Motion to discontinue penalty shootouts in GAA passes with ease at Tipp GAA Convention

Toomevara GAA’s motion to discontinue the use of penalties to decide club and county games carried with minimal fuss at last Saturday night’s County  Convention meeting.

The motion reads as follows, “That the GAA should discontinue the rule that presently exists whereby the result is decided in a penalty shootout if both teams are on level terms after extra time has been played. Relevant rules to be amended as required.

Speaking on behalf of the motion, Toomevara GAA Secretary Patsy Hanley highlighted that penalties were an “unfair” way to decide games and stated that it would be fairer and more in the spirit of fairness for the game to be decided by “the scoring of points or goals.”

“The decision to have games finish on the day with penalties is not liked by many of our supporters,” Hanley said.

He continued, “The effort put in by players over 70 minutes and the subsequent 20 minutes of extra time is so powerful that to add the stress of penalties is unnecessary.”

He went on to suggest that if penalties were in place in 1987, Tipperary may not have defeated Cork after a replay and ended “the Famine” and he also referenced the great Meath and Dublin rivalry of the early 1990s which was one of the most exciting match-ups in GAA history.

In response to the motion, the outgoing Chairman Joe Kennedy stressed that while penalties were not perfect, they help to finish games on the day and alleviate stress on fixture makers, which is especially important now given the way the split season is condensing championships.

“I’m not sure the CCC would agree with you!” Kennedy remarked in jest.

The motion will now go to GAA Congress in 2025 where county delegates will vote for its ratification or exclusion.