GPA timeline
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1982 -- A players' representative body under the orchestration of Clare hurler Johnny Callanan gets up and running but only lasts a few seasons before fizzling out.
1995 -- Pro Active, a sports agency with Kevin Moran as one of its directors, tests the waters with a presentation in Dublin that attracts GAA stars like Dublin's Jason Sherlock and Kilkenny's D J Carey.
1997 -- An amateur status committee report recommends that rulebook restrictions on promotional work by GAA players be relaxed.
1999 -- The Gaelic Players Association is formed after a meeting in Belfast.
2000 -- The GAA announce relaxation of rules governing what players can earn from endorsements but stipulate that 50pc must go to a team fund. Murray Consultants are appointed GAA agents and 10 blue-chip sponsors agree to make €250,000 available for endorsement work. In August, a number of players ignored the guidelines to take part in promotional work for recruitment company, Marlborough. No suspensions follow and the association's guidelines are effectively rendered pointless.
2002 -- The GPA appoints former chairman Dessie Farrell as its first full-time CEO. Donal O'Neill becomes commercial director and Carphone Warehouse are sponsors. Cork hurlers go on strike over welfare demands and succeed in almost every point.
2003 -- Sean Kelly takes over as GAA president and sets about creating greater harmony with the GPA. Inter-county players are balloted on who should replace Jarlath Burns as their Central Council rep and Farrell wins uncontested.
2004 -- The GPA make first moves on exchequer-funded welfare grants.
2006 -- Strike action is threatened just before Nickey Brennan takes over as president because of perceived lack of interest on the grants issue.
2007 -- Paraic Duffy is appointed the first full-time player-welfare officer in Croke Park. GPA members vote to go on strike as the grants issue lingers on into the winter. Agreement is finally reached in December but there is opposition among grassroots, notably from the 'OfOneBelief' group.
2009 -- Nickey Brennan spends the final months of his presidency trying to reach agreement for formal recognition and issues a paper to the GPA in February for consideration. The GPA demands a 5pc take in revenues and, in early July, withdraws members from conducting interviews with broadcasting partners.
