2022 in review: Football continuing to evolve

At the end of many football seasons there is far too much talk about all the areas of football that need change. Thankfully the 2022 season has been filled with excitement and many talking points.

Real contenders

During Dublin's domination in recent years, we were starved of real contenders for Sam Maguire. Things became too predictable. Now in each province we have real contenders for All-Ireland success. Armagh, Derry and Galway’s progress this year was a breath of fresh air. The growth in contenders is likely to drive football standards to even higher levels. For the neutral supporters exciting times are ahead.

Tailteann Cup

All the concerns about a repeat of the shortcomings of the Tommy Murphy Cup seem to have been batted away. Strong squads, competitive games, reasonable crowds, good media coverage means the Tailteann Cup has had a positive start.

It is hard to quantify the positive effects of the videos that were shared of the celebrations in Mullingar after Westmeath's success. I am sure players from other counties in Allianz League Division 3 and 4 took note.

More teams training together for longer and playing more games can only be positive.

Bring back the maor foirne

All successful teams have outstanding on field communication amongst the players. The link between the players and coaches is also vital. During Covid times the movement of a maor fóirne onto the field was stopped. With the game divided into quarters with water breaks coaches and managers had a window to refocus players/teams as needed.

There needs to be a facility for a maor fóirne or runner to enter the field and communicate with players. Rugby teams are allowed have water carriers, who are usually coaches enter the field and pass instructions to