FOR the past six weeks I have been looking back on my time spent under each of my Donegal managers. With no on-field action happening right now, it’s good to get time to reflect and reminisce about days gone by.

It’s amazing how quickly time passes and it’s only when you get space to look back that you realise that your football career goes by in the blink of an eye.

While it’s great to look back, we all want to look to the future and we live in hope that there will be some sort of GAA action this year. Obviously there will be different timescales laid out north and south of the border to try and get us back to some sort of normality, and with a bit of luck we have done enough to beat this virus.

Last week the government here announced that from May 18 we could return in small groups to do some sort of physical training. After that, on July 4, we may be allowed to have games of some sort. Obviously this is a step-by-step approach but all going well we should see some sort of action before the end of the summer.

If we stick by the guidelines and if we can manage to keep the virus at bay as each sector of the economy slowly reopens, then the GAA has a massive decision to make.

Over the years we have heard that the clubs are the bedrock of the association and that clubs should come first. Well now it’s time for the GAA to put their money where their mouths is.

When you look at the timeframe it’s obvious that there is simply no time to run off both county and club football and hurling so the question is who do the GAA value the most?

Should the powers that be opt to play county football first and get that run off, then it will be a major slap in the face to every single club member throughout the land.

In the perfect world, and if we could get up and running with games in July, then perhaps we could have the county scene finished in time for the club season to start, but players are going to have to get adequate time on the pitch in order to get their bodies fit and strong enough for competitive games. Realistically it could be mid August or the end of August before any meaningful games could take place.

This is all dependent on things going as planned and hopefully we don’t see another surge. If we do, then you can say goodbye to any action in 2020.

Another major issue for Croke Park will be the lack of supporters at games as even at this stage that will definitely be ruled out. You are left with the question of would it really be worth having an All Ireland Championship behind closed doors? Personally I don’t think so and if I was still playing I wouldn’t be for it at all.

In my opinion the GAA need to make a call on this as soon as possible and lay out their own roadmap.

Players all over the country are trying their best to keep their motivation up and stay in shape. Players need to know what’s happening. Of course no one knows for certain as things might change but there should be some sort of plan laid out so everyone knows the possibilities

At this stage if it were up to me I would concede that there will be no county football played in 2020 and put this year aside for club football only. We all want to see the provincial and All-Ireland Championships take place but we also have to be realistic and fair. At this point playing out one championship is still questionable so the idea that we will get through both club and county season is crazy.

The GAA need to decide what they are going to run with and inform all of its members as soon as possible. It may even prove difficult to get club football up and running again in the near future, but at this point it looks like the best option.

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