Clare GAA discussion thread

Figerty

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

As a friend of mine says,.. A day outside Kerry, is a day wasted.. Same thing applies to Clare!

Hibrasil

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

Never Ever desert the field of play until the "enemy" has long departed!!!!

Noveight

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

Tripe altogether.

Edna_Ennky

While all the attention is quite rightly on events in Croke Park on Saturday, there is plenty to discuss on the football front too.

The Clare U17 Footballers take on their Galway counterparts on this Sunday, in the All-Ireland minor football quarter-final at Tullamore. Throw-in is at 1:30 pm.

Last Sunday, Kilmurry Ibrickane won their eighth Cusack Cup title in a row with a 1 point win over Clondegad. While Eire Og were 4 point winners over Ennistymon in the Garry Cup decider.

Finally there are conflicting messages regarding the future of Colm Collins as Clare senior football manager. His term ended after Clare's loss to Armagh in the All-Ireland Qualifiers. Anyone with any info on whether the Cratloe clubman will stay on at the helm will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Sterling Archer

Edna_Ennky wrote: »

While all the attention is quite rightly on events in Croke Park on Saturday, there is plenty to discuss on the football front too.

The Clare U17 Footballers take on their Galway counterparts on this Sunday, in the All-Ireland minor football quarter-final at Tullamore. Throw-in is at 1:30 pm.

Last Sunday, Kilmurry Ibrickane won their eighth Cusack Cup title in a row with a 1 point win over Clondegad. While Eire Og were 4 point winners over Ennistymon in the Garry Cup decider.

Finally there are conflicting messages regarding the future of Colm Collins as Clare senior football manager. His term ended after Clare's loss to Armagh in the All-Ireland Qualifiers. Anyone with any info on whether the Cratloe clubman will stay on at the helm will be much appreciated. Thanks.

And the Ladies are into an All Ireland Quarter Final

Gael85

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

Are you under a different username this week?

Sterling Archer

BloodyBill

How come it's not going from Ennis and through Sixmilebridge? Still it's a good offer in fairness. All the squad plus all the supporters travelling up together.

Kristopherus

That 083..... number in post no.8048 is missing a digit, methinks. Should there not be 7 digits after the 083 prefix?

Clareman

That looks like going through a club, might be easier to go straight to the source in Clare Abbey

https://twitter.com/GaaClare/status/1022037520564080640[/QUOTE]

Howitzer the 5th

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

The mid-nineties saw tens of thousands of Clare people from the county and the four corners of the globe with Clare heritage take over Dublin in those few short glorious years when we were top of the pile after four generations of hidings in Thurles. It was truly magical, epic in fact and so so happy. They hung around then I can tell you.

In the intervening years, Clare returned to Croke park several times at various points but the same vigour and support never reached such proportions, maybe understandably. The Limerick win in 2013 was unexpected for many and it showed. The crowd hit the road even in victory very quickly. The all-Ireland final win naturally was different.

The point being is that most counties fans bail out quickly whether in victory or defeat owing to travel distance and their travel schedule from Dublin. Its expensive to slug beer nowadays and to eat out. Besides it better to slug beer with your own friends at home. Ticket prices are steep enough. €45 for an all-Ireland semi-final. It might be a low enough crowd on Saturday.

I'll follow Clare no matter what, where or when but its unreasonable for many to do so likewise in this day and age with extortinate costs. So people are entitled to worry about parking and not about 'hanging around' after a match.

finbarrk

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

Probably heard you were around.

BloodyBill

Howitzer the 5th wrote: »

BloodyBill wrote: »

This is a tad embarrassing. All Clare posters want to do here is talk about parking. Why do Clare supporters not take the train if you are so concerned. Also a genuine question..how come Clare supporters never hang around after a game..It's like watching an exodus. Most other Munster counties hang around and enjoy the after game stuff. Clare are usually back around the 'badlands ' of mid Clare before other counties have left the stadium environs.

The mid-nineties saw tens of thousands of Clare people from the county and the four corners of the globe with Clare heritage take over Dublin in those few short glorious years when we were top of the pile after four generations of hidings in Thurles. It was truly magical, epic in fact and so so happy. They hung around then I can tell you.

In the intervening years, Clare returned to Croke park several times at various points but the same vigour and support never reached such proportions, maybe understandably. The Limerick win in 2013 was unexpected for many and it showed. The crowd hit the road even in victory very quickly. The all-Ireland final win naturally was different.

The point being is that most counties fans bail out quickly whether in victory or defeat owing to travel distance and their travel schedule from Dublin. Its expensive to slug beer nowadays and to eat out. Besides it better to slug beer with your own friends at home. Ticket prices are steep enough. €45 for an all-Ireland semi-final. It might be a low enough crowd on Saturday.

I'll follow Clare no matter what, where or when but its unreasonable for many to do so likewise in this day and age with extortinate costs. So people are entitled to worry about parking and not about 'hanging around' after a match.

Good post and I take your point. However this seems to touch a raw nerve with some people. You talk about 'taking over Dublin in the 90s' but is that not what every county does when they reach a semi or final. Clare certainly didn't take over Thurles in Munster final day in 95.
The stuff you talk about regarding people travelling from near and far is neither here nor there. 45 euros is not expensive for an All Ireland Semi. It's cheap in comparison to other sports. Davy Fitz says Clare have a core support of between 4 to 6000 diehards.. Would you agree with him?

Clareman

I think it's a great testimonial to both counties that over 50k will be there on Saturday. Saturday is a bad day for a lot of people, Galway are involved in a lot of games this year between Super 8s, underage & replays as well as the fact the Galway races are starting next week. Looking at the 2 matches, the projection is to be ~50k on Saturday and ~70k on Sunday, considering Saturday's match has a combined county population of 376,000 (258k Galway & 118k Clare) that means 13.3% of the combined populations will be in Croke Park. Sunday's game has a combined population of 737,000 (542k Cork & 195k Limerick), that 9.5% of the combined population.

Clareman

BloodyBill wrote: »

Good post and I take your point. However this seems to touch a raw nerve with some people. You talk about 'taking over Dublin in the 90s' but is that not what every county does when they reach a semi or final. Clare certainly didn't take over Thurles in Munster final day in 95.
The stuff you talk about regarding people travelling from near and far is neither here nor there. 45 euros is not expensive for an All Ireland Semi. It's cheap in comparison to other sports. Davy Fitz says Clare have a core support of between 4 to 6000 diehards.. Would you agree with him?

I'm struggling to think of more expensive non-International sporting occasions in Ireland to be honest. I think I paid €45 for the European Cup Semi Final in Bordeaux this year but Munster tickets normal go for around €25. In addition to the cost of the ticket think of the expense of getting to Dublin, cost of being in Dublin and the cost of travelling on a Saturday, going to matches is an extremely expensive hobby which the GAA does nothing to help with, the sooner they understand they are in the entertainment industry and not the "people will turn up no matter what industry" the better.

Clareman

I would say Clare has a core support of around 10k - 12k, the match in Cork the last day had ~8k Clare supporters there but I know an awful lot of people that didn't travel the last day because of the time & venue.

Howitzer the 5th

BloodyBill wrote: »

Good post and I take your point. However this seems to touch a raw nerve with some people. You talk about 'taking over Dublin in the 90s' but is that not what every county does when they reach a semi or final. Clare certainly didn't take over Thurles in Munster final day in 95.
The stuff you talk about regarding people travelling from near and far is neither here nor there. 45 euros is not expensive for an All Ireland Semi. It's cheap in comparison to other sports. Davy Fitz says Clare have a core support of between 4 to 6000 diehards.. Would you agree with him?

In 1995 Clare faced into a third straight Munster final having been destroyed by Tipp in '93 and limerick in '94. A third murder was expected by many in Thurles against Limerick in '95.

The press completely wrote off Clare who had poxed a win over Cork before that. Seanie's shoulder injury, the goal that followed that from Fergie Tuohy and the extraordinary point blank block by Frank Lohan a minute later to hang on for a win. On that evidence why would anyone show up? 63 years of defeats. A dozen bad beatings in finals and scraping past the worst Cork team of all time in a frantic finish.

That day Limerick were flat and Clare buoyed by Loughnane's mental self belief and drive were fitter, hungrier and far better. The reaction went far beyond Munster. It was a stunning turn of events. Nobody saw it coming. Maybe the selectors and players believed but no one else did. So the public could hardly been blamed for the poor crowd that day. It was a sensational event. The rest is history.

In response to supporters and all Ireland semi-final weekends, it's not a given that supporters take over. For Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Wexford, Tipp in hurling, Mayo, Kildare, Tyrone in football probably but Kerry Kilkenny Galway and Cork in football certainly don't.

It's hard to define a die-hard. If you watch Clare in the Munster league against a college team in February than you're probably a die hard but then maybe that's attending for attending sake really. Based on the massive Munster final crowd and the pitiful crowd in cork only two weeks later it's very hard to know but unfortunately Clare do seem to have a lot of come day go day's.

Clareman

Oh wow, early 90s, Clare hurling was probably at it's lowest ever, sponsored by Aeroflot was probably the only good news, for a while there hurling was second to football. The footballers were on a serious high, All Ireland B champions, Munster champions, league semi finals. 93 was a terrible year, footballers PACKED out Cusack Park only to not turn up against Cork, the hurlers got our hopes up with a great run to the Munster final, Sparrow came on for Andrew Whelan in the parked and played a blinder, then we had Tipp laugh at us in the final. 94 the footballers lost a TERRIBLE match to Tipp in Limerick, own goal by Tom Morrissey summed up the game, the hurlers again had a great path to the final beating Tipp in the first round only to be well beaten by Limerick in the final.

Then 95, we were blessed to beat Cork and Limerick won a war against Tipp in the semi final, no-one thought we had a hope, we had no form, failed to turn up in the previous finals and Limerick were out to avenge a capitulation in the All Ireland final the year before. Those of us who travelled did so as a matter of honour rather than expectation, we didn't want to miss out on Clare's first Munster title.

Whatever about people talking about Clare in the 90s, the footballers started it, the Clare crowd in 92 was unbelievable, I remember a Dub asking "did ye's get a free flag with every ticket", legend has it Barry's hotel was sold out of drink on a number of occasions. Then again the homecoming celebrations of 95 are a stuff of legend, I remember the extra deliveries being laid on, the bars just didn't close for a few days.

Benbecul97

Great posts Clareman & Howitzer the 5th!!
And great memories!!

Stationmaster

Excellent hogan stand upper tickets available now on tickets.ie.

marco_polo

Stationmaster wrote: »

Excellent hogan stand upper tickets available now on tickets.ie.

Cheers just got two X section 731 which is practically on the 65

Benbecul97

Stationmaster wrote: »

Excellent hogan stand upper tickets available now on tickets.ie.

Got sorted with decent tickets, but it's such a shame that half-way line tickets are held back 'til 3 days before the game. You get punished for purchasing your tickets early. Unfortunately the muppets in GAA administration will never learn.

Smith614

Clareman wrote: »

I would say Clare has a core support of around 10k - 12k, the match in Cork the last day had ~8k Clare supporters there but I know an awful lot of people that didn't travel the last day because of the time & venue.

Oh sweet Jaysus, so Croke Park at 5pm on a Saturday is a lot more convenient than 3pm on a Saturday in Cork???? Ah ye are fair weather supporters. Never there thru thick & thin. Desert the county after Munster final & back on board again now. By the way the attendance for Clare/ Tipp was a joke also.

Figerty

Smith614 wrote: »

Oh sweet Jaysus, so Croke Park at 5pm on a Saturday is a lot more convenient than 3pm on a Saturday in Cork???? Ah ye are fair weather supporters. Never there thru thick & thin. Desert the county after Munster final & back on board again now. By the way the attendance for Clare/ Tipp was a joke also.

This is Clares 7th Championship match this year.. Work out the costs. This week is also pretty much the start of the holidays which means people are available to travel. 3 O'Clock on a Saturday, is a working day gone for most people.
GAA need to get real on fixtures.
The same applies at club level, putting matches on a 2pm on a Saturday, and wondering why they have poor attendance.

Benbecul97

Figerty, why waste your energy replying to these wind-up merchants??

Clareman

Smith614 wrote: »

Oh sweet Jaysus, so Croke Park at 5pm on a Saturday is a lot more convenient than 3pm on a Saturday in Cork???? Ah ye are fair weather supporters. Never there thru thick & thin. Desert the county after Munster final & back on board again now. By the way the attendance for Clare/ Tipp was a joke also.

3 o'clock on a Saturday in a stadium which is a nightmare to get in/out of with 6 days notice is far less convenient than an All Ireland semi final with a few weeks notice.

You can keep on going on about bandwagon supporters, name a sport or team which doesn't have them? The Dublin footballers barely got Croke Park over half full for a final this year, does this make them bandwagon supporters? Galway and Kilkenny got just over 65k for 2 finals this year, does that make their supporters bandwagon? Wexford played 7 games this year, their biggest attendance was 17k and smallest was 6k, does that make them bandwagon?

The attendances for Clare's matches this year has been
Clare Cork Tipperary Limerick Waterford
1 24,490 24,490 20,403 20,403
2 13,736 22,456 22,456 13,736
3 34,607 10,237 34,607 10,237
4 20,782 20,782 23,194 23,194
5 18,803 14,737 14,737 18,803
Average 19,453 24,073 17,723 24,252 15,722


Looking at the attendances in Munster this year, Clare had the middle average attendance, considering it has the second smallest population (2.4k more than Waterford) that's a fair reflection of a decent support base.

Clareman

Benbecul97 wrote: »

Figerty, why waste your energy replying to these wind-up merchants??

Cause it's fun on a Thursday morning

BloodyBill

Sorry can you explain that average attendances grid. I can't follow it.

BloodyBill

You've 34,607 under Tipperary and you don't have the attendance of 34000 for the Limerick v Cork game under Limerick or Cork.

Clareman

BloodyBill wrote: »

Sorry can you explain that average attendances grid. I can't follow it.

I don't know what happened when I copied and pasted from excel into the table function on here so here's a image


In round 1 there was 24,490 at Clare's match, round 2 13,736, they didn't have a round 3, round 4 20,782 and in round 5 18,803, that's a total of 77,811 at Clare matches for an average attendance of 19,453. I added in another couple of columns to show the population of each county and then expressed the total attendance as a percentage of the population. Almost 2/3 of the population of Clare attended Clare games this year, that's some bandwagon.