'Croke Park has stood idly by': Ephie Fitzgerald has his say on 'ridiculous' Munster seedings

The Déise boss said the seeded format, proposed by Munster management and narrowly voted through by provincial council, is financially motivated and serves no football benefit.

“I actually can’t believe this has happened. It is ridiculous. The only benefit I see to this is a financial one from having a Cork-Kerry Munster final and getting bigger crowds than you’ve had the last few years,” Fitzgerald told the Irish Examiner.

“They’re seeding Cork, but sure Cork haven’t won a Munster title since 2012. It has been exclusively Kerry, bar Tipp breaking through and winning one in 2020. I would be strongly in favour of reversing this and going back to an open draw system.

“I don’t see why there should be penalisation of the so-called weaker counties. Who is it suiting and what is it suiting from a football perspective? I don’t get that. I am very surprised too that Croke Park has stood idly by and allowed this to happen.”

The Nemo Rangers clubman said the seeded format sends a clear and thoroughly insulting message to footballers from Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford that they’re an inconvenience to be removed from the Munster championship at the earliest possible opportunity.

“A preliminary round in Ulster could be Armagh versus Donegal. Fermanagh have never won an Ulster, so does that mean they should be forced to play the preliminary quarter-final every year while other traditionally stronger counties come in at a later point in the competition?

“What they are saying to players is, you are not seeded, we’ll get you out of the way at the semi-final stage, and we’ll move on from there. And never mind this argument of, ‘oh, they’ll get a hammering in the Munster final, that is no good for football’. Teams are getting hammerings all over the country.

“There are only four or five teams, realistically, that can win the All-Ireland, so one of the big draws for any inter-county footballer is the chance to reach and play in your provincial final. That’s a realistic opportunity. But that opportunity is now being denied to some of the weaker teams, which is ridiculous.

“You are always going to struggle to beat Cork or Kerry in a Munster semi-final, so if you are a player then, you are asking yourself, is this really worth my while? That’s how I’d be thinking as a player. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I do think it needs to be reversed and I’d be very strong on that.”

The 2016 All-Ireland winning Cork ladies manager previously oversaw the Déise in 2022 and '23 but chose not to take up the option of a third term ahead of last year’s campaign.

Across the two years, Waterford lost all six championship outings, and suffered similar outcomes in all bar two of 14 League fixtures. Midway through the second of those League campaigns in 2023, Fitzgerald said Waterford football had reached “crisis point”.

So, why go back to a county that has won just two championship matches over the past 14 seasons?

“There is still a drive in the panel, there is still a drive in certain quarters for Waterford to improve. And there are younger players coming through too, they had a good U20 team last year. But the difficulties remain.”

Chief among those difficulties is convincing dual operators at club level who sit on the very periphery of the Waterford senior hurling panel to commit to the football set-up.

“If somebody makes a choice to go hurling, I have no issue with that, but if you are on a panel of 40 and don’t have a hope of getting on the matchday 26, I think that needs to be looked at.”

Turning closer to home and the current state of Cork football, which was distilled into a 2,000-word report over the summer, Fitzgerald urged priority be given to schools, rather than the development squad model he is not a supporter of.

“I don’t believe they serve much purpose. The development for me has to start in schools, primary and secondary,” he insisted.

“In Kerry, the Sem, Mounthawk, Tralee CBS, and Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, they are football nurseries. The majority of Kerry players will come out of those schools. In Cork, we don’t have that. Chríost Rí are no longer in the Corn Uí Mhuirí.

“People talk about where we are going wrong in Cork. I don’t think we are going wrong, I just don’t think we are doing enough of where we should be doing it.

“You look at Ian Maguire and others who have given so much service over the years, to think they don’t have a Munster medal is frightening and frustrating. And it is not to say that you deserve one, but we should be winning one every few years anyway.

“People blame managers, but what you are getting at that stage is what has come through the system. The system needs to radically change, if we are to start making progress again.”

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