Compete and they will come – Bumper weekend crowds show value of strong league programme

Colm Keys

The GAA can never lose sight of the conditions that attract crowds like those that gathered in Armagh, Cork and other venues over the weekend

Supporters on the terrace during the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Meath and Clare at Páirc Tailteann in Navan. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

February 07 2023 02:30 AM

Some time in the future the intention is to attach a GAA complaint/gripe to every day of the year. It will be easily done, seasonally aligned with whatever the prevailing issue of that particular week or month is.

Some you can set your clock by. And Colm O'Rourke's excoriation of the timing of the Sigerson Cup and the Allianz league together is just about where James Horan was 12 months ago after Tommy Conroy's knee went beneath him playing for NUIG, forcing him out for the rest of the year and, it seems, the start of this year too.

Glen/Kilmacud Crokes brought an additional early-season bounty for the complaints calendar - the process, the manner of substitutions, permitting substitutions after the 70th minute. And so on. Just when you think you've heard them all, something else new crops up.

But for the all the ailments we attach and identify with such a broad church of an organisation like the GAA, one thing will always override everything else - the games themselves.

To be in the Box-It Athletic Grounds in Armagh last Sunday afternoon for a thrilling finale only served to-reinforce that again. Just as seemed to do too as Cork and Limerick closed it out in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening.

Of course, both games were underpinned by raucous crowds. Armagh, like Mayo, appear to have built up a core home support of between 12,000 and 14,000 for these league games since they've hit Division 1. And the Athletic Grounds is now one of the best examples of a medium-sized ground to accommodate such crowds and generate an atmosphere.

There were some 14,113 in Armagh, more than the 10,232 in Killarney for Kerry's first competitive home game since being crowned All-Ireland champions and the 8,150 in Pearse Stadium for Galway and Roscommon. No official figure was given for Tyrone and Donegal but estimates put it at between 6,000 and 7,000. That works out at an average of 9,000 per Division 1 game.

It's worth repeating that the leagues, as we know them, still provide the best basis for a future championship format.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh had 19,516 and while there can still be a barren feel to it when either terrace is unoccupied, it still stands out for the quality of the pitch surface and its modern surroundings, more and more a rarity in terms of GAA infrastructure these days.

Chadwicks Wexford Park is one of these venues that isn't falling behind with the addition of floodlights helping to draw around 8,200 for Galway on Saturday evening.

Drop down the divisions and attendances naturally fall, but Meath still had their best post Covid crowd against Clare and Newbridge had in the region of 5,000 for Cork's visit.

Maybe the best example of all was the presence of 7,283 in Semple Stadium for an all-Tipperary Harty Cup final between the favourites Thurles CBS and Cashel Community School. For a schools final, even allowing for the tradition of the competition, that is quite something.

Together, those attendances reveal an appetite for still being there. And on a sun-drenched early spring afternoon like it was in Armagh and at many other venues, it makes that experience all the more pleasant.

Crowds at GAA games should be under more pressure than ever before. And if you track the historical trends they are. And they have to be.

For a start, there is the attraction of TV coverage. Now that eir sport are no longer part of the picture, Saturday night action has returned to free-to-air channels completely with Wexford and Galway broadcast on TG4 and RTÉ taking the later game on Leeside.

The following day TG4 rolled out Kerry/ Monaghan and then the Athletic Grounds, with Waterford and Dublin from Fraher Field in Dungarvan their 'deferred' match. That's a lot of armchair viewing.

And by late spring and summer, GAAGo's 38-match championship schedule will be in addition to RTE's coverage, yet to be confirmed.

There is also the extensive social media coverage from counties' channels themselves and the match trackers of various news organisations. It's possible to sit in front of a screen and build a picture from a host of different venues at the same time.

The GAA can never lose sight of the conditions that attract crowds like those that gathered in Armagh, Cork and other venues over the weekend.

Naturally, it's a by-product of competitive games, first and foremost. At 15/2 Armagh and Mayo was attractively priced to draw and are two of the football teams that have, for all the chaos they bring, have been easiest on the eye.

But well appointed venues play their part too and in that regard, investment both in minor upgrades and redevelopments should accelerate (with Nowlan Park and Armagh as templates), now that the finances appear to have absorbed their Covid hits.

Ticket prices are the other factor. Depending on your interpretation, the top priced league ticket has either gone up or come down with students still being asked for €15 for entry. That's €5 too much for games of this profile.

As the emphasis deepens on broadcast and streaming in the months and years ahead, the value and importance of crowds was validated again over the weekend. they're still coming, in large numbers, and it can't be taken for granted.