can i ask the question....

denlaw

why could the gaa not of played these two games today in thurles rather than croker , doesn't make sense bringing three munster teams to dublin and i'll hazard a guess at saying there isn't much of a difference distance wise for mayo ....

traecy1

Certainly from a supporters point of view it would have been more favourable to have the games in Thurles. I guess all the quarter finals were scheduled to be played in Croke Park as has been the case for almost all quarter finals since they were introduced in 2001. For the players of Limerick who have never played at HQ, it was probably seen as a reward after all the near misses of recent years.

Orizio

All AI quarter finals and onwards have to be played in Croker, something to do with season tickets for Croker.

Indie.

Orizio wrote: »

All AI quarter finals and onwards have to be played in Croker, something to do with season tickets for Croker.

Why were the hurling quarter finals played in thurles so?

denlaw

Orizio wrote: »

All AI quarter finals and onwards have to be played in Croker, something to do with season tickets for Croker.

There is such a sparse crowd in croker I just thought it would be better off in thurles ... The fans of course would be the last thing the gaa would think of ..

Sort of rant over..

CiaranMT

Indie. wrote: »

Why were the hurling quarter finals played in thurles so?

Might just be football, it has a much bigger fanbase.

Indie.

CiaranMT wrote: »

Might just be football, it has a much bigger fanbase.

Dont think this is the case. For last years hurling quarters in Croke Park there was 27864 in attendance whereas there is on 2200 there today.

Also the fact that the Hurling final last year was the most viewed event of the year might suggest that hurling has a bigger fanbase

maestroamado

How could the administrators of the gaa possibly do as you say, "it's beyond their capacity to do anything right when it comes to faciliting their customers"

flahavaj

Indie. wrote: »

Why were the hurling quarter finals played in thurles so?

The've been played in Thurles for the last 4-5 years.

Indie.

flahavaj wrote: »

The've been played in Thurles for the last 4-5 years.

They were in Croke Park last year.

Tipp v Galway
Antrim v Cork

DamnTasty

Indie. wrote: »

Why were the hurling quarter finals played in thurles so?

Hes right. Its part of the deal for seat owners in croker. All football quarters on are agreed to be played in croker. Only hurling semis on have to be played in croker

maestroamado

It appears that when the amatuer gaa decided to rebuild the new Croke park they went after the corporate sponsor and forgot to faciliate the tradotional supporter.
Now the supporters are forgetting about the gaa, thats how it goes..

I happened to be in one of those boxes about 10 years ago and there was a tele in the box which i assume was so people would watch replays.
Anyway as the game went on someone decider they wanted to watch the grand priz and changed over to it, i was an invited guest and was disgusted but i kept quiet, i did not go back to it after half time...

DamnTasty

maestroamado wrote: »

It appears that when the amatuer gaa decided to rebuild the new Croke park they went after the corporate sponsor and forgot to faciliate the tradotional supporter.
Now the supporters are forgetting about the gaa, thats how it goes..

I happened to be in one of those boxes about 10 years ago and there was a tele in the box which i assume was so people would watch replays.
Anyway as the game went on someone decider they wanted to watch the grand priz and changed over to it, i was an invited guest and was disgusted but i kept quiet, i did not go back to it after half time...

That's a crazy statement! Do you think that the GAA and traditional supporters are worse off for having corporate sponsors?? The corporate level is hardly excessive (compared to aviva which has failed)and provides important revenue which in turn is to luck after the 'traditional supporter'. Yes Id question the atmosphere up there but sure nobodys forced up there! Its relatively small compared to the rest of the stadium.

rossie1977

denlaw wrote: »

i'll hazard a guess at saying there isn't much of a difference distance wise for mayo ....

well i live about 6 miles from the mayo border in roscommon and its a million times easier to get from here to dublin than to thurles or indeed anywhere in munster, numerous direct buses and trains from mayo/roscommon to dublin, irishrail in fact laid on two extra trains saturday and sunday for supporters

maestroamado

I think the gaa should be worried with only 22k at a match but if they are happy with that it is ok by me.
I would consider myself a gaa supporter and i have being saying that the current re-entry system should have been changed about 5 years ago.
You are right about people having freedom to chose and they are excercising that right.

Thanks

J Cheever Loophole

Bear in mind that we are in the middle of a recession. People do not have as much money as they did five years ago. Attendances are significantly down across the board - there are many instances of that, and yesterday's attendance was just another example.

Paddyontherun

traecy1 wrote: »

Certainly from a supporters point of view it would have been more favourable to have the games in Thurles. I guess all the quarter finals were scheduled to be played in Croke Park as has been the case for almost all quarter finals since they were introduced in 2001. For the players of Limerick who have never played at HQ, it was probably seen as a reward after all the near misses of recent years.

From memory in 2001 (I think) Roscommon we're Connaught champions but their quarter final V Galway was not in Croke Park. They argued strongly at the time that as provincial champions they should have had the honour of playing in HQ.

daddydick

traecy1 wrote: »

Certainly from a supporters point of view it would have been more favourable to have the games in Thurles. I guess all the quarter finals were scheduled to be played in Croke Park as has been the case for almost all quarter finals since they were introduced in 2001. For the players of Limerick who have never played at HQ, it was probably seen as a reward after all the near misses of recent years.

Limerick played Waterford in the Division 4 league final at HQ last Spring - albeit not a Championship game which you are probably getting at.

Padkir

Indie. wrote: »

Dont think this is the case. For last years hurling quarters in Croke Park there was 27864 in attendance whereas there is on 2200 there today.

Also the fact that the Hurling final last year was the most viewed event of the year might suggest that hurling has a bigger fanbase

Yesterday's game included Cork and Kerry though, who have a notoriously bad following unless it's a final or they are playing each other! If 2 (or even 1) different team had been playing along with Mayo and Limerick, I suspect the crowd size would have been a lot bigger.

Even allowing for this, I did think there would have been a bigger crowd on both days, but I suppose it's just a sign of the times. I for one would still prefer to go to Croker for a quarter final than to a regional ground!

J Cheever Loophole

Paddyontherun wrote: »

From memory in 2001 (I think) Roscommon we're Connaught champions but their quarter final V Galway was not in Croke Park. They argued strongly at the time that as provincial champions they should have had the honour of playing in HQ.

Quite correct - that match was played in Castlebar, whilst the Derry v Tyrone quarter-final was played in Clones, and Dublin v Kerry of course was in Thurles.

keane2097

Between the Irish Open, the Galway Races, the soccer tournament in the Aviva and local festivals this weekend the attendance was always going to be poor - there was just too much stuff going on all over the country.

popebenny16

the last time the hurling quarter finals were played in croke park they got a terrible attendance -around 60,000, and that was under the old backdoor system so you had Tipperary, Kilkenny, Galway, Waterford and Cork, Limerick and Clare (I think) and Wexford/Offaly??? over that entire weekend.

they changed the system and they changed the venue to Thurles, because it is in the middle of hurling country, you can draw a rough line from dublin through to east Galway, and to north cork and back to Waterford and thats your hurling core area with Antrim added into the mix.

apart from that they have to have as many games in Croke Park as they can for the boxes and the corporate seats, and thats fair enough. they contribute a large amount of money to the rebuilding and the running of the stadium.

and they will be called upon again when the GAA sit down and decide what to do with the place come 2020, as the Cusack will be 25 years old by then and built to a 1980's design. You only have to wander around the Aviva to see the quality difference 20 years makes.