Monaghan's Ryan Wylie doesn't want matches to resume until it's entirely safe to do so and he believes games behind closed doors wouldn't be the same.
All GAA activity is in currently in shutdown with games unlikely to resume before July and there's real doubt over whether this year's All-Ireland Championships will go ahead.
Further doubt was cast on the potential for inter-county this summer when Sport Ireland chief John Treacy expressed his belief yesterday that it will likely be some time before restrictions are lifted on contact sports.
GAA President John Horan says the possibility of matches taking place behind closed doors would only be considered later in the year and Wylie has told Off The Ball that it wouldn't be the same playing without fans in grounds:
"If games are behind closed doors then there's a reason why people aren't being allowed in. The whole atmosphere, whether you win or lose game probably wouldn't have the same feeling without supporters.
"That's what Championship football is all about, walking out onto the field and seeing the colours and those rivalries. Half the craic is in the stands so I'd like to think it would be the last chance saloon for matches to be behind closed doors. It probably feel more like a challenge match to be honest, there'd be no point really having the games in big stadiums. And if it wasn't safe I wouldn't want to go ahead with it."
Former GAA head Sean Kelly has urged the Association not to make a decision yet on whether the Championship will proceed and Ballybay Pearse Brothers clubman Wylie remains hopeful that some form of competition could still happen:
"I'm a bit of an optimist and you'd like to think that there will be something, maybe they could look at playing club football, I've heard that touted but it has to be safe to play.
"There's 15 against 15 on a field and tight dressing rooms and also physiotherapists, doctors and management teams. They all have to go back to families and friends, so if it's not safe then we can't go ahead just for the sake of football.
"Obviously it would be great to get back and it would give people a bit of a boost but the safety of everyone has to come first so I don't think there's any point in rushing things. It would nice as players to have a date to work towards, at the minute it's just a case of waiting to see but it's unlikely there will be anything before September.
"People have been crying out for years for an open Championship so maybe this is the perfect year for it to happen. To streamline things they could even go back to old school straight knockout provincials and the four winners go directly to All-Ireland semi-finals.
"It's potentially a logistical nightmare for Croke Park to work out but there are some options available if restrictions are lifted. Knockout football would bring great excitement and hopefully in a few months it would be possible for fans to go to matches.
"Teams would also need time to prepare, even if it was club level which was to resume. It's very different running a 5km compared to running after somebody in a game situation!"
Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile
The 26-year-old is a radiographer at Dublin's Mater Hospital and was speaking on Saturday's Off The Ball as part of our Formal Friday appeal to raise funds for frontline workers.
Newstalk, Today FM, Spin, Spin SW and Off The Ball listeners helped to raise over 150,000 Euro yesterday and you can still donate here.
"It's been strange and weird to be honest," the defender said of his work in the hospital in recent weeks. "There's new changes around the hospital, wards have been changed into COVID wards and there was a lot to take in. You might be working a night shift and then out for a day and when you return there's been changes. I feel communication has been good within the hospital and everyone has been clear about what's going.
"It's been new circumstances for everyone and I feel we've grasped things alright, especially in our own department I feel we really got a handle on things and the whole hospital seems very calm at the minute which has been a result of good management.
"We've changed to shifts since the COVID-19 lockdown and there's more social distancing among colleagues at work so we're not together as much as before. It's something we have to do to just through this patch and I'd imagine management will review things in a few weeks and see if we'll continue with this practice or make a change. But we're all happy to do whatever needs to be done.
"The mood around the place has been good and it's a team effort in a hospital, from the security guards at the door to the cleaners and those working in the shops, and the physio staff, there's so many people that help make the place tick. Everybody's been putting their shoulder to the wheel and that's what you have to do when there's a major pandemic going on and are working extra hard. It's nice too to just chat to people and try to just discuss something different than the situation and get our minds off things.
"When we're doing x-rays patients can be now be in isolated rooms to good to just ask them how they're getting because it can be lonely now when they don't have visitors coming in to them so it's nice to be able to get back to basics and just be a human with people.
"There's been fewer trauma patients coming in but as Dr Tony Holohan said at a briefing, it's important to stress that there's more illnesses than COVID-19 and if there is something wrong with you, it's okay to seek medical advice. You won't be turned away if it's not a case of COVID-19 and don't put things on the long finger if you need treatment."
Let’s keep supporting our frontline heroes while they continue to support us.
We dressed up to the nines and donated in our droves to the frontline, and it doesn’t stop here!
Thank you so much for getting behind #FormalFriday pic.twitter.com/Y8JGCTm3TD
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) April 25, 2020
