Armagh and Galway not allowed to play their quarter final in Croke Park

[INDIANA]

don;t agree Dsfm, the minor games cause half the problems in relation to scheduling. Minor games have no business being on ahead of rackard,christy ring competitions in croke park. the finals are enough. we've had the farcical arrnagement of the minor semi of cork/kilkenny being given preference to the christy ring final.

[PatDaly]

A double header next Saturday involving the Dublin and Galway 1/4 finals and a triple header next Sunday involving the Cork footballers, the Cork hurlers and the Armagh footballers is clearly the best solution to this problem. No-one has yet come up with a better suggestion.

Yes the minor hurling game fixed for next Sunday August 10th will have to be rearranged and not all Dublin fans will get tickets but this is the price the GAA must pay for very poorly organising this years football championship fixtures.

The England rugby team can play in Croke park yet the Ulster and Connacht GAA champions cannot.

[armaghniac]

No-one has yet come up with a better suggestion.

We don't know the pairings yet so you cannot say what is best. But if it arises I'd much rather play Tyrone in Clones and get a ticket than not get a ticket for a triple header cludge in Croke Pk. If Galway are playing Kerry then Limerick has to be an option.

[PatDaly]

No-one has yet come up with a better suggestion.

We don't know the pairings yet so you cannot say what is best. But if it arises I'd much rather play Tyrone in Clones and get a ticket than not get a ticket for a triple header cludge in Croke Pk. If Galway are playing Kerry then Limerick has to be an option.

but all 4 provincial champions want to play in Croke Park next weekend so yes this is the best solution and this can be said even now before the quarter final pairings are known.

[armaghniac]

All provincial finals cannot reasonably play in Croke Pk next weekend, there is a hurling match, that is why we are having this thread. Galway and Armagh objected to being given a lower preference for the stadium than other teams, it should be decided by the nature of the draw. Kerry and Dublin should be in Thurles, for example, allowing Armagh and Galway use Croke Pk.

[PatDaly]

All provincial finals cannot reasonably play in Croke Pk next weekend, there is a hurling match, that is why we are having this thread. Galway and Armagh objected to being given a lower preference for the stadium than other teams, it should be decided by the nature of the draw. Kerry and Dublin should be in Thurles, for example, allowing Armagh and Galway use Croke Pk.

What kind of message are the GAA sending to counties who win their provincial title if they can't play their 1/4 final game at Croke Park yet the likes of the England rugby team can play there?

Teams who win their provincial championship have a right to play their next game at Croke Park - end of story. This venue issue was created by the GAA who attempted in their infinite wisdom to fix all 4 quarter-final matches for the weekend of August 9th and 10th.

http://www.gaa.ie/page/fixtures_august_2008.html

[INDIANA]

thats exactly the point pat, you're spot on. and there is no way cork should  have been allowed to dictate matters in this respect.

[ringy]

thats exactly the point pat, you're spot on. and there is no way cork should  have been allowed to dictate matters in this respect.

It what way are Cork dictating matter.For the last two years we requested our footballers and hurlers who were playing the same weekend for the fixtures to be played on the same day but this was refused.
We made the same request this year and it was granted.The hurlers were always playing the 10th as we're playing the leinster champions and this fixture from the beginning of the year was pencilled in for the 10th.The footballers as provincial champions were always playing the weekend 9/10th.So where are Cork dictating matters baseing everything on the fact that a request to play the footballers and hurlers on the same day for the last 2 years was refused and that our hurlers and footballers were to play this weekend anyway?

[J70]

Seems like a fair request from Cork to me. I presume Galway or any of the other one or two counties who might find themselves in a similar situation would have made a similar request.

[Coddler]

As far as I can remember Croke Park was allocated to Westlife and Celine sufferinlambofjaysis Dion for the June Bank holiday weekend. This has contibuted significantly to the current fixture pile up. The GAA need a kick up the hole for their greed lack of foresight on this.

[The Voice Of Reason]

The Dublin match should be a stand-alone on the 9th August. Dublin regularly have filled up Croke Park, and going by the last 3/4 years they have always sold it out from the provincial final onwards. To have Dublin as part of a double-header is unfair, and just plain stupid.

The hurling semi-final is for the 10th August, and the only other match along with that should be the Cork footballers quarter-final (at a push). Cork v Kilkenny is a massive hurling game and will probably attract 60k+, at least.

The Armagh and Galway quarter-finalists should then be given the option of 1) a double header in Croke Park on the 16th, or 2) a "home" quarter final on the 9th (probably the GAA's preferred option, should Dublin draw).

It was stated long ago that the quarter-finals would not be guaranteed to be in Croke Park. So I don't see it as a sin that Galway and Armagh don't have their games there. Sure if there was room in the schedule, they should have their games in Croke Park. However the Dubs, whether people like it or not, take priority ... and probably rightly so in my opinion.

[orangeman]

The Dublin match should be a stand-alone on the 9th August. Dublin regularly have filled up Croke Park, and going by the last 3/4 years they have always sold it out from the provincial final onwards. To have Dublin as part of a double-header is unfair, and just plain stupid.

The hurling semi-final is for the 10th August, and the only other match along with that should be the Cork footballers quarter-final (at a push). Cork v Kilkenny is a massive hurling game and will probably attract 60k+, at least.
The Armagh and Galway quarter-finalists should then be given the option of 1) a double header in Croke Park on the 16th, or 2) a "home" quarter final on the 9th (probably the GAA's preferred option, should Dublin draw).

It was stated long ago that the quarter-finals would not be guaranteed to be in Croke Park. So I don't see it as a sin that Galway and Armagh don't have their games there. Sure if there was room in the schedule, they should have their games in Croke Park. However the Dubs, whether people like it or not, take priority ... and probably rightly so in my opinion.

Can't see it honestly - it would get it tight to fill Thurles - Cork won't travel in numbers to Croker for this - but they'd go to Thurles no bother.

[The Voice Of Reason]

Now I'm taking these figures from memory, but the Cork v Waterford quarter-final last year had 74k spectators, and the replay had around 59k spectators ... the '06 semi-final v Waterford was 70k+ ... the '05 semi v Clare was 65k+ ... and I can't remember further back

The Cork hurling supporters do come out in big stages at this time of the championship. Plus given the nature of their last 2 wins, I think they'll take a massive support to Croke Park next Sunday. The Kilkenny fans will also be really up for this one, as I think it's the first time ever that Kilkenny and Cork have actually played each other in championship outside an All-Ireland final.

[Hound]

I wonder will views change when the draw is made?
If Galway draw Tyrone, will they really still prefer to play in Croke Park rather than say Sligo or Roscommon?

[twotwocharlie]

armagh v tyrone
dublin v kildare/fermanagh
cork v wexford
galway v kerry/monaghan