GAELIC football’s revolution will be televised this weekend as seven seismic rule changes are introduced.
Croke Park will showcase them with a pair of matches on Friday and Saturday evening played between inter-provincial line-ups featuring a plethora of All-Stars.
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Tonight’s games will be carried live on TG4, with RTÉ set to broadcast tomorrow’s action.
Should they be warmly received by the masses they will go before a GAA Special Congress on November 30 — where delegates will vote on what comes into play for 2025.
The changes are the brainchild of the star-studded Football Review Committee which is chaired by legendary former Dublin manager Jim Gavin.
Every testimony from figures involved in the project to revive Gaelic football as a spectacle has reported that Gavin’s put in trojan work in order to devise improvements grounded in intense research.
It’s hard to know where the 53-year-old finds the time when you consider his commitments outside of GAA.
Here, SunSport takes a look at Gavin’s life away from the sidelines:
What is Jim Gavin’s job?
The Clondalkin man works as Chief Operations Officer of the Irish Aviation Authority.
He’d previously spent 20 years in Irish Defence Forces where he was a military pilot.
According to his LinkedIn page, he rose to the senior rank there of Commandant/Major.
In 2022 he appeared on The Late Late Show where he reflected on how he gained core principles from his parents and time with the army that became mainstays of his approach to GAA management.
Who is his wife and how many children do they have?
He and spouse Jennifer have two children – son Jude and daughter Yasmin.
When he stepped down as Dublin supremo after completing the historic five-in-a-row Jim cited wanting to devote more time to his family as being a primary reason behind his decision.
He stated: “After every campaign, after every championship run, you have to reflect upon the season that is gone.
“I took that time to deliberate on what is best for my family, my work and obviously the football team as well.
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“The conclusion I came up with at the end was that what was best to allow the team the space to grow again was for me to simply hand the reins on.”
Non-GAA honours
As if his professional and sporting life isn’t impressive enough, he’s also attained some remarkable honours across wider society.
In 2020 he was granted the Freedom of Dublin City.
Upon it being bestowed upon him his speech epitomised the team-first mantra that was a hallmark of his all-conquering Dublin side.
He insisted: “I am constantly aware that this isn’t really for me, it’s for the team that I represented, the Dublin Senior Football team, and particularly the players.
“They did all the hard work on the field of play.
“It was my good fortune in my football journey to come across their path, and to meet those great men who proudly, and still do, wear the Dublin jersey.
“When I was on the sideline, as a coach, as a manager, or as a player, it was always a privilege to wear that Dublin crest.
“I’m really honoured to represent them tonight. This award, really, is for them.”
On that point, it’s often noted by many of his ex-players that he rarely even touched the Sam Maguire Cup as he preferred to let them be front and centre in each year’s celebrations.
In addition to that he was granted Honourary Life Membership of the Royal Dublin Society that same year.
The 2019 RTE Sport Manager of the Year regularly carries out ambassadorial work for charities such as Bothar and TOUCH Ireland too.
