Railway Cup on All-Ireland bill ??

Rossfan · October 22, 2012, 09:20:27 PM

It's being kept on life support for another year.
Being played 16/17 Feb and 23/24 Feb 2013. Better apply for a ticket now before it's too late.

yellowcard · October 22, 2012, 09:24:15 PM

This is flogging a dead horse. There is little or no interest in the competition. The only people interested in it are the players themselves. SCRAP IT!

ross4life · October 22, 2012, 10:42:23 PM

As soon as the NFL fixtures came out you knew the Railway was going ahead again next year. First game the 9th/10th of Feb 2nd game 3rd/4th of March.

AZOffaly · October 23, 2012, 05:10:30 PM

Quote from: yellowcard on October 22, 2012, 09:24:15 PM
This is flogging a dead horse. There is little or no interest in the competition. The only people interested in it are the players themselves. SCRAP IT!

Is that not a good enough reason to play it? If the players see it as an honour to be picked, then I would think it is still viable.

Replacing the minor with it would be a disaster though. However, I do like the idea of maybe playing the football final on the Saturday evening before the AI Final, and the Hurling before the hurling final.

Obviously not ideal, as the All Ireland Finalists would be missing, but at least you'd have a good chance of a crowd going along.

Farneylawd2011 · October 23, 2012, 05:33:38 PM

Quote from: ross4life on October 22, 2012, 10:42:23 PM
As soon as the NFL fixtures came out you knew the Railway was going ahead again next year. First game the 9th/10th of Feb 2nd game 3rd/4th of March.

Are these the dates that have been confirmed for the Inter Provincal Championships.??
Great to the see the competition going ahead as i really enjoy going to these games.
However i believe that they should be played at the end of the year not ater the NFL.
What should happen is when the games are played the winners from Championship of the games should play the winners of the All Ireland winners like what Donegal and Ulster are doing on the 3rd November for the Match For Michaela.
e.g Muster v Killkenny in the hurling or Ulster v Donegal. I think these kinda games would draw big crowds and get the series back up and running..

blanketattack · October 23, 2012, 06:01:28 PM

I reckon after the provincial c'ships have finished, set aside a weekend during the Summer for it and pick the railway cup teams based on the performances of the players in the provincial championships. Supporters can vote for the players by sending in a postcard with a player's name on it or if they're very fancy, send an email, a text or use the super-highway on those e-pads. It would be similar to the baseball All-Star game in the US. Make it real fancy with fireworks, a GAA equivalent of the slam dunk and 3 pointer challenge. Include an audience participation where a random punter is picked from the crowd and given an attempt at a '45 where they get €1 million if they score.
It would mean the players are even more up for the provincial c'ship. there's great supporter participation in the voting, it's on in the Summer, half-way through the season just when the supporter's appetite are really whetted for it. I reckon if it was done right and well publicised and free tickets for anyone Under 21, unemployed, an immigrant, a tourist, a fishermen, a homehelper, Longford people, or anyone who's ever been in space, it would fill Croke Park no problem.

ross4life · October 23, 2012, 06:18:24 PM

Quote from: Farneylawd2011 on October 23, 2012, 05:33:38 PM
Quote from: ross4life on October 22, 2012, 10:42:23 PM
As soon as the NFL fixtures came out you knew the Railway was going ahead again next year. First game the 9th/10th of Feb 2nd game 3rd/4th of March.

Are these the dates that have been confirmed for the Inter Provincal Championships.??
Great to the see the competition going ahead as i really enjoy going to these games.
However i believe that they should be played at the end of the year not ater the NFL.
What should happen is when the games are played the winners from Championship of the games should play the winners of the All Ireland winners like what Donegal and Ulster are doing on the 3rd November for the Match For Michaela.
e.g Muster v Killkenny in the hurling or Ulster v Donegal. I think these kinda games would draw big crowds and get the series back up and running..

No those are the dates of the 1st,2nd NFL games. As Rosfan said above the fixed dates for inter provincal championship is 16/17 Feb and 23/24 Feb 2013.

Eamonnca1 · October 23, 2012, 06:32:26 PM

I used to think that if it were marketed properly then it'd work, but I'm starting to wonder now. With the back door and qualifier round plus the national leagues, the market's already saturated with high profile games. GAA provincial teams haven't achieved much in the way of brand recognition or loyalty the way county teams or rugby provinces have. If you want to revive the Railway Cup then how about cutting back on the amount of inter county games to make room for it (not to mention make room for inter-club fixtures as well)?

I don't know about you but I think this current championship format is so convoluted that it's barely understandable. Part of the excitement of a tournament like the World Cup is speculating about who gets to play who if so-and-so wins, but there's no way to do that in the championship because of the open draw of the qualifier round.

And if you want to keep the Railway Cup going in the meantime and if the players really want to play it, then let them tear away in a field somewhere. There's no need to put this thing in Croke Park where they'll be playing in front of mostly empty stands.

stew · October 23, 2012, 06:55:17 PM

Quote from: Redhand Santa on October 20, 2012, 12:31:11 PM
I can honestly say the Railway Cup final in Armagh this year was as good a game as I was at this year. Quite open but still competitive and very high quality. If there was more games like this it would certainly help promote the competition and the gaa. I really like Kernan's idea of playing it on St Patricks Day with the club finals.

That's a tremendous idea, it would give the RC a high profile day and this would help boost the status of the railway Cup, it would also boost attendance numbers since people would be more likely to go if they could watch both games on the same day.

Farneylawd2011 · October 23, 2012, 07:33:20 PM

The following grounds would be great to hold the games/final of the series.

St Tiernach's Park Clones 36 000
Casement Park Belfast 32 600
Breffni Park Cavan 32 000
Pairc Elser Newry 20 000
Athletic Grounds Armagh 19 500
Parnell Park Dublin 11 500
Semple Stadium 55 000

These venues would be great to host the Railway Cup games/final to.

IolarCoisCuain · October 24, 2012, 10:48:35 AM

Quote from: AFS on October 23, 2012, 07:47:15 PM
Quote from: AZOffaly on October 23, 2012, 05:10:30 PM
Quote from: yellowcard on October 22, 2012, 09:24:15 PM
This is flogging a dead horse. There is little or no interest in the competition. The only people interested in it are the players themselves. SCRAP IT!

Is that not a good enough reason to play it? If the players see it as an honour to be picked, then I would think it is still viable.

Do they though? It's only a couple of years ago that your own province were so stuck for players for a semi-final with Ulster that they had to line out with a couple of lads that hadn't even played county football at that stage.

This is the point. The Railway Cup only works if the players buy in. Getting enough players to fill a team isn't the same as saying that these are the very best footballers in each province.

In its original conception the Railway Cup was as near as Gaelic Games could get to international competition. Because the very best players were involved, the standard by definition was higher. The Railway Cup was an ideal of Gaelic Games, a showcase, a ne plus ultra.

But that's not the case anymore. The players really aren't interested. If someone makes a list of the four provinces' best players and then compare that to the teams that line out in February it'll make the point very clearly.

antoinse · October 28, 2012, 09:03:38 PM

If those that support the Railway Cup grow balls and stand up and be counted then I feel the competiton has a chance. There are many things wrong with the running of the competition and it stems from those at the top who don't want the competiton and pay only lip servvice despite the stated interest of the players. October weekend should be a fest and those that want it should be allowed to promote and drive it. I suppose it will always be left to those that dont want it to run it and make the excuses. What is the GPA's opinion if they represent the palyers and we are told the players want it.

Eamonnca1 · October 30, 2012, 08:01:01 PM

If the players take it seriously enough and the games are hotly contested enough then the final might have some value as an international showpiece. We had the hurling all-stars in town last year, and while it was great to have them there wasn't much in the way of intensity. Sure the skills of the game were showcased, but not the full intensity of it. Nobody cared who won or lost, nobody had a team to support. At least with the Railway Cup there'd be a bit of cheering going on.

What the GAA has a hard time understanding is that the game on the field is not the entire spectacle. The crowd in the stands are part of it too. If the crowds are absent or sitting reading the paper then it kills the atmosphere of the match. If the crowds are packing the stands and roaring at the top of their lungs then that's a completely different experience, including for any TV audience.