Dublin set to occupy Town End in Thurles

Dublin are expecting to get the Town End, the bigger terrace, in Semple Stadium in Thurles for their football championship quarter-final against Kerry on Saturday week. Although Dublin's ticket allocation won't be known until Friday, county board secretary John Costelloe said yesterday that demand is almost certain to outnumber supply.

"At this point we are confident that we will get one terrace end to start with," said Costelloe. "They both have decent capacities in that the Town End holds about 11,500 and the other end around 10,000.

"We're just not sure yet which one we will get. But we also expect the stand tickets to be divided up as usual between the two participating counties."

With a capacity of about 55,000, Semple Stadium will certainly be a sell-out. Costelloe was also awaiting confirmation of a possible curtain-raiser that may also eat into the ticket allocation.

"I can't see a situation where we will have any extra tickets going on sale to the public. Based on the demand for the Leinster final and the quarter-final game last week, whatever number we do get will go. Dublin and Kerry will always be a very attractive game for the supporters of both counties, and there is always interest from the general supporter as well."

Overall the new qualifier series continues to throw up some impressive attendance figures. Last weekend's four qualifiers attracted 98,817 supporters, with 60,762 attending the double-header in Croke Park, 23,000 in Roscommon for the Mayo-Westmeath game, and 15,055 in Clones for Derry against Cavan.

The four quarter-finals, set for Thurles, Castlebar, Clones and Croke Park on Saturday and Sunday of next week, are set to attract about 193,000 spectators if all the attendances approach maximum capacities.

Meanwhile, the GPA announced their monthly player award for June yesterday, honouring Roscommon footballer Francie Grehan and Limerick hurler Ollie Moran. Both players played influential roles in their counties' victories in June.

Grehan was instrumental in Roscommon's victory over title-holders Galway in Connacht during the month of June, while Ollie Moran performed outstandingly against Waterford in the Munster hurling championship.

The GPA's Score for Scholars scheme is reaching a climax simultaneously with the championships with the scholarship fund standing at £14,844. This has accumulated as a result of Carphone Warehouse donating £100 for every goal and £1 for every point scored in both championships this year, with the total going forward to create a young player scholarship fund.