THE West Cork League has emerged from one of its busiest weeks off the pitch with plenty to consider. After conducting a region-wide club survey and holding an EGM, a subsequent FAI statement has left the WCL and leagues across the country deciding what calendar best suits their set-ups.

‘We were very surprised actually, as the 60 percent to 40 percent vote on sticking with our traditional August to May season was tighter than what we thought it would be,’ said John Buckley, who holds a number of roles, including WCL Secretary/Registrar.‘

A few people spoke up and were for it, maybe not everyone, but the vote was a lot tighter than we thought.

‘At the EGM, the FAI had made the decision to go with calendar football in 2028 but gave us the option to wait until then and do whatever the clubs voted on. We were sticking with our traditional dates for 2026/27 on that understanding.’

But 24 hours later, a new FAI statement backtracked on that 2028 demand and left it up to leagues to once again decide their own calendars.

‘We were willing to try it a year earlier in 2027 so that we’d have a year done before we’d have to go ahead with a new February to November season,’ Buckley reasoned.

‘The evening of the EGM, we still were not sure whether the FAI would actually go through with implementing this rule.

‘That’s what happened only a day later when the FAI issued their statement.

‘Look, from our survey’s results, there are a lot of West Cork League clubs still in favour of moving to calendar football. They are in favour of it because of reasons like better pitches and the opportunity to play fixtures seven nights a week.

‘My gut feeling is that, at the time, the 60 percent to 40 percent vote, a lot of it was down to clubs deciding they would wait and see what the outcome would be, if we definitely had to move in 2028 or not.

‘As it turns out now, following the FAI’s statement, there is no longer an immediate demand on the West Cork League to move from our August to May season.’

Aside from the calendar season debate and subsequent FAI statement, Buckley and his fellow committee members received interesting feedback from their wide-ranging survey.

‘We sent the survey out to all the clubs that had U18, masters, women’s and junior men’s teams,’ Buckley explained.

‘The replies gave us insight into what we as a committee can do better.

‘Improvements, changes and suggestions were made if we moved to calendar soccer or things that we might try differently if we stayed with the winter season.

‘We asked about referees and also asked about pitches. Astro was a big topic as well in Drinagh and also in Macroom, if we were to consider Macroom as a possible additional venue.’

Some of the most interesting aspects of the survey results included how West Cork League clubs were finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new volunteers and the lack of clubs in certain rural areas.

‘Volunteers and limiting numbers of players on teams were two of the biggest things to come out of the survey,’ Buckley added.

‘Lack of volunteers is a big issue for our clubs. What we have found is that a lot of the time people won’t put themselves forward to manage a team or to get involved without proper coaching education.

‘There would be a lot more clubs out there if we had more volunteers.

‘That’s the thing we’re going to try and tackle. If we train our coaches better, maybe more people would be willing to get involved.

‘Also, we’re seeing pockets of areas in West Cork where there are no longer any teams. One club, Beara United, for example, might have a lot of registered players and could possibly field two teams rather than just one.

‘The same is true of Bantry. It is a huge area where there were two clubs in the past, Bay Rovers and Durrus, but only one now (Bay) exists.

‘The likes of Mizen and Ballydehob no longer have clubs. So, Bunratty United is the only club servicing that area right now. There is definitely scope for fielding more clubs in those areas again.

‘So, based on the survey results, what we might try to do is maybe limit the number of registered players per team in the hope that it will help grow more clubs in those areas.’