Casement Park in line for major overhaul - 40,000 all seater Stadium.

[Armagh18]

Yep - we didn't have a fit for purpose county ground for years in the noughties and had to play elsewhere.  League and championship two separate entities.

If Armagh at the time had said we're playing home games in Cross, what would the Ulster council have done?

[Spiderlegs]

Ulster council are making it clear that money means more than the game worried about a few quid if Antrim where playing Fermanagh cavan etc.. the game would be played no issue if it was a problem before the draw why didn't they make it clear Antrim would play away from home before anyone was drew out of the hat.

I appreciate you probably haven't read back through the pages of this thread but it has been mentioned numerous times that the rulebook on home ties is clear.

Had it been Fermanagh coming to Corrigan then yes it would have went ahead as per the draw because the minimum number of tickets the Ulster Council need to sell would be lower than the safe capacity of the stadium.

The problem is, for Armagh the minimum number of tickets exceeds the capacity and so the clause in the rulebook comes into play.

Now I'm with Antrim on this even though I'm an Armagh season ticket holder but suggestions that the goalposts have been moved are completely wrong.

If I miss out so be it, but Antrim players/managers should consider the possibility that there may be no more than a couple of hundred Antrim supporters at their own home game.

[general_lee]

If I miss out so be it, but Antrim players/managers should consider the possibility that there may be no more than a couple of hundred Antrim supporters at their own home game.

I think it's more important that Antrim get a big championship fixture at home. If it's only a few 100 Antrim fans, it will be outweighed by the occasion.

[Armagh18]

Realistically it'll feel like a home game for Armagh wherever it's played at this stage given the amount of season ticket holders.

[Gaelic man]

"The organisation is based on the traditional parishes and counties of Ireland". As the GAA have said on there website it's about parishes and counties it would be wrong for them to go against there own values.Antrim may have a small following but its a big game to have at home and I know no matter how well they are playing I will be there to watch and support my county. Hosting the current all Ireland champions in the first round is massive and there going to take it away from from us.

[mackers]

I'd think they're very content in their corner, and having a fair laugh at all the whinging. 

There's only one set of people whinging here. Armagh posters, like most supporters IMO, have clearly stated that we don't care where it's played. The point that most of us are saying is that the shoe was on the other foot previously.  Armagh county board and players handled the same situation differently, that's all.

[David McKeown]

I'll caveat what I'm about to say by saying I'm with Antrim on this one but I can see season ticket holders point of view as well.

A season ticket was €150. It entitled the purchaser to the following.

7 league matches which would have cost €140

A ticket to the club final and/or league final should your county make it.

A right to buy tickets to every championship game featuring your county except the All Ireland final

Unless

You purchased 6 other championship tickets throughout your counties championship run.

So the season ticket was pretty poor value unless you expected to be at at least every league game.

The advantage though of getting it though was the right to purchase tickets to every championship game.  If that's done away with on the basis that Corrigan has a very limited capacity and that others have to get priority then it fundamentally undermines the season ticket. Not just for Armagh and Antrim fans but also for other counties season ticket holders who could lose the season ticket perks they have already paid for because the package wasn't thought through.

So whilst I would like the game to go ahead at Corrigan I think it's unlikely to do so. I can see the position of season ticket holders though and I imagine the GAA will be rightly concerned at the potential for legal problems should the game not be moved. I think it's time for a serious rethink though of season tickets in order to protect the integrity of competitions going forward.

[Armamike]

I'm just wondering though how likely it is that a supporter would bother going down the legal route over this?  That's not to say the Ulster Council won't want to protect itself from any legal action - but is it something that's likely to happen?

[Wildweasel74]

Be laughed out of it, they refund your season ticket be the height of it

[SaffronSports]

Can someone tell me why Antrim would want to concede home advantage where they might keep the score down to a respectable level in context of Div 3 team playing All Ireland Champions, never mind facing into it like an away match in front of 15k plus Armagh supporters.

Would be like turkeys voting for Christmas!

Ulster Council need to suck it up because they took eye off the ball and forgot to put that stipulation in place before the draw, and genuine Armagh supporters need to put hand up and say its only fair it's played at Corrigan....and let them watch it on TV for the day if they arnt one of 1780 Armagh season ticket holders (48% of their total)
lucky enough to draw one in an internal Armagh raffle.

The GAA rulebook IS the stipulation.
Ulster Council can change the home venue if need be.

And Antrim can tell them where to go. Be interesting to see what happens then.

I think the rule-book is fairly clear on this - if Antrim (or any county) don't show up to the venue the match is fixed at they would play no football in the championship at all for two years. They could play league football in 2026. Bascially they would be out of the complete championship this year - missing the Armagh match means they would be out of both the Ulster Championship and the All-Ireland series/Tailteann Cup (there's no mechanism for teams to play in the All-Ireland/Tailteann if they don't play in the provincial championship, apart from New York) and then their punishment for not turning up would be a one match ban for the next match in the same competition they didn't turn up for so it would be the Ulster championship as opposed to the league. Being banned from the first game would mean that whoever was drawn against them would proceed to the next round of the Ulster championship and as there would be no mechanism for them to re-enter the Ulster championship, Antrim would play no championship football in 2026 either.

That's what the rules say so I really doubt it will happen that Antrim don't turn up. In the grand GAA tradition I'd say there is high odds that some sort of fudge will occur - the one place we can be pretty sure it won't be played is Casement anyway.

You mention no mechanism to enter the All-Ireland series/Tailteann without going through the province... What rule mentions this? Genuinely curious.

I'd have thought that the league position, in the first instance, dictates the entry into one or other of these competitions and the secondary decider being whether you reach the provincial final or not.

There's no rule. The local village idiot has told him this and he's decided to challenge his place in society by passing it on.

[Rossfan]

Rule 6.14

[Milltown Row2]

Jesus....you'd turn anything into a row.  You're making my point for me.  At least Kildare dug their heels in over a fixture that they were going to be competitive in.

I don't think its difficult to understand, Antrim were pulled out of the draw first, they get the home venue which seems ok for league fixtures both Div 1 hurling and Div 3 football, but now the Ulster council says its not going to allow it, due to other issues, not of Antrim's making.

So why did the Ulster council in the first place not have a rule in place for the likes of Antrim that if drawn first they will have to play in a neutral venue, as its been this way since the Ulster council fucked up Casement..

The Ulster council just can't mid stream start moving the goalposts, completely making things up as they go along, but sure it's only Antrim, they aint competitive and they'll do what they are told

They do, it's in the GAA rulebook

Can you highlight/link it for me?

Where it states a ground passed for H&S for league games isn't suitable for championship

[David McKeown]

Be laughed out of it, they refund your season ticket be the height of it

Yeah probably I couldnt see an individual getting much in the way of damages but E150 x 3500 is over half a million Euro and it only takes one person to do it before an opportunistic lawyer jumps on.  My concern wouldn't be an individual suing it would be a class action suite brought which would allege fraudulent misselling.  I also think the lawyers would be advising the GAA of a worst case scenario rather than a more likely case scenario. 

[take_yer_points]

I'll caveat what I'm about to say by saying I'm with Antrim on this one but I can see season ticket holders point of view as well.

A season ticket was €150. It entitled the purchaser to the following.

7 league matches which would have cost €140

A ticket to the club final and/or league final should your county make it.

A right to buy tickets to every championship game featuring your county except the All Ireland final

Unless

You purchased 6 other championship tickets throughout your counties championship run.

So the season ticket was pretty poor value unless you expected to be at at least every league game.

The advantage though of getting it though was the right to purchase tickets to every championship game.  If that's done away with on the basis that Corrigan has a very limited capacity and that others have to get priority then it fundamentally undermines the season ticket. Not just for Armagh and Antrim fans but also for other counties season ticket holders who could lose the season ticket perks they have already paid for because the package wasn't thought through.

So whilst I would like the game to go ahead at Corrigan I think it's unlikely to do so. I can see the position of season ticket holders though and I imagine the GAA will be rightly concerned at the potential for legal problems should the game not be moved. I think it's time for a serious rethink though of season tickets in order to protect the integrity of competitions going forward.

What came first, draw made with Antrim at home or Armagh season tickets sold??

If the draw was made first then selling that many season tickets when the capacity of Antrim's home ground was known shouldn't have happened (ie. they've oversold on the number of seats available). I know that's short sighted and in reality it wouldn't happen like that, but the Antrim game should've been excluded from the season ticket or some alternative arrangement put in place.

Principle matters. Hold your ground Antrim

[armaghniac]

What came first, draw made with Antrim at home or Armagh season tickets sold??

If the draw was made first then selling that many season tickets when the capacity of Antrim's home ground was known shouldn't have happened (ie. they've oversold on the number of seats available). I know that's short sighted and in reality it wouldn't happen like that, but the Antrim game should've been excluded from the season ticket or some alternative arrangement put in place.

Principle matters. Hold your ground Antrim

Armagh had the same opportunity to buy season tickets as every other county, the season ticket scheme is not the problem here. The draw was made on the basis of a suitability assessment of the ground, which is the same for all counties in Ireland. Antrim are free to nominate any ground of proper size for this game. I'll bet you that Antrim themselves do not allow clubs nominate grounds that the county board does not think suitable.