Railway Cup 2014

iDave

Interprovincial SHC semi-final
At Ballinasloe
Connacht 1-18
Munster 0-16

Interprovincial SHC semi-final
At Trim
Leinster 8-18
Ulster 1-21


Interprovincial SFC semi-finals
Connacht v Munster, Tuam Stadium, 2pm
Leinster v Ulster, Pairc Tailteann, 2pm

Anyone care?

Was at the football semi in 2012 and final in 2013. Enjoyed on both occasions seeing such an array of quality players on one pitch. from a number of different counties.
No promotion as usual from the GAA. Get the feeling they want it to fail. Personally I'd like to see it survive and so do a number of players and managers.

CrabRevolution

I actually think the interpros are getting more exposure and attention now than they have in the last 20 years. 5 Years ago had people been asked whether the Interpros were still around they probably wouldnt know.

These days though everyone knows they are still around, but only because of how spectacularly unpopular and poorly attended they are. They have had their day and should just be let die.

The "No promotion" excuse used by deluded lovers of the Interpros is a weak cop out in their part. There is "no promotion" for Clare-Kilkenny in the hurling league yet that will attract 7-10'000 people. Same for the O'Byrne cup final earlier this year, but there were 2'000 at the final of that.

One thing I never understand about some GAA commentators is the International Rules/InterPro debate;

-International Rules gets 30'000 spectators to a match, people buy the jerseys etc. and the response is "What a crap competition, nobody cares about it and it's dead, scrap it"

-InterPro gets 100 people at it, the response is "Great competition with a huge future, shame on the GAA, we'd get 80'000 at it if it was promoted, needs to be kept"

manofwisdom

The NFL has two break to fit in the Railway cup, if for example you look at the Connacht panel its clear a number of players have opted out. It would make more sense to play off the league without a break and then play Railway cup in April.

Lemlin

279 people turned up today to watch Leinster and Ulster play.

Time to scrap the competition.

blowitupref

Lemlin wrote: »

279 people turned up today to watch Leinster and Ulster play.

Time to scrap the competition.

100 at the Connacht v Munster game in Tuam.

Crash Bang Wall

Lemlin wrote: »

279 people turned up today to watch Leinster and Ulster play.

Time to scrap the competition.

Was one of the 279. Excellent free flowing football.....no cynical play. Granted it lacked the intensity of a Championship fixture. Would go again, as it was a relaxed atmosphere and the football was free flowing and entertaining

Boom__Boom

blowitupref wrote: »

100 at the Connacht v Munster game in Tuam.

Team 15 with 6 subs (15+6) plus 1 manager = 22 * 44

7 officials - 1 ref, 4 umpires, 2 linesmen

Total of 53 on the pitch. (That's the utter minimum; probably a bit higher)

How long before there is more on the pitch than watching it?

The GAA public have spoken.

Are the powers that be waiting for the actual attendance to hit zero before they put this out of its misery?

Crash Bang Wall

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Team 15 with 6 subs (15+6) plus 1 manager = 22 * 44

7 officials - 1 ref, 4 umpires, 2 linesmen

Total of 53 on the pitch. (That's the utter minimum; probably a bit higher)

How long before there is more on the pitch than watching it?

The GAA public have spoken.

Are the powers that be waiting for the actual attendance to hit zero before they put this out of its misery?

I think they should honestly try and promote it for a year or 2 and then discontinue with it. League attendances have improved over the last few years, it will give the PROs and Marketing guys a project over the next couple of years......maybe a face in the crowd or something to win a family holiday....something.....anything

I think playing it this time of year is a waste of time. Its the busiest time of year, everyone is focused on the league and you also have Sigerson, club championships etc. being played out. This should be played out in autumn / early winter imo. Play it out under lights maybe on the October Bank Holiday in venues such as Parnell Park, Athletic Grounds in Armagh etc. I remember a football final a few years back under lights in Parnell Park which was on TV and had a good crowd. They tried putting it in Croke Park one year which was nonsensical.

From a Galway viewpoint in the hurling its a useful exercise, with so few league matches it offers 1 and possibly 2 decent games, better than trying to arrange challenge games but I'd see why others mightn't be so interested. The players like it but ultimately if the crowds don't support it it will fold.

Can't say I'd be too bothered to see it gone but I certainly think it has more to offer than the likes of league quarter finals in hurling which are completely pointless imo.

iDave

A full set of club fixtures in Meath didn't help the Pairc Tailteann attendance. I've noticed tweets from Paddy O'Rourke, Michael Quinn and Graham Reilly expressing disappointment with the loss and what it meant to represent Leinster so the players are still on board.

homerjay2005

what can be done to revive this?

surely there are 4 or 5 things the gaa can try to get the attendance up to 5,000 at least, these players deserve better.

Flukey

We are in a different time than its heyday. At one time there were fewer matches, less televised and people were not as mobile. This meant that they did not get the amount of chances to see various county players as we now do. To see a lot of the stars together on one team meant a lot to a GAA fan then. It also meant more to the players. Times have changed and that attraction just isn't the same now.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot that can be done to revive it. Many different things have been tried, like different times of year, different venues, international venues and so on. If your county was playing yesterday, you were more likely to be at that than watching your province. Even if there were fewer matches on yesterday, I don't think it would have boosted the crowds much. As has been said, the GAA public has spoken. Maybe it is time to shelve it for a few years. Most people won't miss it.

Redsoxfan

Good post Flukey, pretty much echoes my own sentiments.

Rather than worry about the Interpros, I think it would be much more beneficial if the GAA powers that be devoted their energies towards tackling the issues that exist at club level. These affect far more players and indeed have implications for the long term health of the organisation.

Karl96

An idea from Aaron Kernan to revive the Interpros, seen this on GAA Banter Page.
"All Ireland weekend is usually a closed weekend for GAA in all counties so play both Inter Pro semi finals in Parnell Park on the Friday night, the final on Saturday night and the All Ireland Final on Sunday. Basically having a GAA festival and using our best available players to promote our games on the biggest weekend in the football and hurling season. Dublin is always buzzing on finals weekend every year with finalists supporters, neutrals, 7's teams etc so make the most of the crowds to showcase the GAA"
Personally I think this is a fantastic idea and it would be excellent not only for the GAA but for the economy in general to have floods of supporters coming to Dublin to enjoy this exhibition of our games.

Redsoxfan

Karl96 wrote: »

An idea from Aaron Kernan to revive the Interpros, seen this on GAA Banter Page.
"All Ireland weekend is usually a closed weekend for GAA in all counties so play both Inter Pro semi finals in Parnell Park on the Friday night, the final on Saturday night and the All Ireland Final on Sunday. Basically having a GAA festival and using our best available players to promote our games on the biggest weekend in the football and hurling season. Dublin is always buzzing on finals weekend every year with finalists supporters, neutrals, 7's teams etc so make the most of the crowds to showcase the GAA"
Personally I think this is a fantastic idea and it would be excellent not only for the GAA but for the economy in general to have floods of supporters coming to Dublin to enjoy this exhibition of our games.

Why do you think that people will flood to Dublin for the Interprovincials? What's was stopping them from going to Navan or Tuam yesterday?

Assume Kernan's idea was implemented - no players involved in the All-Ireland Final would be playing - potentially some of the best players in the Country would not be playing for their province.

Parnell Park can hold 11,500 max. Hardly suitable for floods of supporters.

And, any Counties that have been playing in the All Ireland Quarter Finals will probably be still running off their County Championships at this time.

The calender is packed as it is. Other than players themselves, I don't see too many interested in the Interprovincials. Fair enough, if players want to play, that's something, but the general GAA public doesn't seem to have their enthusiasm for the competition.

Running Balance

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Why do you think that people will flood to Dublin for the Interprovincials? What's was stopping them from going to Navan or Tuam yesterday?

Assume Kernan's idea was implemented - no players involved in the All-Ireland Final would be playing - potentially some of the best players in the Country would not be playing for their province.

Parnell Park can hold 11,500 max. Hardly suitable for floods of supporters.

And, any Counties that have been playing in the All Ireland Quarter Finals will probably be still running off their County Championships at this time.

The calender is packed as it is. Other than players themselves, I don't see too many interested in the Interprovincials. Fair enough, if players want to play, that's something, but the general GAA public doesn't seem to have their enthusiasm for the competition.

not to mention the 7 a side competitions held in kilmacud at all Ireland weekend. They are a big part of finals weekend as it is.

Redsoxfan

Running Balance wrote: »

not to mention the 7 a side competitions held in kilmacud at all Ireland weekend. They are a big part of finals weekend as it is.

Aye. How many attend those as a matter of interest? They are likely better supported than Interpros because folks typically identify strongly with their club. Not sure too many identify with their province. That for me is a big reason the Interpros don't generate much interest these days.

CrabRevolution

It's time to let the InterPros go the way of the Oireachtas tournament and be let die. They had their time when teams had one match a year, when there were no club championships, no allstars and when nobody had TVs.

Back then if a player was great you wouldnt get to see them if they didnt play against your county. It was a good outlet to pick the best players and let people see them in action.

These days thanks to TV and the qualifiers, everyone is familiar with just about every notable player in the country. It's no longer a novelty to people from Antrim to get to see a talented footballer from Cork they'd heard about but never saw play against their team.

The figures speak for themselves, 380 fans between 2 semi finals, probably a third of that for the hurling ones. The Leinster matches were both held close to me and I know many people who knew they were on, but not one of them had any intention of going.

It's beyond saving, if there was a time to try and revive it, it was when fans started abandoning it, but it's a dead parrot at this stage, all thats left is to bury it.

Karl96

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Why do you think that people will flood to Dublin for the Interprovincials? What's was stopping them from going to Navan or Tuam yesterday?

Assume Kernan's idea was implemented - no players involved in the All-Ireland Final would be playing - potentially some of the best players in the Country would not be playing for their province.

Parnell Park can hold 11,500 max. Hardly suitable for floods of supporters.

And, any Counties that have been playing in the All Ireland Quarter Finals will probably be still running off their County Championships at this time.

The calender is packed as it is. Other than players themselves, I don't see too many interested in the Interprovincials. Fair enough, if players want to play, that's something, but the general GAA public doesn't seem to have their enthusiasm for the competition.

Well firstly, people would be in Dublin anyway for the finals themselves as well as the 7's competition. I think people would be much more likely to attend if it was in Dublin on finals weekend rather than a weekend in February.

Kernan's idea is that the best players in the country are on show over the course of the weekend, the finalists on the Sunday, with the best of the rest taking part in the Railway Cup. Yes, provinces will be without some of their best players but that will change from year to year and will allow players from other counties the chance to represent their province.

11,500 may not be many but it would be much better for the players playing in front of a well filled Parnell Park rather than the small crowds seen in Navan and Tuam at the weekend.

Finals weekend is a free weekend all over the country so no club games will be taking place. Perhaps if the competition was moved to finals weekend it could ignite an interest in the public, anything is worth a try at this stage, and something like this certainly seems better than the current setup.

Redsoxfan

Karl96 wrote: »

Finals weekend is a free weekend all over the country so no club games will be taking place. Perhaps if the competition was moved to finals weekend it could ignite an interest in the public, anything is worth a try at this stage, and something like this certainly seems better than the current setup.

Is the whole weekend a free weekend for clubs? If so, I stand corrected.

I think you are overestimating the amount of people that would come to Dublin on the Friday and the Saturday and would actually be interested in going along to watch the Interpros, but sure, I agree that it's worth a try if they are to keep the competition going.

One thing on Aaron Kernan - did he say anything about his own County manager withdrawing all three Armagh players selected by Joe Kernan for the Ulster squad? That to me does as much to damage the competition as anything else.

And I'm amazed at the amount of players moaning on Twitter about the lack of support from the GAA for the competition after the semi-finals were played - surely they should be encouraging their followers to come along and watch the semi-finals before the games are actually played?

Personally, while I'll go to every Donegal game this year, as well as a few random club and underage games and maybe the odd intercounty game not involving Donegal, I have no interest in going to Tuam on Sunday.

wonder88

Difficult to see how this competition can be rescued. I am old enough to remember when they were on St Patrick's day in Croker with live tv; and they used to get up to 10k at the finals. But the club championship have taken over that segment of the GAA "spectator market" and the inter-pros do not seem to be able find a niche for itself (sorry about the business-speak).
Yet I would love to see them being a success and attracting big crowds, as it would be great to see the top players in the country playing together on same team in a meaningful game.