The 2024 All Ireland Senior Football Championship (Sam Maguire Cup)

dxhound2005

RTE say that the crowd in Croke Park was less than 15,000 today. I read that Parnell Park holds 13,500. I was only there for one game, Louth v Meath in 2017. I remember moving round the terraces to try to get a good view, but it was never satisfactory. I would rather be in Croke Park with a good view.

"Croke Park lacked atmosphere with an estimated crowd of less than 15,000 and an at times humdrum encounter reflected this but Dublin finished strongly to win with plenty to spare."

theoneeyedman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183446#Comment_122183446

Janey, vindictive. Made no comment about the venue, the crowd, the support or anything else, pull your neck in lad. It's a Dub home game, they can play it where they want, it's no big novelty for Roscommon to play in CP, and no occasion to play in it when it's 1/6 full.

Commentators on tge GO all going all in on Donegal here(bar Murphy in fairness), like they are 6 points up instead of only 1.

castletownman

Donegal are class. So good to watch

robbiezero

Very impressive from Donegal in that second half. Absolutely rinsed Tyrone who were completely demoralized as well as outplayed by the end.

Blub123

Is there a better midfielder at the moment than Langan?

On fire

blowitupref

Donegals best performance since win against Derry. In a very good position to top the group now and would have to fancy them to reach the last 4 for the first time in a decade which was last done under McGuinness.

In the earlier match I watched Dublin showed their class and ruthless streak to win by 12 points but a harsh scoreline on the effort Roscommon put in and it was 0-17 to 0-13 with 65 minutes played. Will be very tough for them to bounce back in 7 days against a rested Mayo.

PCeeeee

Without wanting to get into where the Dubs should play etc. Wasn't there supposed to be a break even crowd for Croke Park? I can't recall the number I heard but are we to understand that today's game loses money for the GAA?

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183973#Comment_122183973

I used to think that myth was true 33k. It was in the book GAAconmics said it was a myth.

Here it is referenced in the examiner 2017.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-20450392.html

Paywall removed using archive.is

https://archive.is/ihzpV

From the article above;

Croke Park crowd

Many had been led to believe that the GAA required a crowd of 30,000 in Croke Park to financially break even on the day but this school of thought was rubbished by the association’s stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna in Michael Moynihan’s GAAconomics.“That’s an urban myth. It costs between €40,000 and €120,000 to open the stadium and we often open it at a loss. The break-even figure? For the smallest crowd, it would be €30,000 so 10,000 people paying €3 each, or €5,000 paying €6 each would do it.”

dxhound2005

Is there a list of break even figures for other venues?

PCeeeee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183993#Comment_122183993

Thank you.

Finty Lemon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183784#Comment_122183784

Jason McGee would be a contender, thought he was brilliant tonight. Very enjoyable game despite the dodgy decisions by Joe McQuillan. Donegal are super to watch.

Tomaldo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183409#Comment_122183409

I asked a relation to pay for it and send as a gift. I logged in for the Dubs match, it said "available in countries EXCEPT the island of Ireland" WTF. I'm going abroad in 3 weeks, hopefully I can use it then but I'd prefer my 24 euro refund.

C__MC

Looks like Colm o rourke has set meath back years

C__MC

Tyrone could lose3 games and be in a semi final

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184081#Comment_122184081

And how is this different from several other teams?

Gael85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183449#Comment_122183449

Correct

RoyalCelt

The GAA as a spectacle in Dublin is on it's knees and I for one am delighted. With Dublin now likely to remain one of the top dogs forever the buzz won't be returning. Hopefully you enjoyed the glory days before the GAA decided Dublin GAA needed to be saved.

There's now probably 1 day a year when the wider Dublin population care about GAA and that's an all Ireland final.

blowitupref

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122076253#Comment_122076253

Louth's getting within 4 points of Dublin in the final and 10 point winners over Meath pretty much confirmed that Louth are the 2nd best team in Leinster.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122183460#Comment_122183460

Parnell. Only 8500.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184294#Comment_122184294

You must be joking you are constantly whining about Dublin it is your raison d'etre.
You fail to see the vibrant club scene. How Dublin are getting the max out of players available. How Dublin are spreading the Football gospel Ger Brennan Louth etc.

If any team is on its knees it is Meath and Kildare. Both so shameful based on talent available and under achievement it is hard to decide who is worse.

Westmeath and Louth have more pride than those counties above, who are a complete shambles.
Meath and Kildare need to get a "Jim Gavin Dub” in, to fix their messes. And fast. Real football men. Knowledgable intelligent, erudite, passionate and coming from a culture of innovation.

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184294#Comment_122184294

They have killed the golden goose.

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184081#Comment_122184081

The whole format of this is awful. No wonder the fans aren't buying into it.

robbiezero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184534#Comment_122184534

Ah its a bit of a farce. 24 games to get rid of Meath, Clare, Westmeath and either Cavan or Roscommon.

You could certainly see in the end of both televised games today that both losing teams accepted their fate and were moving on to next round well before the end.

Today in the hurling championship round robin 2 big teams will exit the championship. Almodt all of the main contenders championships are on the line. Should be a cracking day, although a bit of a strange day as a Tipp man.

WesternZulu

For years I have defended football but truth be told it’s on its knees for 4 main reasons:

• Entertainment: As a spectacle it’s not something a neutral would be too inclined to watch. Watching games from even 10-15 years ago it’s apparent that the game has taken a nosedive since in terms of entertainment. However football wasn’t exactly thought of being a great spectacle even then.
  
• Dublin: The GAA have created a monster through their funding of Dublin. It has ruined football in Leinster and it’s having the same effect nationally. You could even argue that Dublin’s success is causing disinterest in Dublin itself as could be seen from only 15k attending the game yesterday. I don’t think anyone in the GAA would have called the current scenario a success if it was presented to them when they first proposed pumping money into the capital.
  
• Championship format: I didn’t think it could get worse than the Super 8’s but the new format is horrendous. It’s nearly harder to get knocked out than stay in the championship. This in itself breeds disinterest. The league is the best competition football has. Crowds now in the league are comparable to these round robin games which says it all considering it’s the secondary competition.
  
• Championship schedule: I know that the split season is hugely popular with the players but if you blink you miss it. There are too many games cramped into a few months. There was only 3k at the U20 final which I’m sure was because of this cramped schedule.

The Moist Buddha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184081#Comment_122184081

they'll lose the that too if thats the form they have going into it

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184495#Comment_122184495

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184534#Comment_122184534

It is more the format rather than Dublin. But the "Dublin are the bogeymen" brigade love the chance to spin it that way.

As another poster said he/she would like more "jeopardy in games" as it is too easy to qualify from groups. I could see the logic. But the players want more games as simple as that. Ask any player and they love another chance to wear their county jersey.

I remember in the "Super 8's" a few years back when Harte was still manager of Tyrone and Gavin was managing Dublin. There was a "dead rubber" in Omagh. There were sections of press and media slagged it off both before and after. Many of whom were not even at the match.

But I was at the game it was a grand day out, great crowd. Lovely sunny day. Icecream weather. And from what I remember Bugler made his championship debut. He was fantastic in the game. To the extent that Tyrone fans were asking me who he was and what club he played for Look at him now!

Without that "dead rubber" would Bugler have got his chance and processed as well as he has?

There are both advantages and disadvantages to the current format. But there are many GAA supporters who have short memories and have not got the ability to look at the bigger picture.

If anything Dublin are keeping football alive. They have evolved the game. shown great innovation and progressed it. Others follow. How many other counties can say that in the last decade or so? Honestly?

Donegal maybe? And that's it.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184673#Comment_122184673

Entertainment - I disagree play has got much more intelligent and nuanced. No more hit and hopes. There is possession and movement I was at the Dublin v Louth game. And in attack Louth made the pitch wide. Putting lads right to the sidelines. Louth had their no 3 out there. They then funnelled back in defence and made it hard for Dublin to break them down, Louth were clever in playing keep ball where needed, and broke the lines with intelligence.

Dublin - that is propaganda just a long line of pure guff spoken about Dublin to disparage them. If anything football would be in the dark ages without Dublin. If you see a Dublin match live you can appreciate the movement and intelligence of play, Other counties follow.

Championship format - I agree it could do with some tweaking, but I view it as a slow burner. Sort of like watching the TV series "Breaking Bad". You gradually pick up the nuances and how fellas are playing, tactical changes etc.

Then it reaches the business end eventually. The format is designed to give so called weaker counties more games to try and improve, while also trying to insure the bigger teams make it to the knock outs.

Championship Schedule -

I strongly disagree here. It is fantastic. The championship used to be way too dragged out. If you blink and miss it. Tough sh!te. You are not paying attention or not a real GAA fan. The split season is great is much fairer to club players. And can give them sole focus for their part of the year. Not sitting around wondering when they will play. The players love it as you say. And it is the players who should take precedence. But there are many fans like me who like it as well. I know which part of the year is focused on club and which part is focused on intercounty across the board.

To be honest I think the new schedule is the best thing that has happened the GAA since it's foundation. It only took a pandemic to change it!

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122184990#Comment_122184990

A simple change to the Group stages meaning only 2 teams qualify for the next stage. Teams will already have more games now. This then gives another week in the calendar year which you are not killing the league finals because some teams are out the following week in the championship and gives the teams a break so some teams are not playing 3 weekends in a row.

Bugler would have got his change as he was good enough without needing a dead rubber game to prove it. It may have taken him until the next year but he would have got his change.

I could put it to you that Dublin are killing the game.

A young lad in Kildare who on the cusp of the panel but also has a chance at soccer and rugby. So he gets the call from the manager of Kildare so its a drink ban, training 3 nights a week a full fitness plans etc on the contract. But when he looks as the fact he will never win a Leinster Medal with Kildare or have a chance of winning the All Ireland. Why because Dublin are so strong as to be miles ahead. So why would I bother when i might have a better chance of winning a LOI or FAI cup in soccer and a move to England or playing for a rugby team and getting playing with a Leinster, Munster or Connaught.

It's easy to show great innovation and progress the game when you are getting a lot more funding than the rest of the country.

But I must be one of these fans with short memories because I remember when the Leinster Championship used to be competitive but that didn't suit the agenda of a Dublin based TD and a few others who piled funding into Dublin GAA at the cost of other counties.

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122185041#Comment_122185041

If you blink and miss it. Tough sh!te. You are not paying attention or not a real GAA fan.

I missed the games yesterday because I am "a real GAA fan". There were 32 adult football fixtures scheduled in Dublin yesterday evening. I don't know how many went ahead as scheduled or if any were moved to avoid the clash but I think it is a reasonable expectation that people who contribute to football in the county, whether it be playing, managing, coaching, refereeing etc be able to watch their county team. It was the same with the hurling the previous weekend.

Club activity happens all year round not just for "part of the year". The split season only impacts club championship.

C__MC

It's a boring championship let's be honest, Dublin and kerry will be in last 4 and they have a safety net through out the season. People know this