OPINION: Oscar Traynor Cup stand-off is a lose-lose situation

An unlikely stand-off has developed between Ballyheane FC and the Mayo League, over the scheduling of a crucial fixture for a Thursday night, with the club now withdrawing its players from the Mayo Oscar Traynor side in protest. 

Castlebar Celtic were scheduled to play Ballyheane on Sunday, February 16 – the opening day of the Super League season, but both clubs were involved in the FAI Junior Cup on that day, a competition which took preference, so the domestic fixture was postponed.

The game was re-fixed by the Mayo League for Thursday, March 6 under the lights of Celtic Park. Ballyheane asked the Mayo League for this game to be fixed for a Friday, or later in the year, when they would have their full squad available. The Mayo League insisted the fixture would have to be played on March 6. The game went ahead and Celtic won 3-0. 

Now, Ballyheane FC has directed its players not to play for the Mayo League’s Oscar Traynor Cup side, as a response.  

Neither Ballyheane FC nor the Mayo League were prepared to make a statement on this issue, and The Mayo News chose not to contact the players involved for reasons that will be set out below. Ballyheane FC sources indicated that a statement might be issued when the Oscar Traynor campaign is over. It is unlikely the Mayo League will make any statement on the issue as it doesn’t normally comment on individual games. 

In the process of trying to unpick this unfortunate and unnecessary tangle, a number of issues arise. 

First is the question: Are all teams treated equally by the Mayo League?  

In my opinion,  the answer is that they clearly are not. 

But it is not as simple as that. For example, some clubs have floodlit pitches and some don’t. It is not a requirement that clubs have floodlights. The Celtic/Ballyheane game could only go ahead on a Thursday night in March, because Celtic Park has floodlights. If that was a home game for a club without a floodlight facility, it could not have been played on that date. That is clearly an inequality. That inequality could work against the club with a floodlit pitch, just as easily as it could in their favour. Irrespective of that, only some clubs can host floodlit matches, and by taking advantage of that, the Mayo League is not treating all clubs equally. 

The second question is: Why play midweek matches during the college season? While it is nice to see the league table showing all teams having played the same amount of matches at any one time, is there any other reason to add more fixtures to the winter part of the season? Could this game not have been played when the evenings are long and the pitches in better condition?  

If you look at the Mayo League Fixtures Diary for the 2025 season, which was issued to the media on November 7, 2024, the first mention of potential Thursday fixtures for the Super League, is Thursday April 3 when the time has changed, and there is an extra hour of daylight in the evenings. So, where did this March schedule come from? 

Midweek matches make it difficult for teams, due to player availability. From mid-May to mid-September, students are not in college and the reason for any absences in that period, shifts to choice. Teams should not be forced to fulfil fixtures when their players are obviously not going to be available due to college commitments. 

Should the Mayo League have acceded to Ballyheane’s request? Simply: No. It couldn’t. Because to do so, would set a precedent that clubs could request fixture changes when it didn’t suit them to play, and it would lead to chaos. But… And there’s always a but. The game shouldn’t have been fixed for that date in the first place. 

Then there’s the point around the Oscar Traynor team training on Thursday nights. Did the Mayo League consider this when they issued fixtures for that day?

Sometimes, it looks like Mayo League decisions and policy in general, favour expediency and administration over football. The rush to get outstanding fixtures played so that the table looks even, is short-sighted. The priority should be about the game not about admin. 

The final point in all this, is the reaction of Ballyheane FC to the Thursday fixture being forced on them. Their decision to withdraw their players from the Oscar Traynor Cup squad, in protest, is totally wrong in the view of this scribe. Granted, the club wanted to register a protest and make its point. But to deny players the opportunity to represent their county is hardly the way to do it. 

This is not about the players, which is why they were not contacted for this article. And Ballyheane FC should not make it about its players either. The club should find a more creative strategy to register its protest, which is well founded. This is not the way to do it. This is a lose-lose situation and could have longer-term consequences for the club. Will players who are denied the opportunity to play for their county, as a result of an issue that is not of their making, want to play for a club that denies them that opportunity?

Ballyheane FC should lift the ‘withdrawal’ notice immediately, irrespective of it looking like a ‘climb-down’ or a ‘capitulation’ or whatever word you want to put on it. This is not the way to do it. Equally, the Mayo League should act more sensibly with its fixtures scheduling and promote football over administration in these issues, in the way it does in so many other areas. The lads should get back to the fold at the next available Mayo training session, with the whole sorry affair put to bed and never mentioned again.

Football, like all sports, should be all about participation in the game.