Paul Galvin believes that Gaelic football's pre-season tournaments should be scrapped and that the Sigerson Cup should be allowed to shine in their absence.
"I actually lost the final of a Sigerson as captain one year and I'll tell you, it still rankles with me. If I could find a way even still today, I'd try and win one," Galvin told Tomás Ó Sé's 'Comhrá Le Tomás' podcast.
Galvin was appointed as Wexford football manager last year, his first inter-county job. Wexford played three games in this season's O'Byrne Cup. The four-time Kerry All-Ireland winner would have preferred if it had been none.
"I feel very strongly about it," continued Galvin.
"Sigerson's a much more important competition than any of the pre-season [ones].
"We had an O'Byrne Cup last winter that I didn't even want to compete in. I had watched a lot of Wexford and looked at what they were like physically. They had been out of the championship early for a number of years and there was an O'Byrne Cup, League, end of story mentality. Championship wasn't a big thing.
"I didn't want to compete in the O'Byrne Cup. Funny enough, and I said this to some people, I said there will be no O'Byrne Cup next year and there will be no O'Byrne Cup next year, as it turns out.
"It's not a competition I believe in; I truly believe in the Sigerson. I think the pre-season tournaments should go by the wayside and Sigerson should take precedence. Let inter-county managers use Sigerson as the pre-season.
"The other reason I like Sigerson and club football is because I love going to the games. That's where you find your players. There's a lot more value for me going to a club game or a Sigerson game because you'll get eyes on a fella you're looking for but then you might find a fella you didn't know was there."
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