Galway to restrict All-Ireland final ticket sales to members of clubs

listermint

Is this progress ?

I would imagine it was not sanctioned by central ?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/galway-to-restrict-allireland-final-ticket-sales-to-members-of-clubs-3332340.html

GAA officials in Galway have introduced a bye-law which will restrict the sale of All-Ireland final tickets to only fully paid-up and registered members of clubs.

The move is an effort to prevent casual supporters getting All-Ireland final tickets ahead of genuine GAA fans.

Galway County Board chairman Noel Treacy said that they had introduced the new law to ensure that GAA members did not lose out.

He said that with 27,600 registered members of the GAA in Galway, they were only able to cater for one-third of these with the allocation given to the county from Croke Park when they reach a senior final.

"We have a duty to cater for our real supporters. We only get an amount of tickets and that would not satisfy one-third of our official membership," Treacy said.

"We want to ensure that only currently paid-up and annually registered GAA club members will qualify to be considered for All-Ireland final tickets."

Treacy encouraged clubs to recruit the fans as members and warned supporters that they would not receive tickets unless they joined a GAA club.

celt262

Proper order i though that was the way it was always done anyway.

listermint

celt262 wrote: »

Proper order i though that was the way it was always done anyway.

Is it proper order that fans that support the clubs and go to league games are denied tickets ? is that proper order ?

celt262

listermint wrote: »

Is it proper order that fans that support the clubs and go to league games are denied tickets ? is that proper order ?

If they support there club they will be members so that wouldnt be a problem.

flutered

it should be the norm everywhere, how often do we see people at these games who does not know where the boss of the hurley is, plus they are never seen on the terraces either.

listermint

celt262 wrote: »

If they support there club they will be members so that wouldnt be a problem.

By supporting your club i presume you mean paying membership fees. not for instance going to games and paying entrance fee to games ?

listermint

flutered wrote: »

it should be the norm everywhere, how often do we see people at these games who does not know where the boss of the hurley is, plus they are never seen on the terraces either.

Is that not what a season tickets job is for, not membership fees ?

celt262

listermint wrote: »

By supporting your club i presume you mean paying membership fees. not for instance going to games and paying entrance fee to games ?

Well it is very easy for the GAA to see who is members of clubs but it is not easy to see that Listermint goes to 80% of league games.

Are you a member of the local club and if not why not?

listermint

celt262 wrote: »

Well it is very easy for the GAA to see who is members of clubs but it is not easy to see that Listermint goes to 80% of league games.

Are you a member of the local club and if not why not?

I am not a member, I merely opened the table for discussion. I was a member during my formative years. what does my personal situation have to do with the topic at hand ?

Its a topic to be debated.

Clareman

I think this is a great idea by Galway, it means that tickets are easily got by supporters in times of high demand. If you want to get tickets for your country now you have the options of a season ticket or membership of a club, there shouldn't be any excuse for anyone who's been to games all year not to be able to get a ticket for a big game now.

Clareman

Attack the post not the poster folks and calling people out as to whether they are "true supporters" or whatever will lead to bans.

celt262

listermint wrote: »

I am not a member, I merely opened the table for discussion. I was a member during my formative years. what does my personal situation have to do with the topic at hand ?

Its a topic to be debated.

I dont think i mentioned anything about anyones personal situation.

What to you think is a fair way to give out ticket?

Corkbah

listermint wrote: »

By supporting your club i presume you mean paying membership fees. not for instance going to games and paying entrance fee to games ?

I support my local GAA club by giving donations and playing the local lotto etc, I don't turn up to matches because I work 6 days a week, I only moved to the area 2yrs ago and am not in a position to join and play due to work commitments .....should I not be allowed to get an ALL-Ireland Final ticket if I wanted one ??

I dont disagree that genuine fans suffer during All-Ireland final rush - but there are plenty of genuine fans who sell their tickets to make money simply because cash is king in this day and age, and there are plenty of fairweather supporters who turn up on semi-final/final day.

Just because you do not attend matches or are a member of a club does not mean you are not a fan.....I think this idea is a joke and while I agree that something should be done about the hoards of cash happy supporters who turn up on all-ireland final day pay excessive amounts and get tickets.

celt262

Corkbah wrote: »

I support my local GAA club by giving donations and playing the local lotto etc, I don't turn up to matches because I work 6 days a week, I only moved to the area 2yrs ago and am not in a position to join and play due to work commitments .....should I not be allowed to get an ALL-Ireland Final ticket if I wanted one ??

Paying membership is more or less a donation to the club so the next time you give them money tell them it is for membership.

Everyone has different commitments but, do you think that you should get a ticket ahead of someone who is a member of a club, buys lottos and goes to all the games?

Corkbah

celt262 wrote: »

Paying membership is more or less a donation to the club so the next time you give them money tell them it is for membership.

Everyone has different commitments but, do you think that you should get a ticket ahead of someone who is a member of a club, buys lottos and goes to all the games?

I dont think that someone who does all that has an automatic right to a ticket - it would be great to get first dibs because you do all that...in saying that... I don't think I have an automatic right to a ticket because I support my own club, but its nice to think you would be up the pecking order....but as with most things in life,...if you have money you can buy them.

C'est la vie !

As regards donations...its a collection box in the local shop - fiver here and there gets put in, over the course of a year it works out a lot more than membership fees.

celt262

I dont think that someone who does all that has an automatic right to a ticket -

Its the people who are paying the membership that are running the clubs and organising fundraisers, if it was not for them there would be no clubs and no county teams they are the grassroots and deserve to get tickets as far as i am concerned.

As regards donations...its a collection box in the local shop - fiver here and there gets put in, over the course of a year it works out a lot more than membership fees.

Thats exactly why you should be paying membership and i cant see why you dont then at least you are registered with the club.

Corkbah

so if I can sum it up ....its because the GAA restrict the numbers of tickets to clubs that not everyone in clubs are happy.

in galway they are trying to ensure club members get tickets only (and hopefully increase membership of clubs...by making them (the fairweather rich) pay membership fees so they can get all-Ireland final tickets)

its a decent enough idea but it is flawed, it disregards people like myself who do support but are not members.

Personally I would not agree with it ...simply because its forcing people to pay "membership" so they can get a ticket - but because of the GAA allocation they cant guarantee a ticket !! ...so same problem remains...until the GAA give more tickets to clubs and the GAA wont do this unless membership fees are paid up....reading between the lines some club members were not paying their own membership fees but were guaranteed tickets based on their roles within their own clubs.

celt262

Corkbah wrote: »

so if I can sum it up ....its because the GAA

in galway they are trying to ensure club members get tickets only

That is the way it has always been for All-Ireland final tickets

The GAA give allocations to the clubs who pass them on to members .

bruschi

Corkbah wrote: »

so if I can sum it up ....its because the GAA restrict the numbers of tickets to clubs that not everyone in clubs are happy.

in galway they are trying to ensure club members get tickets only (and hopefully increase membership of clubs...by making them (the fairweather rich) pay membership fees so they can get all-Ireland final tickets)

its a decent enough idea but it is flawed, it disregards people like myself who do support but are not members.

Personally I would not agree with it ...simply because its forcing people to pay "membership" so they can get a ticket - but because of the GAA allocation they cant guarantee a ticket !! ...so same problem remains...until the GAA give more tickets to clubs and the GAA wont do this unless membership fees are paid up....reading between the lines some club members were not paying their own membership fees but were guaranteed tickets based on their roles within their own clubs.

clareman has already said, you dont necessarily have to be a member to be able to get a ticket. If you have a season ticket and attend your countys games, then you will be able to get an AI ticket.

I think its a case now of there being no excuses. Some people moan that they follow their county, but not their club or dont live there. Solution, buy a season ticket. Some moan and whinge that they do all for their club all year but cant get an AI ticket. Now you can. I dont see the problem with it at all.

The only people who will have a problem is those who are not members of their own clubs, and those who do not regularily attend their countys games. And I think its more than fair that season ticket holders, and club members do get priority over them.

Clareman

I don't know if any sporting organisation has come up with a perfect solution when it comes to tickets, I'm a big fan of the GAA way of doing it through the clubs and season tickets, I think this makes sure that people with genuine interest in their county will find a way to get tickets, it'd definitely a lot fairer than having a free for all on a website.

randd1

Brilliant idea, we have had that in Kilkenny for a while now and it works well for us, members of the clubs get the tickets first. In general for an AI final ticket you have to go through a club member.

That said not everyone has the chance to follow their club due to work commitments and other things like that. Perhaps giving the majority of tickets to the clubs and having say 10% of the allocation to county supporters club for those who go county games regularly would be a good idea.

antoobrien

celt262 wrote: »

Proper order i though that was the way it was always done anyway.

It would only be done this way for club allocations, which makes up most of the tickets. The co. board allocations usually have a few that are sold to people that buy their match tickets through the board e.g. go into the office at Pearse Stadium or training at Kenny Park. There are few if any restrictions on these tickets, I've never been asked what club I'm in when buying off them.

Besides there were only 41,537 at the semi final, there were more than that looking for tickets for the final in co galway alone.

Diabhal Beag

It's very fair IMO. You either have the option to support your local club or get a season ticket. I got a few tickets from the county board last year and did think it was strange how easy it was to get them. Anything that makes it harder for a sunshine supporter to get a ticket is fine by me. There were people in front of me for the replay who didn't know who anybody except Joe Canning.

Fianna Fowl

Was this not happening anyway? Were event junkies in Galway getting tickets ahead of club members? I'd be shocked if this was the case.

In my club in Dublin fully paid up register members are prioritized. There would be uproar if non club members were getting club allocated tickets ahead of members.

The problem tends to be where people put in for full tickets for each family member where they have family membership. Family of 5 look for 5 tickets and then end up giving 3 of them to friends.

It would make more sense if Galwy restricted club allocated tickets only to the members they were given to. It would require anyone allocated club tickets to bring ID with them to Croke Park. It would result in more genuine fans being looked after.

MfMan

Fianna Fowl wrote: »

Was this not happening anyway? Were event junkies in Galway getting tickets ahead of club members? I'd be shocked if this was the case.

In my club in Dublin fully paid up register members are prioritized. There would be uproar if non club members were getting club allocated tickets ahead of members.

The problem tends to be where people put in for full tickets for each family member where they have family membership. Family of 5 look for 5 tickets and then end up giving 3 of them to friends.

It would make more sense if Galwy restricted club allocated tickets only to the members they were given to. It would require anyone allocated club tickets to bring ID with them to Croke Park. It would result in more genuine fans being looked after.

Agreed.

It's a good idea by the county board but really aspirational only. Very hard to implement in practice as it's quite difficult to gather club membership during the course of a year. (Take it from someone who's worked at the coalface of this for years). You get people who do quite a bit of work for the club but neglect to pay the sub. When it comes time to allocate AI tickets, they usually come along and say "Oh, I thought I paid you that during the year." (in spite of many entreaties to do so.) Very hard to refuse them because in a lot of cases they may have done more for the club than some actual paid members. Family membership, as mentioned above, is also troublesome.

If equal import is the mooted idea that clubs would be allocated tickets in the future based on paid membership, so 'more members, more tickets', which is also quite reasonable.

Tom Joad

You'll never keep everybody happy but this seems like a very sensible proposal to me and should ensure that the real supporters have a fair chance of getting tickets to the big games.

keane2097

I thought this was standard practice everywhere? Who have clubs in Galway been selling their tickets to up to now?

antoobrien

keane2097 wrote: »

I thought this was standard practice everywhere? Who have clubs in Galway been selling their tickets to up to now?

The clubs in Galway sell to their members as it is - that's not the issue here. This is regarding the sale of tickets from the Board not the clubs.

There was a big problem created at the replay by the family tickets - it meant that a lot of people who had tickets for the drawn match were left without them for the replay. I know several of family tickets where there was only 1 GAA member using a ticket - this was usually the adult, but in some cases a child that was a member of the club.

That really annoyed a lot of people like myself that have been to most, if not all, of the All-Ireland & league matches over the past few years, as well as the kids that had full price tickets bought for them that couldn't get one for the replay.

There is a problem with the pricing of tickets for children at finals, but the family tickets was a disaster and should not be repeated.

nice_guy80

ever county should do this

it would mean people would have to join GAA clubs to get access to tickets for the big games.
same as the way rugby tickets are distributed for 6 nations games.

for the sake of €20 membership that most clubs charge for non playing members.

darragh085

well i am a member of my local club and have a season ticket so getting tickets is never an issue. I am all for making sure come all ireland final day that members get tickets first. what i cant get is if there is 27000 members in galway how come on all ireland final day all these cant be given a ticket in a stadium that holds 82000

antoobrien

darragh085 wrote: »

well i am a member of my local club and have a season ticket so getting tickets is never an issue. I am all for making sure come all ireland final day that members get tickets first. what i cant get is if there is 27000 members in galway how come on all ireland final day all these cant be given a ticket in a stadium that holds 82000

Because Galway got an allocation of 12k-13k and the clubs about got half of that.

chickencurry02

I would be very intersting to see how much tickets would be sold for a quarter / semi final if only paid up members of clubs got tickets

antoobrien

chickencurry02 wrote: »

I would be very intersting to see how much tickets would be sold for a quarter / semi final if only paid up members of clubs got tickets

In my experience they're the ones most likely to be at those matches. The hangers on appear at the AI semi & Final stages.

listermint

antoobrien wrote: »

In my experience they're the ones most likely to be at those matches. The hangers on appear at the AI semi & Final stages.

Well thats not true tbh.

antoobrien

listermint wrote: »

Well thats not true tbh.

Might be the case in Dublin, not in Galway

Tipperary animal lover

antoobrien wrote: »

Might be the case in Dublin, not in Galway

I go to all the tipp matches, there are four of us who go together we live in cork and Kerry and are not joined our hometown club in tipp, so I don't agree with it, people will get tickets there will always be eBay done deal touts and the county board looking after there own etc etc, its only another making effort by the county board.....

dartsfan

chickencurry02 wrote: »

I would be very intersting to see how much tickets would be sold for a quarter / semi final if only paid up members of clubs got tickets

Great point. A lot of genuine supporters go to matches that are not paid up members of clubs.

Outside of a money-making scheme, I'm not sure how this changes things. At present, when tickets are distributed to clubs I presume that only club members get them. Non-club members usually get tickets then through "other" sources e.g. contacts in other counties etc.

So I don't see how this changes things much

Syferus

I know very few people who actually buy tickets of any hue through their club. It's a painful process at times and it's an absolute lottery what tickets your club gets. If your team happens to be one of the minor county teams on the bill you can expect particularly muck tickets to be handed out, far better ones being available in other counties and online.

I'd only even consider buying tickets from the club in the event of an All-Ireland final anyways.

rockonollie

We have plenty of experience of distributing final tickets in Kilkenny

The majority of the tickets are limited to, and distributed through clubs and their members.......a small proprotion are put on general sale at Nowlan park for those fans who are not members of clubs, but the demand is always higher than the supply.

Best way to be sure of a ticket is to be a member of a club.......and standing in line outside nowlan park in september can be hit or miss in terms of weather.