Brian McEniff on Provincial Finals

Xenophile

Heard Brian McEniff being quoted on radio recently on playing the Provincial Finals in Croke Park in tandem with the club finals, football to played on St.Patrick's day and the hurling to be played the day before with school boy entry free on both days. A lot of merit in this suggestion.

ArmaniJeanss

You mean Railway Cup I assume?

I think the Club Finals people are entitled to their 'day'.
Also the 2 day thing wouldn't really work when StPatricks is a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Always_Running

Club championship needs to completed in a calender year. Having teams wait for three months for semi final doesn't make any sense and counties should have their full pick for NFL. Railway is on it's last legs poor crowds at all the games today.

Tombo2001

I find it very difficult to understand why the GAA cant make a good go of the Railway Cup games, or whatever they are called now.

I watched them under lights at Croke Park about 4 years ago, they were smashing games, really enjoyed them.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I find it very difficult to understand why the GAA cant make a good go of the Railway Cup games, or whatever they are called now.

I watched them under lights at Croke Park about 4 years ago, they were smashing games, really enjoyed them.

Most people don't go to games because of entertainment value they go because they care about one of the two teams that are playing.Not many people really care about a provincial team.

shockframe

I was at the 1995 All ireland club final replay between birr and dunloy which had the railway cup hurling final between munster and ulster on after.Terrible atmosphere.Didnt stay on to watch it.not helped by it being on after I know but still.

The inter-provincial format just does not appeal to me.must be a great honour for those picked however.

Clareman

I'll never understand why the GAA doesn't do a "Festival of GAA" type weekend using the Railway cup, let counties "bid" for the games and then play off the games over a weekend, for example, Clare hosts the Railway Cup, 2 football semi finals are played in Donbeg and Milltown, hurling semis in Sixmilebridge and Clare Abbey on the Saturday, the finals are then played in Cusack Park on the Sunday, 6 games all over the county with some big names involved, should get a bit of an atmosphere going, this would depend on the GAA advertising it properly.

Another think they should do (imvho) to encourage player involvement is play the games over a weekend overseas, if you're selected you get travel, food & accommodation paid for to wherever the games are being played. At the moment there is just too much on for players (Colleges, Clubs, under age, pre-season, league), you could use the Railway cup as an incentive for players.

CrabRevolution

That finals abroad idea has been done, and as with every other idea failed. The final in 2006 was in Boston, 2009 was in Abu Dhabi etc. others have been held in London, Rome etc.

Really think they should let the competition die to be honest. The GAA can market it all they like and players can say all the cliches and niceties they want in interviews about how much they want to win it. But the bottom line is that its a competition few care about and even fewer bother to attend.

Who honestly feels pride and dedication to their province? Why would someone from Wexford or Donegal bother travel to see a team thrown together the previous week in a match of no consequences? The vast majority of GAA fans couldnt care whether or not their province wins, and are just looking forward to when the leagues resume in football and start in hurling.

I know people might point to online surveys, hearsay and opinions all showing huge support for the interpros, but i have as much faith in that as i do the countless online political surveys who have Sinn Fein as one of, if not the most popular party. The reaity is vastly different, as the meagre attendances at the interpros show.

Flukey

I would not go along with putting them on St. Patrick's Day, where they traditionally were, and splitting the club finals over two days. St. Patrick's Day is one of the few days of the year where you can see both a big Hurling match and a big Gaelic Football match on the same day. This idea would scupper that. It would also mean having to go two days, which would be disappointing and not practical for many that want to see both club finals.

It is crazy that on a day when there are thousands of tourists in the city, looking for something typically Irish to do and some Irish culture to see, that the GAA are not letting them know about what happens in Croke Park on that day. It is usually nicely timed that when the parade is over, you can go up to Croke Park, but those tourists don't know that, and don't know what to do for the rest of the day. Thousands of tourists in Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day would be wonderful. Be it the two club finals or indeed the two inter-provincial finals, it would be a great opportunity to show our games to the world.

In 2004 they had an inter-provincial Hurling semi-final on before one of the International Rules game in Croke Park. Unfortunately there were not a lot there at that time, so many people only arrived after it finished. But it was noticeable for those that were there, all the "ooohs" and "aaahs" in Australian accents as they watched. I am sure when they told their friends that arrived late, that those friends were sorry when they missed it. Time and time it is said, that the GAA fall down in marketing their product resulting in low attendances. It wouldn't take someone with a marketing degree to change all that. All you'd need is a degree in common sense.

JessePinkman

Clareman wrote: »

I'll never understand why the GAA doesn't do a "Festival of GAA" type weekend using the Railway cup, let counties "bid" for the games and then play off the games over a weekend, for example, Clare hosts the Railway Cup, 2 football semi finals are played in Donbeg and Milltown, hurling semis in Sixmilebridge and Clare Abbey on the Saturday, the finals are then played in Cusack Park on the Sunday, 6 games all over the county with some big names involved, should get a bit of an atmosphere going, this would depend on the GAA advertising it properly.

Quality idea ! The players want the competition so so it should continue & scrap the aussie rules

closeline

The players want the competition so it should stay. They should play it before a big game. They would have got a decent crowd before the Junior Football final last Sunday but it was madness to play it afterwards.

Flukey

The thing about playing "before a big game" is that a large amount of the crowd don't come in until the big game. On an All-Ireland Final day itself, the minors never get to play to anything close to a full house. When the ball is thrown in there is usually not a very big crowd there and when the final whistle goes there are still a large amount of seats still vacant. At that point it may be a bigger crowd than at any previous game they'd played during the year, but still not close to full, like the seniors get. As a proportion of the full attendance for the day, not many will have seen all of the minor final. We're all familiar with the question that we have asked or have been asked: "Who won the minor match?" Be it first round or final, the question still gets asked.

For anything "before a big game", only those that actually want to see it will watch it. So in that regard, putting an event with something else may get a bit of a bigger crowd, but still not what the organisers would want and not what will be there for the main event. If it is after the main event, only some will stay. As we all know too, the big game is often not what turns out to be the best game. So it is good to go for all of the games on the day, whatever they are.

jjjd

I would like to see them played on the August bank holiday weekend each year as a permanent fixture. The players want it so I feel the competition should be retained and given a permanent home on the fixture calendar. By August most counties will have been eliminated from the Championship and we hear so often from the provincial winners like Kerry in the past about the time lag between winning a Provincial Championship and waiting around for their quarter final. The Railway Cup could offer an opportunity for players from counties already eliminated from the Championship an opportunity to win silverware and at the same time offer game time to those counties who win their Provincial Championship but don't get as many games as those counties that come through the qualifier route. Also The Railway Cup would have to be played off over the Bank Holiday weekend to minimise impact and/or disruption of the club championships. I would propose that the matches would all be played in Croke Park, with a double header each day, hurling double header on the Saturday, double header football on the Sunday and both finals on the Monday. No other inter-county fixture would be permitted (if possible) over the weekend to maximise exposure and give the competition the respect it deserves. Also the gate receipts would be shared between the Provincial Councils and not HQ . All matches would be shown live on television and be sell outs. If an inter-provincial rugby match can sell out in Croke Park so can an inter-provincial hurling or football game can as well. It's just about marketing the product the right way.

feargale

Flukey wrote: »

The thing about playing "before a big game" is that a large amount of the crowd don't come in until the big game.
For anything "before a big game", only those that actually want to see it will watch it.

The curtain raiser is one of the smartest things done by the GAA, unlike most other sports such as rugby and soccer. It staggers the arrival of the spectators, and so is a very effective crowd safety measure.

feargale

CrabRevolution wrote: »

Really think they should let the competition die to be honest. . But the bottom line is that its a competition few care about and even fewer bother to attend.
Who honestly feels pride and dedication to their province?

You wouldn't think so if you were a Leitrim footballer or a Laois hurler playing for the province. The Inter-provincials are their All-Ireland. The players want them. Why should attendance always be the barometer? Of course it would be better to have big attendances, but if almost every other sport in Ireland were to be dictated to solely by attendance figures they would scrap their competitions. There would be no Irish Cup in hockey etc..

feargale

There was a year when Jimmy Barry Murphy scored four goals in a Railway Cup final, and yet was overlooked for All-Star selection. It didn't say much for the selectors' view of the competition. But then I've heard it said that some of the All-Star selectors confine themselves to the only four teams they see during the year - playing the All-Ireland semi-finals and final. I would play the interprovincials the week before All-Star selection, giving the players a chance to catch the eye for All-Star selection, and then send three teams on tour, the All-Stars, the All-Ireland champions and the interprovincial champions. That would cover the eventuality of replacing players who couldn't travel because of illness, work commitments etc. and would also ensure that there were sufficient subs available for the All-Stars when playing.

jjjd

feargale wrote: »

You wouldn't think so if you were a Leitrim footballer or a Laois hurler playing for the province. The Inter-provincials are their All-Ireland. The players want them. Why should attendance always be the barometer? Of course it would be better to have big attendances, but if almost every other sport in Ireland were to be dictated to solely by attendance figures they would scrap their competitions. There would be no Irish Cup in hockey etc..

Attendance figures at GAA matches at the end of the day are the end product of a good or bad marketing campaign. If you do not promote them then you can't expect them to sell out. The GAA needs to listen to what the players are saying, they are saying they want to keep the Railway Cup. The GAA need to develop their marketing campaign around this. Just like when a business is launching a new product/service it will spend money on promoting and advertising it's new product to increase sales. The GAA need to do something similar. A few years back the GAA ran a very successful marketing campaign for the league match between Dublin and Tyrone when they launched the new floodlights. The result? A sell out.

jjjd

feargale wrote: »

There was a year when Jimmy Barry Murphy scored four goals in a Railway Cup final, and yet was overlooked for All-Star selection. It didn't say much for the selectors' view of the competition. But then I've heard it said that some of the All-Star selectors confine themselves to the only four teams they see during the year - playing the All-Ireland semi-finals and final. I would play the interprovincials the week before All-Star selection, giving the players a chance to catch the eye for All-Star selection, and then send three teams on tour, the All-Stars, the All-Ireland champions and the interprovincial champions. That would cover the eventuality of replacing players who couldn't travel because of illness, work commitments etc. and would also ensure that there were sufficient subs available for the All-Stars when playing.

Good point. It will give players from less glamorous counties a chance to get an All Star. Players like John Galvin would probably have a few if he played for Kerry.

Flukey

feargale wrote: »

The curtain raiser is one of the smartest things done by the GAA, unlike most other sports such as rugby and soccer. It staggers the arrival of the spectators, and so is a very effective crowd safety measure.

I agree. It's like the joke of the GAA fella going to his first rugby game, and just after arriving he turns to the person beside him and asks "Who won the minor match?" It is one of the great things about a GAA day, that you usually get two, and sometimes even three matches, and all for a price that is less than what you would pay to see one game in other sports. When you bring some visitors to a game and tell them they are going to see two matches and tell them the price of the ticket, they often think it is for each game.

The inter-Provincial series has lost its lustre. At one time, before widespread television coverage and when there were less matches and people did not travel as much, it was a chance for supporters to see players from different counties all playing together. Times have changed and some of that value will never return, but they still have their attraction. If players and supporters want it to continue, then let it.