matter,” the former Galway attacker told The Irish Times. “Are we helping ourselves putting the club finals back, time will tell? January/February seems to be congested with Sigerson and all going on. We’ve found that out in recent years.

“Pulling another competition back to that time of year when the senior teams are in pre-season and they are trying to get themselves organised, I don’t know.

“I don’t think there is a good time anyway for an intercounty manager to have five or six of his players gone for x amount of time. I don’t think anyone is happy with that. In January maybe when it’s pre-season, is it any more helpful? I don’t know.”

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