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Any idea as to where Antrim v Kerry might be played?

I
The GAA's funding was bigger because they need the bigger stadium .

Did/do they though?

I could be wrong but this was my reading of the situation.

Was the GAA funding not similar to soccer but IFA decided to split monies between renovating Windsor and grassroots. Gaa decided( wrongly IMO) to put all its eggs in one basket, and given guaranteed 30k plus for ulster finals ( note 60k in Croke Park ulster final a few years ago), they thought 38k would be reasonable , and stormont were keen to have one of the 3 stadia able to host big concerts or rugby World Cup international in the North. Regeneration stimulus for West Belfast Also  featured in the decision . Quite rightly , residents had concerns which must be addressed. However it would be hard to  imagine the GAa agreeing to build a stadium with a capacity much less than the expected crowd for their showpiece Ulster final . There is also a concern that there are political elements up here who are delighted to see the GAA under pressure, which has complicated the picture

I get the argument that it was a choice between replacing Clones or a moderate sized stadium for Antrim. But the GAA decided that they had to wave their cocks too. Rugby and soccer 18k each? We will go 40. Doesn't fit? Plough on regardless, fcuk the locals.

The fact that Ulster Rugby and the Northern Ireland "national" soccer team play their games in stadia with a lower capacity than the Athletic Grounds tells its own story about sport in the wee six.

In any case, there's a huge amount of support in the local area for it. But as ever, it the most negative voices are heard the loudest.

Could get rid of the fancy roof, or sell naming rights?

There are options, but a third redesign would consume even more cash, which doesn't make much sense if it goes hand-in hand with a capacity reduction. You'd be paying more for less seats and spent so much on repeated design and consultancy that you could build another stadium.

Another cost cutting option could be converting the seated stands to terracing, but given this would actually increase capacity, so is probably out because of safety reasons.

[Cavan turned down Clones last year]

Cavan will probably want it in Clones as more likely Tyrone will take them to the cleaners in Croker if a double header.

Cavan turned down Clones last year in favour of Brewster park, when the whole Newbridge or Nowhere put paid to the GAA's plans for a double-header

Did they turn it down? It was a home tie for them but Breffni was being redeveloped. I would have assumed in such an instance that they picked Brewster as opposed to Clones? I could be wrong

Yes, they picked Brewster as Breffni was unavailable. The initial rumour mill had guessed the match would be in Clones, I guesss that Cavan preferred the tighter pitch and somewhere where Tyrone feel slightly less at home.

Cavan will probably want it in Clones as more likely Tyrone will take them to the cleaners in Croker if a double header.

Cavan turned down Clones last year in favour of Brewster park, when the whole Newbridge or Nowhere put paid to the GAA's plans for a double-header

Time to take Monaghan out of Clones?

Time enough until Casement gets built.

Ulster Football Final: 28,780

Not a bad crowd considering the capacity was restricted to 29,000 but in historical terms that is quite poor.

Less than the first round in 2002.
Clones is not being invested in, owing to the debacle in Belfast and it may not hold more than 29,000 either.

Wouldn't take much to make it a little more comfortable. Some proper seats and a roof over the Roslea end, with a permanent big screen, and it could stay fit for purpose for years to come. And if it needs expanded, there's a perfect Nally stand sized gap in the corner of the ground...

Are there many public/council owned GAA pitches anywhere in the North (or South)?

I remember Jennings Park in Newry having a GAA pitch with 2 soccer pitches running across it seemed like it was only or mostly soccer that got played there. I don't think they even have GAA posts there now.

Almost all GAA pitches are either club or school owned.

MUSA, in Cookstown, has GAA pitches.
Not sure how much action it sees though.

A subject for discussion during the long winter nights.
Do we create 4 Provincial teams - Connacht, Leinster (11 Counties), Munster and Ulster to take on Dublin on an equal population footing (Connacht would only be 50% at most)?
Or
The GAA ad a whole grow some balls and make Dublin a Provincial unit with 4 Co Boards?
More "mean spiritedness" I suppose.
But as Breheny said yesterday "The empty seats are speaking...."

When we had the Railway Cup, peoplelost interest and stopped showing up to it. Although moving it from its day in the sun didn't help.
And there is some kind of morbid attraction in a two-game tournament where everyone bands together to try and beat the Dubs...

https://hoganstand.com/Article/Index/299622

A sign of things to come for the football.

Five tiers is too many in hurling. The Meagher ends up as a kind of "leftover" tournament of the teams left at the bottom.  They should look to merge it with the Rackard.
Maybe increase the number of teams in the Joe McDonagh if the no. of teams per tier needs evened out, but I don't really see than much difference in a twelve-team Rackard cup and and eight-team one.

[So you would have been happy enough with Derry playing Wexford in a Junior championship on sunday past rather than Tyrone in the Ulster championship?]

This debate is strikingly similar to the Brexit fiasco.

A number of strident voices whipping up support for an idea as a panacea to perceived inadequacies in the GAA with absolutely no consideration of what the long term consequences will be or even any acknowledgement that there might be negatives associated with the idea.

So we continue with the current fiasco where the strong get stronger and the weak have nothing to play for apart from the dream of getting a big draw and playing out of their skin to keep the defeat in single figures. Anyone who can't see the many negatives with the current setup isn't looking at what's happening and the disenchantment among county players and supporters outside the top 5 or 6 teams.

So you would have been happy enough with Derry playing Wexford in a Junior championship on sunday past rather than Tyrone in the Ulster championship?

Are you making the argument that tiering will help the weaker teams? I am firmly of the opinion that it will be the last nail in the coffin for weaker counties to the benefit of the stronger ones. 

NO-ONE advocating tiering has ever pointed out the possible downsides to a new system.

Why not both?
We already have the Super 8s, why can't we extend the same group system across two tiers of 16 teams or four tiers of 8? Is it for the best that Derry's summer is over if they lose a preliminary round Ulster game and a first round qualifier, so they basically don't play any football in the summer at all?

What makes an Intermediate club final or those English soccer play offs is the prize on offer i.e Promotion to the next grade.
Current proposals for a stand alone "tier 2" are in effect Tommy Murphy take 2 - with a bit of pre thinking this time rather than the back of Seán Kelly's envelope.

It's more the idea of holding it on a weekend or day by itself, rather than the curtain raiser to an AI Senior final (in the minor slot) which I was getting at. Needs to be an event in its own right. With a prize at the end, like you say.

"Curtain-raiser to an All-Ireland quarter-final".

Out of sight, out of mind, really.

The EFL playoffs the last couple of nights show how to do a second-tier championship with drama.
If we hold the AI senior final third sunday in September, there shouldn't be a problem doing an Intermediate final the Sunday before in one of the other massive stadiums the GAA have.

It's not a terribly remarkable place on its own, and for around the last 125 years or so its been a sort of garrison, market and services town, albeit with the garrison bit now gone. Other than this it struggles on having little in the way of notable history for it - Armagh has its cathedrals, Enniskillen has its own landscapes, Derry has its historical walls, but there's little of note in Omagh aside from being on the southern foothills of the Sperrins, where the Camowen & Drumragh rivers meet to form the Strule.

I always viewed this as being due to the fact that Dungannon is the town with the rich history in Tyrone, and that town effectively abdicated its title of county town due
to poor policy and poor planning, and also that it was a hotbed of sectarian tension and dangerous during the Troubles. Omagh just kind of assumed the role of primary town as a result.

Good question. We have the bones of an excellent All-Ireland championship structure with 32 teams including London (which isn't so ridiculous in terms of travel time and at least stands a fighting chance of winning games).

Let New York play an exhibition match every year if its a good moneyspinner. Maybe people in the states then can watch them get hammered by Tyrone or Dublin instead of Mayo and Roscommon for  change, although if it was non-competitive, counties might decide to fly a weaker team out and it might be more of acontest, with some younger player to watch out for or some older names to bring a bit of star quality and brand recognition.

One thing which another of those weird GAA anachronisms is that New York is far from the only city in the US with a GAA community and sufficient clubs to sustain a quasi-County structure. Is it not unfair that NY field a team in the all-Ireland championship, while Chicago, Boston, San Fran, Toronto etc. don't have the opportunity?