Playing at home for the rest of the Season (year)!

[lynchbhoy]

def is an advantage now that ublin are a better team.
was no issue in prev decades when Dublin were not as good.

but apart from every player wanting to play in croker, Kilkenny might have a few quid and Kerry being shrewd financial (mean) people - these counties don't have the same financial backing as the dubs - what is the alternative.

we are not going to build a new stadium in the middle of the country.

where the work and roads all lead to is Dublin.
they have a massive population and if they start to dominate - then the division of the county will happen.

but jeez lads, some of the shtie here is something else.

by the way - emlyn mulligan still plays in Leitrim does he!!!   

Dublin won yesterday as they had their full team out as opposed to the one that faced Derry in Celtic park.
The rest of the country have to try and dethrone the dubs this season.

Football and hurling are f**king fantastic.
like yer man maximums malteeserus said in the film - are you not entertained!
The season is well and truly underway and I hope Derry learn from yesterdays masterclass (and with the manager they have- they will).
Cant wait for the championships now!

chill out lads and enjoy - sure you could be like the poor English lads and only stuck following some two bit soccer teams that mean nothing to you like man city, Liverpool, Chelsea and man u etc!

[AZOffaly]

def is an advantage now that ublin are a better team.
was no issue in prev decades when Dublin were not as good.

but apart from every player wanting to play in croker, Kilkenny might have a few quid and Kerry being shrewd financial (mean) people - these counties don't have the same financial backing as the dubs - what is the alternative.

we are not going to build a new stadium in the middle of the country.

where the work and roads all lead to is Dublin.
they have a massive population and if they start to dominate - then the division of the county will happen.

but jeez lads, some of the shtie here is something else.

by the way - emlyn mulligan still plays in Leitrim does he!!!   

Dublin won yesterday as they had their full team out as opposed to the one that faced Derry in Celtic park.
The rest of the country have to try and dethrone the dubs this season.

Football and hurling are f**king fantastic.
like yer man maximums malteeserus said in the film - are you not entertained!
The season is well and truly underway and I hope Derry learn from yesterdays masterclass (and with the manager they have- they will).
Cant wait for the championships now!

chill out lads and enjoy - sure you could be like the poor English lads and only stuck following some two bit soccer teams that mean nothing to you like man city, Liverpool, Chelsea and man u etc!

Hang on Lynchbhoy, stall the gallop for a second...

a) It is always an advantage when teams play at home, regardless of how good they are.
b) It becomes an even bigger advantage when *every* championship game is at home.
c) In the past Dublin played 'down the country' in the championship.
d) In the past Dublin played in Parnell Park in the league.

Now, apart from that carry on

[Croí na hÉireann]

Hey, stop robbing my lines.

Referenced.

[Dinny Breen]

You can be deliberating obtuse all you want and argue the sample size is too small, the quality of opponent particularly in Leinster is poor but sound reasoning shows that playing all your games in Croke Park is advantage.

Hasn't been one in a while, but since 1974 Dublin have played over 40 games in the Leinster championship outside of Croke Park. From memory, I think we just lost once (Laois - 1981). However, in that time each of Meath, Kildare, Offaly, Laois and Westmeath have beaten us in Croke Park!

Hound you are an intelligent bloke, you won Leinster 23 times in that period, Offaly had a golden period in the 80s, Meath in the 90s and Kildare had a good spell in the late 90s. Since those defeats to Westmeath and Laois you have lost once in Croke in the Leinster football championship and it took 5 goals (some dubious) from Meath to inflict that victory - 1 defeat in 24 games.  I don't think anyone is saying Dublin only win because they play at home but since they made it their home their record speaks for it itself. I would like to see a more level playing field regarding venues, will it happen who knows but to increase the integrity of the competition I think it should.

Dublin have always dominated Leinster football but even in their greatest years they've never had a period of dominance like it, look at the underage results does anyone honestly believe it will change! Great for Dublin but shit for the rest of us.

[Hound]

Hound you are an intelligent bloke, you won Leinster 23 times in that period, Offaly had a golden period in the 80s, Meath in the 90s and Kildare had a good spell in the late 90s. Since those defeats to Westmeath and Laois you have lost once in Croke in the Leinster football championship and it took 5 goals (some dubious) from Meath to inflict that victory - 1 defeat in 24 games.  I don't think anyone is saying Dublin only win because they play at home but since they made it their home their record speaks for it itself. I would like to see a more level playing field regarding venues, will it happen who knows but to increase the integrity of the competition I think it should.

Dublin have always dominated Leinster football but even in their greatest years they've never had a period of dominance like it, look at the underage results does anyone honestly believe it will change! Great for Dublin but shit for the rest of us.

Ah yeah, just showing that stats can show a lot of different things and obviously Dublin's success at underage level recently has nothing to do with Croke Park.

Not sure why All Ireland Under 21 finals don't get played in Croker, when even Division 2, 3 and 4 national league "finals" take place there.

As has been said the Leinster quarter-finals should not be in Croke Park, and in Dublin we were  expecting a trip this year as it had been mooted. I wonder did the other Leinster counties ask to keep using Croker?

[easytiger95]

Defeatist stuff Dinny - and I know we have only a few Kerry lads on the board (are there any left at all?) but I'm damn sure the likes of MikeSheehy and Kerrymike wouldn't be on here cribbing about the unfairness of Dublin winning.

And there are also lies, damn lies and statistics - if we are operating from an assumption that back in the day Dublin played less games in Croke Park and they now play far more, I'd like to look at how many times their opponents have played there - Meath, Kildare, Offaly, Wicklow, Westmeath, Wexford and Laois have all played Leinster first round and quarter final games as part of double headers (wrongly IMHO) much more regularly over the past ten years then before.

So the image of country lads coming up with tousled hair, blade of grass in their gobs and hoping to do the Museum tour after they get hammered by the Dubs is a bit of a laugh - all Leinster counties have far more experience of Croke Park then they would have had back in the 80s and 90s. Now I will concede, Croke for Westmeath say, is a different place when facing the dubs with a 50/60k crowd, then when facing Wexford as the first part of a double header. But unfortunately we can't ask our fans not to come just so we can provide a strictly balanced experience.


Croke Park is now the defacto home of the Leinster Championship - again I think that is wrong when you see the excitement in places like Navan or Newbridge when they get a derby draw in the qualifiers, but lads they had to pay for the place. Logically having the Dubs there with their 50/60k support was the way to do it.

[Dont Matter]

All the Dubs and Dub wannabes around here are doing a great impression of Bertie, the Dub hero of course. Playing at home in every match isn't an advantage, they say. Millions of euro every year isn't an advanatage either according to them.  Laughable really. All their excuses remind me of one of Bertie's lines: "It is not correct, and if I said so, I was not correct — I cannot recall if I said it, but I did not say, or if I did, I did not mean to say it". They actually think us fine country folk are too thick to realise what's happening, just like the Bert but in the end things caught up with him and it's catching up with the Dubs now. The games up boyos, the split is coming!

I have a list here that really shows the power of money, especially in an amateur sport where most counties are struggling financially. This list covers from 2009 till now, a time when the serious investment in Dublin GAA started taking effect.

Dublin's Bought Titles:

Senior
Football
All Ireland Senior Football Champions: 2011, 2013
Leinster Senior Football Champions: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
National Football League Champions: 2013, 2014

Hurling
Leinster Senior Hurling Champions: 2013
National Hurling League Titles: 2011

U21
Football
All Ireland u21 Football Champions: 2010, 2012
Leinster u21 Football Champions: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014

Hurling
Leinster u21 Hurling Champions: 2010, 2011

Minor
Football
All Ireland Minor Football Champions: 2012
Leinster Minor Football Champions: 2009, 2011, 2012

Hurling
Leinster Minor Hurling Champions: 2011, 2012

That's a huge amount of silverware and it will be added to again this year. It just can't go on, it's best for everyone if we split Dublin, even for the Dubs themselves! It can't be the best feeling knowing that you haven't won anything by yourselves. If we want fair play in Gaelic Games then the split must happen sooner or later, more and more people are coming to this realisation so it's inevitable at this stage.

[Dinny Breen]

Defeatist stuff Dinny - and I know we have only a few Kerry lads on the board (are there any left at all?) but I'm damn sure the likes of MikeSheehy and Kerrymike wouldn't be on here cribbing about the unfairness of Dublin winning.

And there are also lies, damn lies and statistics - if we are operating from an assumption that back in the day Dublin played less games in Croke Park and they now play far more, I'd like to look at how many times their opponents have played there - Meath, Kildare, Offaly, Wicklow, Westmeath, Wexford and Laois have all played Leinster first round and quarter final games as part of double headers (wrongly IMHO) much more regularly over the past ten years then before.

So the image of country lads coming up with tousled hair, blade of grass in their gobs and hoping to do the Museum tour after they get hammered by the Dubs is a bit of a laugh - all Leinster counties have far more experience of Croke Park then they would have had back in the 80s and 90s. Now I will concede, Croke for Westmeath say, is a different place when facing the dubs with a 50/60k crowd, then when facing Wexford as the first part of a double header. But unfortunately we can't ask our fans not to come just so we can provide a strictly balanced experience.


Croke Park is now the defacto home of the Leinster Championship - again I think that is wrong when you see the excitement in places like Navan or Newbridge when they get a derby draw in the qualifiers, but lads they had to pay for the place. Logically having the Dubs there with their 50/60k support was the way to do it.

Call it defeatist if you choose, I call it realistic. Kildare et al might have gained experience playing/losing (have lost our last 5 visits) in Croker Park but it's not our home, in that period Dublin garnered even more experience.

If it was only the Leinster Championship maybe I could live with it but 21 National League games in the last four years, there's advantages and then there's advantages. I find it hard to believe you do not see it as such or refuse to admit.

Anyhow the resident nut job has arrived so that's my last spake on this matter.

[Donnellys Hollow]

I'm all for letting as many people as possible in to games so until their is a 40k stadium in Leinster taking the Dubs out of Croker isn't really an option. Would the DCB ever look to build a 40k stadium in Dublin? With a cap on tickets you'd be guaranteed a great atmosphere under lights and it would probably be close to sold out for league games.

What I do have an issue with is Dublin being guaranteed the same dressing room and end to warm up in wheras it's a lottery for the other 32 counties if they are not playing Dublin. As AZ said

familiarity breeds comfort, comfort breeds confidence and confidence breeds performance.

p.s. we don't get enough reminders on here of Dublin's blood lines and their tradition, great post easytiger.

Dressing rooms are important to Maria Carey but didn't surely no big deal for GAA Footballers
(If they do, throwing Diva like tantrums is the way to get a better dressing room). 

Dublin often start badly. However if they start well, dressing rooms and warm up areas are factors? Players in high tempo games don't suddenly remember their warm up routine or the comforting aroma of their dressing room. Cannot think of a Croke Park game that didn't play out or twist by events on the pitch.

It just boils down to one team against another.

Being allocated the same dressing room and end to warm up at obviously makes very little difference in the grand scheme of things. However if Croke Park is considered a neutral venue for championship matches then it should be a random selection as to which team gets which dressing room, end etc.

Call it defeatist if you choose, I call it realistic. Kildare et al might have gained experience playing/losing (have lost our last 5 visits) in Croker Park but it's not our home

Did we not beat Donegal and Offaly there last year?

Realistically Dublin v Meath and Dublin v Kildare in the Leinster Championship are always going to attract a crowd well in excess of what any other venue in the province can comfortably accommodate. Only a fool would argue that these fixtures should be played in Portlaoise or Tullamore and to hell with the 15,000 left standing outside the turnstiles of a packed to capacity ground.

I do take issue with the Leinster Council fixing double headers for Croke Park when the curtain raiser barely attracts a crowd of 10,000. Our match with Offaly last year would have generated much more of a sense of occasion had it been played in Navan or Carlow. I'm not sure the argument that "all players prefer to play in Croke Park" is one that shared universally among all players in Leinster. These smaller Leinster Championship fixtures generate zero atmosphere in Croke Park. Our Leinster quarter final with Louth/Westmeath this year should be a stand alone fixture in Navan and not as a curtain raiser to Dublin v Laois/Wicklow.

[Main Street]

Remember how upset Pillar's Dubs were when some puny team dared to steal 'their place' in Croke Park?

[Thisonegoesto11]

def is an advantage now that ublin are a better team.
was no issue in prev decades when Dublin were not as good.

but apart from every player wanting to play in croker, Kilkenny might have a few quid and Kerry being shrewd financial (mean) people - these counties don't have the same financial backing as the dubs - what is the alternative.

we are not going to build a new stadium in the middle of the country.

where the work and roads all lead to is Dublin.
they have a massive population and if they start to dominate - then the division of the county will happen.

but jeez lads, some of the shtie here is something else.

by the way - emlyn mulligan still plays in Leitrim does he!!!   

Dublin won yesterday as they had their full team out as opposed to the one that faced Derry in Celtic park.
The rest of the country have to try and dethrone the dubs this season.

Football and hurling are f**king fantastic.
like yer man maximums malteeserus said in the film - are you not entertained!
The season is well and truly underway and I hope Derry learn from yesterdays masterclass (and with the manager they have- they will).
Cant wait for the championships now!

chill out lads and enjoy - sure you could be like the poor English lads and only stuck following some two bit soccer teams that mean nothing to you like man city, Liverpool, Chelsea and man u etc!

Hang on Lynchbhoy, stall the gallop for a second...

a) It is always an advantage when teams play at home, regardless of how good they are.
b) It becomes an even bigger advantage when *every* championship game is at home.
c) In the past Dublin played 'down the country' in the championship.
d) In the past Dublin played in Parnell Park in the league.

Now, apart from that carry on

on point c... did Dublin not win most of those games played away from Croke Park?

[Thisonegoesto11]

All the Dubs and Dub wannabes around here are doing a great impression of Bertie, the Dub hero of course. Playing at home in every match isn't an advantage, they say. Millions of euro every year isn't an advanatage either according to them.  Laughable really. All their excuses remind me of one of Bertie's lines: "It is not correct, and if I said so, I was not correct — I cannot recall if I said it, but I did not say, or if I did, I did not mean to say it". They actually think us fine country folk are too thick to realise what's happening, just like the Bert but in the end things caught up with him and it's catching up with the Dubs now. The games up boyos, the split is coming!

I have a list here that really shows the power of money, especially in an amateur sport where most counties are struggling financially. This list covers from 2009 till now, a time when the serious investment in Dublin GAA started taking effect.

Dublin's Bought Titles:

Senior
Football
All Ireland Senior Football Champions: 2011, 2013
Leinster Senior Football Champions: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
National Football League Champions: 2013, 2014

Hurling
Leinster Senior Hurling Champions: 2013
National Hurling League Titles: 2011

U21
Football
All Ireland u21 Football Champions: 2010, 2012
Leinster u21 Football Champions: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014

Hurling
Leinster u21 Hurling Champions: 2010, 2011

Minor
Football
All Ireland Minor Football Champions: 2012
Leinster Minor Football Champions: 2009, 2011, 2012

Hurling
Leinster Minor Hurling Champions: 2011, 2012

That's a huge amount of silverware and it will be added to again this year. It just can't go on, it's best for everyone if we split Dublin, even for the Dubs themselves! It can't be the best feeling knowing that you haven't won anything by yourselves. If we want fair play in Gaelic Games then the split must happen sooner or later, more and more people are coming to this realisation so it's inevitable at this stage.

Unreal. Is throwing Bertie Ahern into a discussion of any relevance at all ? (the FF/FG diehard thing isn't really a sensitive issue in multi party Dublin). Don't let Dublin become your obsessive conspiracy theory. Those things can eat ye up.  Help is out there.

[Thisonegoesto11]

I'm all for letting as many people as possible in to games so until their is a 40k stadium in Leinster taking the Dubs out of Croker isn't really an option. Would the DCB ever look to build a 40k stadium in Dublin? With a cap on tickets you'd be guaranteed a great atmosphere under lights and it would probably be close to sold out for league games.

What I do have an issue with is Dublin being guaranteed the same dressing room and end to warm up in wheras it's a lottery for the other 32 counties if they are not playing Dublin. As AZ said

familiarity breeds comfort, comfort breeds confidence and confidence breeds performance.

p.s. we don't get enough reminders on here of Dublin's blood lines and their tradition, great post easytiger.

Dressing rooms are important to Maria Carey but didn't surely no big deal for GAA Footballers
(If they do, throwing Diva like tantrums is the way to get a better dressing room). 

Dublin often start badly. However if they start well, dressing rooms and warm up areas are factors? Players in high tempo games don't suddenly remember their warm up routine or the comforting aroma of their dressing room. Cannot think of a Croke Park game that didn't play out or twist by events on the pitch.

It just boils down to one team against another.

Familiarity breeds comfort, comfort breeds confidence and confidence breeds performance.

Presumably this is only important since 2011? Or was it even a factor when we lost regulary? 

[Farrandeelin]

Remember how upset Pillar's Dubs were when some puny team dared to steal 'their place' in Croke Park?

I'll carry that memory to the grave.

[From the Bunker]

a) It is always an advantage when teams play at home, regardless of how good they are.
b) It becomes an even bigger advantage when *every* championship game is at home.
c) In the past Dublin played 'down the country' in the championship.
d) In the past Dublin played in Parnell Park in the league.

Now, apart from that carry on

There will be no reply to this! None! There is no escaping the facts.

Greed of the GAA will be it's downfall! They have squeezed all they can out of Dublin with Croke Park! League games were a bonus and sure lets let Dublin have 4 games there a campaign, 5 was even squeezed one year. So we have no alternative venues? The Gaelic grounds? Páirc Uí Chaoimh? McHale Park? Fitzgerald Stadium? Thurles? are all ground that can hold 40K plus? Whats wrong with using them?