Donegal V Armagh - Clones, NOT Ballybofey!

[J70]

According to the Donegal website:

C.L.G. Dhun na nGall is extremely disappointed to learn that the forthcoming Ulster Senior Football Championship 1st Round Match, against Armagh, on Sunday, 27th May, has been fixed for Clones, despite the fact that when the development at McCumhaill Park is completed, in a few weeks time, the capacity will be in excess of 21,500


The decision, by Ulster Council, will mean a round trip of over 400 Km, for most Donegal Supporters, yet for Armagh supporters it will seem like a home game as Clones is only a few Kilometers from the Armagh border

So much for home advantage...

[pintsofguinness]

Thought I heard that today, what was the reason for moving it?

[J70]

Thought I heard that today, what was the reason for moving it?

I would assume its a capacity issue.

[bennydorano]

Happy to hear this for purely selfish reasons, 16 of us heading on a fishing trip the day before, stay over, get pissed up and head onto the game on the sunday, might have been tight all of us getting the tickets for Ballybofey (although I didn't know the capacity is up over 20K now).

Where have the Donegal league games been played then?

[aodhruadh]

I suppose they have to make up for the loss of ulster final revenue this year some way

Of course the Donegal supporters could vote with their feet and not travel, but it would be shooting ourselves in the goolies.

We do seem to always be at the centre of controversial venue choices, whether it was Longford last year, the Ballyshannon vs Letterkenny debate for the Kerry game, and now this.

[J70]

Happy to hear this for purely selfish reasons, 16 of us heading on a fishing trip the day before, stay over, get pissed up and head onto the game on the sunday, might have been tight all of us getting the tickets for Ballybofey (although I didn't know the capacity is up over 20K now).

Where have the Donegal league games been played then?

The Mayo game was in Ballybofey, the Dublin game in Ballyshannon.

Maybe the Ulster Council are counting on a swelling in Donegal numbers with the improvement in the team's form. However, we've never had much of a bandwagon element in the recent past, except for Croke Park games.

[cavanmaniac]

If there's even the slightest sniff of a reason, and sometimes even when there's not (e.g. Fermanagh v Meath in qualifiers a few years ago etc.) to move a game to Clones, the Ulster council/GAA will jump at it. I have long since given up trying to figure out why.

What this really underlines for me though is the sheer folly, if not lunacy, of any county board investing big money in their county ground or taking hard-raised funding money from their local clubs to build these white elephants when the f**king things are seldom if ever full, or even half full...and when an occasion comes along that might just fill it for the first time, they go and move it down the road. I ask you!

Somebody needs to call a halt to the good money being thrown down the drain on shiny GAA stadia that never once in their lives cater for the capacity the people developing it are so keen to trumpet about. KIngspan Breffni Park has never come close to housing its capacity crowd of 33,000 approx. Ditto for Wexford Park. Ditto for Portlaoise. Ditto for Casement. Ditto for Salthill. The list goes on.

One big stadium lying idle for long stretches resulted in soccer and rugby getting into Croke Park, how long before the gaelic grounds, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Semple, Killarney, Wexford Park etc. etc. etc. are targetted by other bodies using the same logic? I agreed with other sports getting their temporary run at HQ but would hate to see the GAA coming under pressure to open provincial grounds in the same manner...

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Was it not the case in the near distant past when Donegal County Board were always happy enough to shift Anglo-Celt matches to Clones, when there wasn't a decent enough stadium in the county?!?


McCumhaill Park is completed, in a few weeks time, the capacity will be in excess of 21,500


If that is the case J70 then the match should be held in Ballybofey.
Sure Clones only holds about 25k comfortably, I thought???

[J70]

Was it not the case in the near distant past when Donegal County Board were always happy enough to shift Anglo-Celt matches to Clones, when there wasn't a decent enough stadium in the county?!?


McCumhaill Park is completed, in a few weeks time, the capacity will be in excess of 21,500


If that is the case J70 then the match should be held in Ballybofey.
Sure Clones only holds about 25k comfortably, I thought???

I would've thought 21,500 is more than adequate for this match, especially as it will probably be televised live.

Is Clones not closer to 30,000?

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

McCumhaill Park is completed, in a few weeks time, the capacity will be in excess of 21,500


If that is the case J70 then the match should be held in Ballybofey.
Sure Clones only holds about 25k comfortably, I thought???

Your right, 21,500 would normally be adequate, but with the homeboys looking like they may reach thte league semi's and who knows after that, interest will be increased for the Armagh match, also the orangemen do bring a good support!

I would've thought 21,500 is more than adequate for this match, especially as it will probably be televised live.

Is Clones not closer to 30,000?

Was it not the case in the near distant past when Donegal County Board were always happy enough to shift Anglo-Celt matches to Clones, when there wasn't a decent enough stadium in the county?!?

[Orior]

I agree, that it should be played in Ballybofey. However you wont need home advantage to beat Armagh this year.

[armaghniac]

Armagh typically bring a minimum of 16000 odd supporters to a championship game, two thirds of these would be people who had attended some of the league games. While an increased capacity in Ballybofey might have swung things, as it was a lot of people who would have liked to go would not be able to. The big strength of the GAA is its ability to offer the possibility of live attendance at big games, why negate that by using venues where you are locking people out?

Clones holds 35000, so no need for advance ticket distribution and all the headaches that causes. 

[Uladh]

for Armagh supporters it will seem like a home game as Clones is only a few Kilometers from the Armagh border[/i]

eh?

[cavan4ever]

KIngspan Breffni Park has never come close to housing its capacity crowd of 33,000 approx. Ditto for Wexford Park. Ditto for Portlaoise. Ditto for Casement. Ditto for Salthill. The list goes on.

Breffini's capacity is way lower than that cavanmaniac.  You could knock at least 10,000 of it .

[Bogball XV]

I think this is very unfair - it's time the gaa stopped thinking purely about revenue, what they going to spend it on?  A 30,000 seater in Derry to cater for any potential Donegal v Derry clashes?   21,000 would be sufficient to cater for almost everyone who actually wants to go to this, bandwagon jumpers don't really get on until provincial final stage.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the capacity of Healy Park circa 22K, and it hosted Tyrone v Derry last year.