Kildare manager Mick O'Dwyer has called upon the GAA executives to accept the validity of the Gaelic Players' Association (GPA) and to abandon "the old bloody nonsense of burying their heads in the sand".

In a forthright interview broadcast by Radio Kerry on St Stephen's night, O'Dwyer also said managers should be paid and players should get an increased mileage allowance. He strongly criticised some of the decisions made in rebuilding Croke Park, saying that the GAA must have got "their plans out in California".

In endorsing the claims of the controversial players' group, he declared that its emergence was both inevitable and necessary.

"I was delighted when the GPA was founded to tell you the truth because it put some pressure on Croke Park," he told former Kerry player Weeshie Fogarty on his evening interview show Terrace Talk.

"No sooner had it started than they began to do something which was more than a coincidence, I think. What I'd like to see happen now is the whole thing coming together, that's what's needed."

Long an advocate of better conditions for players, O'Dwyer expressed the view that traditionally, the welfare of the athletes has been low on the list of the organisation's priorities.

"While the players' lot has been improved, they are still the poor relations he told former Kerry player Weeshie Fogarty on his evening interview show Terrace Talk.

"For example, we played five championship games in Croke Park and all that the Kildare players got after the Galway game was a ticket to go up to one of the executive suites where they got a drink and a few sandwiches and sausages. It is time for players to be invited for a meal in one of the boxes where they can relax and mingle after a game," he said.

Noting that while mileage expenses had increased from 10 pence to 30 pence, an elevation to 50 pence per mile would offer more reasonable recompense. He also stressed that, contrary to popular speculation, he receives nothing more than travelling expenses for his services to Kildare.

"A lot of people seem to think I am getting thousands of pounds for my involvement with Kildare, but I get no more than the travelling expenses. I have set up a number of businesses in Kildare and that has helped, I suppose I have a stake in Kildare now. But I think that travelling expenses should certainly be paid to managers and I have no doubt that in the not too distant future, they will have to pay managers also. Managers are being treated with contempt, but I think that the day is coming when that will change."

O'Dwyer was particularly scathing about the redistribution of money within the GAA. Pointing out that Kildare's championship run had generated "in the region of £3 million", he criticised the fact none of that filtered back to the county board for investment at the playing level.

O'Dwyer believes that the grassroots needs and the importance of constant investment in the promotion of the game have been eclipsed by the current fixation with stadiums.

"I think that there is too much money being put into bricks and mortar. I think we have enough put into that now, though to be fair we needed Croke Park," he declared in relation to the ambitious Croke Park development.

But he thinks the new stadium is deeply flawed. "They must have got the plans out in California. I mean, the climate in Ireland is one of plenty wind and rain and if you go and sit at front of the new stand where the Cusack once was, you will get drenched. I have seen people running to get from the front to the back. If you were to design a house in a similar fashion, where the wind blew into your sitting-room while you watched Coronation Street, you would nearly be certified."

The pitch dimensions are also unsatisfactory. "If you look behind the goals at the moment, goalkeepers have very little room to go back and kick out the ball, just ask either Declan O'Keeffe or Martin McNamara. I think the situation is crazy as the whole system is governed towards trying to get people into the stadium while forgetting about the players and the game."

Predicting widespread change the organisation in the years ahead, O'Dwyer said, however, Croke Park would never seek his advice on pertinent issues.

"Croke Park have never consulted me about anything," he told listeners. "They would be afraid because they consider me a bit of a radical."

O'Dwyer would like to see a closed season as he feels that the length of the season is contributing to the number of players out with injury.

"I am not too sure whether injuries today are all for real or some might be in players' heads. I believe the reason we have so many injuries in modern-day football is that players are playing from January to December. That's a major problem and I don't know of any other organisation in the world that does that."

He also hit back at media criticism of Kildare's tactics: "I feel we do get some stick and for example Pat Spillane gave Brian Murphy and my son Karl some heavy treatment at half-time this year in the Leinster final and they came out and starred in the second half. But Pat is one of the greatest footballers of all time and is entitled to his opinion. I have no problem with Pat and we are good friends," said O'Dwyer.

Main criticisms

Managers should be paid.

Better mileage for players.

Recognition for the GPA.

Introduce a closed season.

Inadequate cover in New Stand in Croke Park