GAA for french people

bouss

Hello everyone,

I hope it's not wrong to post my request in this section (if it is I apologize).

Voilà, I'm french, and my father is a huge fan of gaelic football. I'd like to buy him tickets to go see the national league or some other games that'll happen in Ireland, but I'm quite lost on how to do it, which dates to choose, where, and everything else.
I really hope you can help me.

As we say, merci d'avance!

Realt Dearg Sec

Great to hear you're interested. First off, when is your father thinking of attending a match (the league starts in late winter, while the championship would be during the summer). Second, do you know what county, if any, he supports or would like to see play?
In terms of the league, it would probably be worth going to the Spring Series in Croke Park. That would involve seeing two matches for the price of one (possibly two Gaelic football, otherwise a football match and a hurling match), and it would be in a much nicer stadium than most games and with a better atmosphere than most league matches would have.

Tickets can be bought on tickets.ie, or by clicking on the fixtures on www.gaa.ie. But it might be a bit early to buy them yet (no rush anyway)

blue note

Another option that could be good would be the All Ireland Club finals, but they are club matches rather than intercounty so will be of a lower standard. The standard will still be good and the atmosphere at them is usually great (about 25k usually I think) and I think it's nice to get both a hurling and a football game. However, you have asked for intercounty football and I'm suggesting club hurling and football.

Other than that - RDS's suggestion of the Dublin series is good, you'd probably get two games, a decent crowd and a decent atmosphere. Or if you can hold out until the summer for the Championship, that's when the best games are.

Squidgy Black

blue note wrote: »

Another option that could be good would be the All Ireland Club finals, but they are club matches rather than intercounty so will be of a lower standard. The standard will still be good and the atmosphere at them is usually great (about 25k usually I think) and I think it's nice to get both a hurling and a football game. However, you have asked for intercounty football and I'm suggesting club hurling and football.

Other than that - RDS's suggestion of the Dublin series is good, you'd probably get two games, a decent crowd and a decent atmosphere. Or if you can hold out until the summer for the Championship, that's when the best games are.

I personally think the club finals would be nearly on par with Inter county games, the standard of the clubs that make it to the finals are on par if not better than most league games during the winter. Also, tickets will be easy enough to come across. The only problem is that it's on St.Patrick's Day so flights and accommodation will be more expensive and Dublin will be packed.

I've always wondered about the reasoning off staging the Club finals on Paddys day.

Always struck me as a horrible day to stage them.

Syferus

Clubs that make it to Feb/March are usually beating most intercounty teams they play in challenge matches. Not much of a difference in quality between those teams and all but the top tier and a half or so of intercounty teams.

bouss

Thank you for your answers!
I'd like to give him the tickets as a Christmas gift, so it would be for next year.. I think he'd prefere to see the all-Ireland games (If I recall his DVDs of football correctly). Maybe the semi final and final.. Do you know where it is located and the precise date? So I can arrange the details.

Thanks again.

Realt Dearg Sec

bouss wrote: »

Thank you for your answers!
I'd like to give him the tickets as a Christmas gift, so it would be for next year.. I think he'd prefere to see the all-Ireland games (If I recall his DVDs of football correctly). Maybe the semi final and final.. Do you know where it is located and the precise date? So I can arrange the details.

Thanks again.

The All Ireland final is in September in Dublin. Tickets go on sale about 2 weeks before the match, and they are extremely difficult to acquire. Certainly not viable as a Christmas present.

ProudDUB

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

The All Ireland final is in September in Dublin. Tickets go on sale about 2 weeks before the match, and they are extremely difficult to acquire. Certainly not viable as a Christmas present.

Tickets for all Ireland finals do not go on sale. They are only distributed via clubs. Unless you have an affiliation with a club, they are virtually impossible to get. The All Ireland tickets themselves are only printed up once the August semi finals are over, and the September finalists are known. They are impossible to get months in advance to give as a gift. On the day of the All Ireland finals, people can and do pick up spare tickets that people have if they hang out around the hotels and pubs around Croke Park. However, that is something that happens on the day itself. It is not something you can arrange before hand to give as a gift to someone.

A limited amount of tickets for semi finals do go on sale to the general public. The counties playing, and the level of support that they bring will determine the demand for them, and how easy or hard it will be for members of the general public (who do not have an affiliation to a club) to buy them.

Syferus

Eh? Semi final tickets were easily available on Tickets.ie even the Saturday before the Dublin-Mayo match this year and that was as near a sell-out as you could get.

Semi-final tickets are 'limited' in that some go to clubs but you won't have a bit of trouble getting a pair or more, even for a Dublin semi.

davegrohl48

Depending on the city he lives near in France (if he lives there) it is possible to see games in France. Teams in Lyons, Brittany, couple of other clubs. French championship has about 8 teams in it. Probably is the biggest club championship in Continental Europe.

bouss

Thanks everyone for all your answers!
So I tried to buy the ticket packages but it's not working, probably because the 2012 season is over.. Will I be able to buy tickets before 2013? If not, is it always the same dates in August ? Just so I can arrange everything else and buy the tickets later.

DEFTLEFTHAND

The Leinster football final in July might be another game to consider. Tickets won't become available until the weeks leading up to the game but considering Croke Park has an 80,000 capacity it should be relativity easy to acquire tickets, keep an eye on the GAA website for details.