What are the best rivalries in the GAA?

CyberDave · 14-10-2008 09:20AM

Royal Seahawk wrote: »

Meath-Dublin. End of.
Name me one other match up that could sell out Croke Park in the first round of the championship?

Dublin is the highest populated county so they are bound to have a bigger support base and also Croke Park is a home game for them. There are more rivalries than Meath and Dublin.

Yavvy · 14-10-2008 02:08PM

CyberDave wrote: »

Dublin is the highest populated county so they are bound to have a bigger support base and also Croke Park is a home game for them. There are more rivalries than Meath and Dublin.

indeed there are galway/mayo cork/kerry and so on but Dublin and meath is special... although not so much right now as Meath are fairly useless.. I really hope to see a return to the days when they were evenly matched.

premierstone · 14-10-2008 03:04PM

Alany wrote: »

indeed there are galway/mayo cork/kerry and so on but Dublin and meath is special... although not so much right now as Meath are fairly useless.. I really hope to see a return to the days when they were evenly matched.

Dont worry Dublin are well on their way to achieving this

buck65 · 14-10-2008 04:55PM

BOSTIK wrote: »

2 players got the line when the sides met in 2003, Seanie McMahon got a straight red while John Carroll was sent off for 2 yellows. Clare won it easily, confounding all pre-match speculation of a handy Tipp win. That match marked the end of any memorable clashes between the teams, fewer than 30,000 people turned up for a paring that was pulling twice that in the preceding years.

Yeah you're right I was actually at the game , Seanie hit Conor Gleeson a box.

Nalced_irl · 14-10-2008 06:31PM

premierstone wrote: »

Dont worry Dublin are well on their way to achieving this

Now Now!!!

Waylander · 14-10-2008 06:42PM

As a child of the 70's and 80's I think Dublin v Kerry will always be the main football rivalry for me. Meath came along just after that for the Dubs. Similarly in Hurling it has to be Cork and Kilkenny for me. Those two ties will always have an extra little bit of bite for me.

kerry4sam · 14-10-2008 08:26PM

Waylander wrote: »

As a child of the 70's and 80's I think Dublin v Kerry will always be the main football rivalry for me. Meath came along just after that for the Dubs. Similarly in Hurling it has to be Cork and Kilkenny for me. Those two ties will always have an extra little bit of bite for me.

+1 on both accounts with Football and Hurling ...

I grew up with the Kerry -v- Dublin rivalry and to this day it is still very much evident at Championship level and second to none.

I think the Kerry -v- Cork rivalry is really only at provincial level and as for kerry -v- Tyrone; i just don't see it reach the intensity as with the dubs.

Cork -v- Kilkenny for me any day is a savage match to watch...at any level and imo seems will be that way too for a while to come too

CyberDave · 14-10-2008 09:35PM

Alany wrote: »

I really hope to see a return to the days when they were evenly matched.

It might be sooner than you think. Beware of a Meath team written off.

Bogger77 · 14-10-2008 09:51PM

CyberDave wrote: »

Dublin is the highest populated county so they are bound to have a bigger support base and also Croke Park is a home game for them. There are more rivalries than Meath and Dublin.

Dublin v a bad (even by their standards) Offaly team sold out Croke Park

Bogger77 · 14-10-2008 10:01PM

Danno wrote: »

Laois Offaly - both codes.

This trickled down into club level at least for a few years during the mid 90's.

as a Biffo, we always knew that no matter how bad things were, we'd be able to give Laois a good run in Football, and beat ye in hurling :-).
Strangely, from an Offaly viewpoint, football rivalry v Westmeath or Kildare was always more intense than v Laois.
In Leinster hurling, there's not much of the Cork-Waterford, Clare-Anyteam rivalries, maybe Wexford v Kikenny useta come close.

Bogger77 · 14-10-2008 10:04PM

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Very true! For some reason Tipp are team that everyone wants to beat, you'd think it would be Kilkenny at this stage.

It's not so much the Tipp team we wanna beat, it's to quieten the fans.

Tipp fans tend to go on so much about being home of hurling and stuff, while the "new" stand in Thurles was falling down around them.

lorweld · 15-10-2008 12:31AM

Bogger77 wrote: »

This trickled down into club level at least for a few years during the mid 90's.

as a Biffo, we always knew that no matter how bad things were, we'd be able to give Laois a good run in Football, and beat ye in hurling :-).
Strangely, from an Offaly viewpoint, football rivalry v Westmeath or Kildare was always more intense than v Laois.
In Leinster hurling, there's not much of the Cork-Waterford, Clare-Anyteam rivalries, maybe Wexford v Kikenny useta come close.

Danno wrote: »

Laois Offaly - both codes.

+1 on the Laois Offaly rivalry! I'm from Portarlington which is on the border of both counties, divided by the Barrow. Many's the Saturday night fight down the town would be between both sets of fans:D To me its always great to beat Offaly. At any games between them, you can feel the intensity of raw rivalry. And if Offaly win a game I tend to stay in couldn't listen to the slagging!:o
Ah no seriously its great banter, when Laois are winning:p

premierstone · 15-10-2008 12:02PM

Bogger77 wrote: »

It's not so much the Tipp team we wanna beat, it's to quieten the fans.

Tipp fans tend to go on so much about being home of hurling and stuff, while the "new" stand in Thurles was falling down around them.

No harm in wanting doesnt mean its going to happen anytime soon.

As for Semple stadium yeah your right we really could learn alot from those modern marvels in Tullamore and Birr

Royal Seahawk · 15-10-2008 04:58PM

Alany wrote: »

indeed there are galway/mayo cork/kerry and so on but Dublin and meath is special... although not so much right now as Meath are fairly useless.. I really hope to see a return to the days when they were evenly matched.

What about the draw last year or the game before that in 2005 which was a 2 point victory for the Dubs?? Roll on June!!!!!!!

Yavvy · 16-10-2008 12:18PM

ack meath still arent there yet but I think they will be soon. Never the less Roll on June. strange that Dublin should get meath...its as if the GAA wanted a fullhouse and soem buzz about GAA early inthe C'ship

K-9 · 16-10-2008 06:22PM

Alany wrote: »

ack meath still arent there yet but I think they will be soon. Never the less Roll on June. strange that Dublin should get meath...its as if the GAA wanted a fullhouse and soem buzz about GAA early inthe C'ship

Indeed and Tyrone Armagh too. Rumours that they want to play in Croker too!

Agus · 16-10-2008 06:33PM

Seanies32 wrote: »

Indeed and Tyrone Armagh too. Rumours that they want to play in Croker too!

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=102425
Harte would relish Croker date with Armagh

15 October 2008

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte admits he would love to see next year’s Ulster SFC first round showdown with Armagh played in Croke Park, despite the Red Hands having home advantage for the glamour tie.

Harte says he would happily sacrifice home advantage to begin Tyrone’s All-Ireland defence at GAA headquarters against their fiercest rivals.

"Absolutely," he said when it was suggested to him that the game could kick off the GAA’s 125th anniversary celebrations.

"I’d love it, I would. I love going to Croke Park, why wouldn’t you? And that would thrill me to bits.

"Omagh mightn’t like that because they might think they have the game because it’s a home draw and Clones mightn’t like it because they might feel they should have it. But if the opportunity to go to Croke Park was viable, I would love it."

Given the tough draw Tyrone have been handed, Harte conceded that the back door may once again be their best route to defending Sam Maguire next year.

"The way the draw has gone for us, Ulster isn’t going to be easy. We play Armagh first and, if we are successful there, we meet Monaghan or Derry.

"So if you had to go to the pin of your collar to win Ulster, I don’t think it would be a good idea because you are going to come in a tired team at a time in the championship when that matters most."

Petrolium Hat · 17-10-2008 11:52AM

deise59 wrote: »

This stems from the draw topic. After seeing so many great clashes coming up next year, what does everyone think is the most fierce rivalry in the GAA today?

It's hard to tell in hurling. If we look back on the decade so far, Cork and Waterford have met way more times than any other pair of counties, and the quality of hurling they produce is something else, so that has to be up there, but the two counties still share a mutual respect for one another, much more so than say Waterford and Kilkenny.

Their rivalry stems from location alone, with so much to do with the bridge across the Suir, Waterford peoples perception that all Kilkenny people work in Waterford and that kinda stuff. But they very irregularly meet in the Championship nowadays, so do you think that makes their rivalry more or less fierce and intense?

Cork and Tipp have a more historical rivalry, as do Cork and Kilkenny, but do they really stand out far more than any other matches in the Championship? One very good way of analysing rivalries over in the PL is the atmosphere. The noise at Arsenal/Tottenham or Man Utd/Liverpool is far and away greater than you're average PL match. But for some reason, that doesn't quite exist to the same degree over here. Tbh I'd find a Munster final atmosphere between Cork/Tipp to be around the same as a Munster final featuring two teams who don't share such a rivalry, like Waterford vs Clare/Limerick.

But then again, a Man Utd/Liverpool FA Cup final would have a much better atmosphere than a Chelsea/Portsmouth final or something. Why is that the case over there and not here?

Thats why I want to ask the Dublin fans something. Every Championship match you play, it's played in front of a 82,000 capacity. But would you notice a stronger atmosphere when playing Meath compared to your regular Leinster counterparts like Laois or Wexford? I've never been to a Dublin football match so I'd actually like to know is there a major difference?

Getting onto the football, Dublin/Meath, Dublin/Kerry, possibly Cork/Kerry and Meath/Westmeath would stand out for me. Do you think Armagh/Tyrone fit in that catagory. Like I said I don't get to many football matches so I honestly don't know. Is there any other footballing teams you'd consider to have a strong rivalry with?

Personally I'd have to go with Cork/Waterford in the hurling still being the greatest rivalry in the GAA at the moment, solely down to the intensity of their matches, the numbers of times they've met since 2002 and the sheer closeness of many of their matches.

Quick fact for you lot, the two have met every year between 2002-2007. They played each other 9 times in 6 Championships, with Cork winning 4, Waterford winning 4 and one draw. Corks wins came with a margin of 4, 3, 5 and 1 point, and Waterfords wins were by margins of 1, 1, 3 and 3 points. Says it all really!

Anyone care to agree/disagree?

Considering Meath have never lost a championship match to Westmeath EVER i dont think that's worth considering.

Meath v Dublin is the best rivalry bar none. No atmosphere like it.

Petrolium Hat · 17-10-2008 11:55AM

Alany wrote: »

ack meath still arent there yet but I think they will be soon. Never the less Roll on June. strange that Dublin should get meath...its as if the GAA wanted a fullhouse and soem buzz about GAA early inthe C'ship

Why is it strange that havent got each other in the first round, correct me if im wrong but they havent palyed each other at that stage since 1991. That'll be 8 years. There's only 8 other counties they could have played. It's strange it hasn't come up since.

cruiserweight · 17-10-2008 12:00PM

Petrolium Hat wrote: »

Why is it strange that havent got each other in the first round, correct me if im wrong but they havent palyed each other at that stage since 1991. That'll be 8 years. There's only 8 other counties they could have played. It's strange it hasn't come up since.

The played each other in the Leinster quarter finals in 2007 AFAIR

Petrolium Hat · 17-10-2008 12:03PM

cruiserweight wrote: »

The played each other in the Leinster quarter finals in 2007 AFAIR

Yep but meath had played a first round match that year. I should have explained it hasnt come up as the first match of the championship for both teams since 91(i think). Hence no conspiracy.

babarino · 17-10-2008 11:30PM

The funny thing about Derry is that they see themselves as the Kerry of Ulster football - delusions of superiority.

The Tyrone football squad are grafters and deserve all the plaudits, their record speaks volumes, while many of their supporters can be obnoxious. Derry supporters are a likeable sort, unlike their players...

As a neutral at encounters between the two I have to say it's a rivalry I enjoy.

wow sierra · 18-10-2008 02:10AM

The only rivalry in the GAA is the one with your nearest neighbours - whether that be club or county,. Simple as..... no contest....

My club beat our nearest rivals in the county semi final recently - the rivals historically have been way above us but this year were way inferior. Yet some people in the club said they didn't care if they won the final or not as long as they beat the neighbours.!!!

There is no point in talking about the great rivalries in GAA - it is all about THEM AND US. The national rivalries the Media talk about are of very little importance.

Thats why we have to remember at the beginning of the championship that the so called unimportant contests at the beginning of the year in May are in fact the essence of the GAA.

blackbelt · 18-10-2008 01:39PM

I am just wondering if people think Tyrone will actually win Ulster next year?They don't seem to pronvicial kingpins as Armagh have dominated Ulster for years bar last year.Tyrone seem to flourish after a loss and they could very well play to that next year.

I think Donegal can win Ulster next year.With a new manager(s) in place,they will probably have a better reader of the game than McIvor who will make better judgements and possibly use better tactics.Sideline decisions have killed Donegal over the years.

I quite like the Offaly-Laois football rivalry.In 2005 they had a great match where Laois sucker punched Offaly near the death.It is one of those rivalries that you can sit back and enjoy without having any dodgy heartbeating moments.Also Offaly and Westmeath was a great one.Westmeath beat Offaly in the championship on their way to winning Leinster that year when the last time they beat Offaly was in 1959.

Dublin-Laois has been a rivalry over the last 5-6 years.Not so much for being neighbours because they aren't but they have met each other in Leinster finals and semi finals over the last few years and also met in the O Byrne Cup too.

There has also been a great undermined rivalry between Roscommon and Sligo but because they are weaker counties,they don't get the press attention on a national basis.

homerjay2005 · 18-10-2008 07:59PM

kerry v dublin is the biggest rivalry in the country. no other game captures national coverage like it. a kerry v dublin final over the next few years would be one of the biggest games of all time..

after that -

dublin v meath
kerry v cork
tipp v cork in hurling
tipp v kilkenny

no other games comes close to those 5. form is temporary, history is permanent.

Daysha · 18-10-2008 09:51PM

Hmmm...the Tipp/KK rivalry is pretty intense, but so is Waterford/Kilkenny (especially in the City) so I wouldn't say that one is nowhere near Tipp/KK. They're about equal imo.

baztard · 19-10-2008 12:27AM

I think there are 3 types of rivalries:

1) Neighbourly rivals - Two counties are rivals because they are neighbours and know each other quite well. Galway - Mayo, Tyrone - Armagh etc

2) Ability rivals - Two teams are very close ability wise, and thus tend to met at each other at the same stage of the championship quite regularly. Whenever they meet the game is always going to be very tight. Both teams set a marker of success as beating each other. Kerry - Tyrone, Kilkenny - Cork, Kildare - Laois are examples.

3) One sided rivals - One team tends to think of the second as a rival, but the second team doesn't think of the first as one. These tend to be great team versus average team rivalries. Any small team versus Kerry or Tyrone etc. Also I think the sacred cow of Dulin - Kerry rivalry falls into this category. I know the dubs consider Kerry as rivals, but do Kerry feel the same way? Anyone from Kerry let me know...

tethad · 05-11-2008 02:56PM

absolutely right there baztard!

phase-3 · 07-11-2008 03:23PM

In hurling has to Waterford V Cork, absolute brilliant games. But soon I can see a new rivalry, Waterford Tipp.

Football,

Kildare and Dublin back in the 90's when Kildare got the better of them!!

Down v Armagh

Galway Mayo (serious rivals there!!)

Cork Kerry

Browney7 · 11-11-2008 07:10PM

The back door seems to have taken the sting out of some of the hurling rivalries imo.

Look at 1996 when Ciaran Carey sickened Clare. The place was packed whereas this year there wasn't even 30,000.

I think every Munster county loves beating Tipp to be honest just to slag them off after. How they have the gall to call themselves "The Premier" I'll never know.

What are the best rivalries in the GAA?

Comments