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I've said it for years and will say it forever... one team should be in all white and one team should not be allowed white. The Yanks have got this one right.

My 47 year old eyes find these colours trying, among many other examples.

Mayo v Galway a struggle.
Galway v Cork a struggle.
Armagh v Down a struggle.

Pretty sure that when Down made it in 2010:

The first tranche of tickets was split evenly per club.

A second tranche of tickets (returns from counties, unsold season tickets, etc) appeared about 6-7 days before the final and its distribution was weighted by club membership.

I was Secretary of a club trying sort out tickets for minors at the all-Ireland level the Yr Armagh were in the final 2002. Ended up a open draw for tickets and I saw members who done zero in the club  ending up with 75% of tickets, half them barely went to championship games before that. Myself[Secretary, Chairman and treasurer] got none. I got one from another club. At the next AGM I got it put through the Ref and the top level of the committee doing all the work, got priority for tickets. Then stepped down and never went back.

Fair play to you.

Holding a fully open draw maybe isn't death by a 1000 cuts, but it's definitely 1000 days ahead  of feeling the effects of cuts.

A club cannot gain anything by treating its hardest working volunteers the same as its casual members. But it can and will continue to gain the hard work of its hardest working volunteers by placing them in the priority queue.

[don't think it's possible to really rank those people on entitlement]

When Armagh made final in 2002/2003 I can't recall anyone from the club who I though yes they should have got a ticket but didn't. Be interesting to see how many of the people not affiliated with a club in Armagh who avail of the club championship season ticket or regularly attend these games.There are genuine people like David mckeown who would like see get a ticket but for every David there's 5/6 people who could probably not tell you who the majority of Armagh players play for and following Armagh is more a social occasion rather than anything else. 

Sorry to be clear I'm not looking sympathy. I certainly don't deserve that and I've been to plenty of all Ireland finals in my time and should hopefully make this one.

The point I'm trying to make, badly, is that I'm not unique. There are plenty who will struggle in the coming fortnight. People who have good reason for no longer being club members or active members, ones who go to games but for whom the season ticket didn't suit etc etc. So I don't buy into the idea that those who deserve a ticket will get a ticket. Plenty will miss out and it's unfortunate but I don't think it's possible to really rank those people on entitlement and I can't think of a better way of handling these kind of things.

True. Is  someone who cuts the grass  more entitled to a ticket than someone who  washes the jersies? 

But  the thing about clubs distributing tickets is  there is always a bit of a wink and a  nod situation.  Nobody knows how many was  allocated, or where they all  went. That's the thing I  don't  like about it all

Two questions for you to post at your club's AGM (it'll likely be in November).

1. How many AI final tickets did the club receive?

2. What was the distribution method?

I'm not dismissing loyalty JoG2.

But to be honest I don't think that family of four actually exists. There'll be some families of four who go to every home game. There'll be others who go to some home games and some away. There'll be another family of four who never miss a championship match, wherever it is in Ireland.

But that family of four who a) don't have any other weekend hobbies to fulfil from Feb - July, b) are this obsessed with GAA that they cannot miss a game, but not obsessed enough to integrate strongly with a local club, and c) can afford a dozen away days in a half year period but don't bugger off to Tenerife instead?

They don't exist.

Mario you're not reading, you're paraphrasing. Like a Daily Sport editor.

Read from the top. I've listed those who get AI tickets first and my core point is that it's completely fair.

Someone argued that there is a family of 4 somewhere who never miss a game, and that they must be facilitated too. And my point I simple: no they shouldn't (and nor should anyone feel sorry them).

The easiest way to secure an AI final ticket is to be a sponsor / in a senior position for a sponsor.

The second easiest way to secure an AI ticket is to be on the county board for a competing county.

The third easiest way is to be a referee in one of the competing counties.

The fourth easiest is to be an active member of a club from one of the competing counties.

After that, it's a lottery.

And rightly so.

All of the above are more deserving than the rest.

You've a family that has been to every single league and championship game this year (family club membership) , who will really struggle to get tickets for all 4, even for 1 or 2 in a stadium that holds 82k, surely there's a better way of doing it and rewarding loyalty while also looking after thousands of fat cat / daytrippers?

If someone is both upwardly mobile enough and financially secure enough to take a family of 4 to 18 games across Ireland in the space of 25 weeks, then they already have a great life and don't need the spoils of an AI final ticket. Or maybe they do. But I won't feel sorry for them all the same.

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In my experience there aren't that many day trippers / fat cats at an AI final.

The easiest way to secure an AI final ticket is to be a sponsor / in a senior position for a sponsor.

The second easiest way to secure an AI ticket is to be on the county board for a competing county.

The easiest way of all is to be an in-law of a county board member for a non-competing county.

The thing is. This is not the easiest way to gain an AI ticket. It requires someone to put in years of altruistic volunteerism to gain this trivial reward.

I've genuinely no issue with all executive members of all county boards in Ireland getting a couple of tickets to do with as they wish.

Anyone who would have an issue with this must believe that puff the magic dragon facilitates our games.

The easiest way to secure an AI final ticket is to be a sponsor / in a senior position for a sponsor.

The second easiest way to secure an AI ticket is to be on the county board for a competing county.

The third easiest way is to be a referee in one of the competing counties.

The fourth easiest is to be an active member of a club from one of the competing counties.

After that, it's a lottery.

And rightly so.

All of the above are more deserving than the rest.

Big rush for tickets? Was the Armagh v Westmeath a sell out or Galway v Derry in Galway.? Where were all these die hard supporters then,who need tickets now? I just hope supporters who went to most of the games get tickets.

To be fair, it would seriously dampen the occasion if only the 10k hardcore fans from each county were to attend the AI final.

Maybe not pretending to yourself, so much as now conditioned to believe that a game with an exciting 10 minute period is a good game.

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The inner beauty of soccer is that it's so easy to understand yet bloody difficult in which to score. It means every goal is celebrated as such, but more importantly is why countries of 2m people can contain - and occasionally even beat - countries of 100m people. 

Gaelic football is a completely different sport. It was meant to be a battle of physicality - including no small amount of chance - along with skill and endeavour.

But that's not what it is these days. It's a bastardised, boring **** of a game that throws up enjoyable moments when tired players make mistakes.

It's not entertaining. It's a nonsense.

The Down game on Sunday was for sure. The Armagh game... not so much

The first half of the Armagh game was utter tripe.

Granted it developed into an entertaining game.

But that first half was ultra safe dung with barely a tackle made.

I forced myself to watch the first half of the soccer.
If anybody complaining about the standard of GAA is a soccer supporter, their opinion is not guided by a desire for entertainment I can see.

Made the same comparison in the pub last night to the GAA complaints. Fist half was diabolical. Our game has maybe gone down a bit in watchability but it's still x10 times the sport, fact.

It's really not.

And using "fact" doesn't change it.

Adult Gaelic football is absolute dung that occasionally comes alive in the last 10 mins when some players get tired and others throw off the shackles.

You're pretending to yourself if you find it more entertaining than soccer. Which is largely dung too by the way.

Are you serious.

Yep.

But the pattern continues.

For a couple of seasons there,  Derry ones were quite happy that the game was in a healthy place.

Same as Dublin ones for the decade previous.

And Donegal ones in the early noughties.

When the team you follow excels at a shite sport, it makes it easier to forget it's boring and shite.

Maybe not pretending to yourself, so much as now conditioned to believe that a game with an exciting 10 minute period is a good game.

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The inner beauty of soccer is that it's so easy to understand yet bloody difficult in which to score. It means every goal is celebrated as such, but more importantly is why countries of 2m people can contain - and occasionally even beat - countries of 100m people. 

Gaelic football is a completely different sport. It was meant to be a battle of physicality - including no small amount of chance - along with skill and endeavour.

But that's not what it is these days. It's a bastardised, boring **** of a game that throws up enjoyable moments when tired players make mistakes.

It's not entertaining. It's a nonsense.

Niall Morgan isn't getting an All Star lads. He's from Tyrone, not Wexford. He's not going to get a pat on the back for being a shining star from a weak county.

McCambridge, McKay and Turbitt the most likely from Armagh at the minute; all 3 would likely get a gong with an average AI final. Blaine just needs an error free 70 mins to pick up one too. Wouldn't be so sure about O'Neill or Grugan just yet. Both have had big games but both have had poor games too. So has Con O'Callaghan and I can't see him getting one ahead of those.

Peader Mogan is an absolute cert. Sam Mulroy is as good as a cert too.

Galway are an awkward one to predict. I expect Conroy and McHugh are on the boat already, but there's up to 10 of them just 1 good 70 mins away.

I forced myself to watch the first half of the soccer.
If anybody complaining about the standard of GAA is a soccer supporter, their opinion is not guided by a desire for entertainment I can see.

Made the same comparison in the pub last night to the GAA complaints. Fist half was diabolical. Our game has maybe gone down a bit in watchability but it's still x10 times the sport, fact.

It's really not.

And using "fact" doesn't change it.

Adult Gaelic football is absolute dung that occasionally comes alive in the last 10 mins when some players get tired and others throw off the shackles.

You're pretending to yourself if you find it more entertaining than soccer. Which is largely dung too by the way.