GAA players have controversial take on manager pay and drugs in the sport in major survey

Three-quarters of male GAA players believe inter-county managers should receive payment over and above expenses, a new report has found.

The GAA are reportedly discussing a major change to the amateur nature of the sport.

Currently, coaches and players are not paid in the GAA, and are instead volunteers, but the Irish Independent reported in August that paying inter-county GAA managers a salary is now a discussion point.

But key findings from the GPA’s annual membership survey revealed that 75% of male players think managers should be paid in some form; 41% believe by a fixed stipend, and 34% believe by a full annual salary.

In total, 3,676 players responded, including 2,320 male and 1,356 female players.

Other findings include

• 92% believe the inter-county season should run for a maximum of seven months from the first collective training session
• 87% of players believe there needs to be a mandated off-season for all inter-county players
• 92% of male players believe that male and female players should be receiving the same travel expense rate from the three national governing bodies.

Earlier this year, Pat Spillane disclosed the amount he understood some GAA managers are being paid.

Writing in the Sunday World, the Kerry legend turned pundit said: “There’s 29 inter-county managers that have been appointed in Ireland at the moment and my rough calculation is that approximately 10 are being paid.

“Do you want to know what’s the going rate at the moment?

“From my sources, I’m reliably informed the highest paid inter-county manager in this country is on €120,000. He manages one of the top teams in this country.

“But the gas part about it is that the second-highest paid manager in this country, at over €100,000, doesn’t manage a team in the top two divisions. Fair play, nice money if you can get it.”

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In December, Jim Gavin poured cold water on the idea, saying: “I’d find it very difficult to stand in front of any team if they weren’t being paid too.”

GAA chairman Jarlath Burns, who launched the survey, recently said: “I know of no one in the GAA who feels that our amateur status is something to be abolished.

“Yet within that, we have a situation where the preparation of inter-county teams is costing more than €40m [annually] and placing unsustainable burdens on our volunteer-led county boards, and the time demands on players are also at an all-time high.”

Respondents were also asked about the use of drugs in GAA, with 19 per cent of players “believe drug use is an issue among inter-county players”.

Twenty per cent of male players said they were aware of a teammate who has struggled because of drug misuse, compared to 4% of female players.

In 2024, Clare referee Pat Byrne-O’Connell said the cocaine issue in GAA is rife, and that players turn to the recreational drug because they are told not to drink.

He told Lunchtime Live in February 2024: “[It’s] massive. Out of control – and it’s in every club in every county in every corner of Ireland.

“Anyone that thinks it’s not is totally lost and blind. It’s out of control and it’s the GAA’s own fault; they’ve created this monster by introducing what’s called the alcohol ban.

“All these coaches coming in who know little or nothing about the social life of young people banning alcohol.

“So the lads are coming to the pub, sitting at the bar counter with their 0.0 alcohol bottle perched in front of them off their face on cocaine.

“That’s what they’re doing because you can’t be seen to be drinking in the GAA anymore”.