Indo GAA · Irish Independent

Why do Donegal get more All-Star nominations than Kerry? | The amazing club players who fly home | Pat Spillane

·41 min·3 clips

Pat Spillane argues the GAA's All-Ireland final presentation is 'crap' compared to American showmanship.

Pat Spillane joins host Niall McIntyre to reflect on his sporting memories and analyze current Gaelic football topics. Spillane, a Kerry football legend with nine All-Star awards, discusses the NFL event at Croke Park, the Kerry club championship structure, and the recent All-Star nominations. He argues the GAA should learn from the NFL's spectacle to enhance All-Ireland final week with city-wide celebrations and street entertainment. Spillane recalls the 1975 All-Ireland final where he captained Kerry to victory, noting its significance in reviving national interest in Gaelic football during the 1970s. He describes the current Kerry county championship as a complex system involving nine clubs and seven divisional teams, which aims to give players from small clubs a platform. A specific problem he identifies is the imbalance when a "juggernaut" divisional team like East Kerry, potentially featuring David Clifford, faces a tiny club like Templenow with limited players. Spillane links the struggles of rural clubs like Templenow directly to rural depopulation, calling the GAA club the "canary in the coal mine" for dying communities. He shares remarkable stories of club players flying internationally for matches, including a player from Dubai and Mikey Gordon flying from Australia to play a relegation match for Sligo's Easkey. The conversation turns to the All-Star nominations, where Donegal received 10 nominations to Kerry's nine despite Kerry winning the All-Ireland. Spillane calls this discrepancy "bonkers," citing Kerry's double win and their 10-point victory over Donegal in the final as hard evidence. He believes selectors were overly influenced by pundits who backed Donegal to win the All-Ireland before the final. Spillane names three Kerry players he feels were unlucky to miss nominations: Paul Murphy, Dylan Casey, and Graham O'Sullivan, whose positional switch he views as a tactical masterstroke. He predicts the final All-Star team will primarily feature players from the two finalists, with one each from the semi-finalists and Oisín Conaty from the quarter-finalists. The tone is conversational and opinionated, blending personal anecdote with direct critique of GAA administration. Listeners interested in insider analysis of Gaelic football, club culture, and Kerry football will find this engaging. Those seeking a strictly news-focused or neutral podcast might find the strong personal opinions less appealing.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Indo GAA