GET ON your boots . . . U2 have left the building, finally, and the Croke Park stage has been returned to its intended format.

They said you would never tell the difference, and in terms of the playing surface that may be true, but yesterday evening the lines between the newly-laid strips of turf were still visible.

Truth is no can say for sure how successful the entire operation has been until the teams take to the field for tomorrow’s double-bill of All-Ireland football quarter-finals, starting with Cork against Donegal at 2pm, and Tyrone against Kildare at 4pm.

Tickets are still widely available for those games, but forget about Monday’s quarter-final between old rivals Dublin and Kerry – which is already an 82,300 sell-out.

The process of laying the new turf was actually finished on Thursday, with around 350 people involved in the various stages of the process, and yesterday the grounds staff concentrated on marking the pitch and erecting the goalposts.

Specific tests were then carried out for traction and bounce and all standards were reached as required.

According to the GAA’s communications manager, Alan Milton, the lines between the newly-laid turf are purely a cosmetic issue and won’t impinge on the quality of the playing surface.

“It was never a case of those lines not being seen,” he said. “That was part of the process, but it certainly won’t impact on the playing surface. It’s also still another 36 hours before the first game and they’re likely to have lesioned even more so by then.

“It was rolled again a number of times yesterday. Everything has gone according to plan, and the grounds staff are more than happy with it.”

The GAA are expecting an attendance in the “mid-40,000” for tomorrow’s double-bill and for that reason have decided against the opening of the Hill 16 terraces.

The upper Cusack Stand has been opened but the competing counties have been critical of the decision not to make terraces tickets available – which means the only prices available are at €35 for the stand, with the usual concessions for juveniles (€5), senior citizens and students (€15).

Group passes are €3 per child and one adult per 10 juveniles free of charge. In the meantime tickets are still on sale from gaa.ie and will be at the GAA’s ticket shop at 53 Lower Dorset Street today, and prior to the match.

Earlier yesterday the GAA announced that “less than 1,500 tickets remain for Monday’s All-Ireland quarter-final meeting of Dublin and Kerry” but these were promptly snapped up over the course of the day. The only hope for those still seeking a ticket now is there might be a late return from the competing counties but that is seen as highly unlikely.

It means Croke Park will have a full house for the first time this summer – with the obvious exception of the three U2 concerts.

Dublin’s three championship appearances in Croke Park so far this summer have drawn impressive and yet relatively disappointing crowds, starting with the 75,250 that showed up for the Meath game, then the 51,458 for the Westmeath clash, and most recently, the 74,572 that attended the Leinster final with Kildare.