GAA struggling to attract the crowds

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE FINALS:THE GAA are bracing themselves for the latest test of attendance figures at Sunday's double-bill of Allianz Football League finals at Croke Park. Two weeks after just 11,342 showed up for the double-bill of Division One semi-finals – less than half of what attended on the previous such occasion – Cork and Mayo will meet in the Division One final (4pm), with Tyrone against Kildare in the Division Two final acting as the curtain-raiser (2pm).

This time last year 36,438 attended the football league finals double-bill, the main attraction there being Dublin’s showdown with then All-Ireland champions Cork in the Division One final – which Cork won 0-21 to 2-14.

Two years ago, when Cork played Mayo in the Division One final, the combined attendance in Croke Park was 27,005, although there isn’t any expectation either of those figures will be surpassed on Sunday.

“Well there is no comparison,” says GAA communications manager Alan Milton. “You can never really compare attendances between years when Dublin are involved, because they’ll always boost the attendance, and don’t have any great travel costs to factor in either.

“So we’re not going to throw out any potential attendance figures. But we do feel it’s a very attractive programme, with four teams involved that will very likely be involved in the latter stages of the championship too.

“Tickets are priced at €25 for the double-bill, which is unchanged from last year too.

“In fairness, Tyrone and Kildare are always well supported, and the Mayo supporters showed up well for their semi-final two weeks ago. We appreciate it is another long journey from certain parts of Cork, but they have been consistently well supported too.”

However, the GAA have decided against offering any special incentive for supporters to buck the trend and perhaps boost attendances: “Ticket prices and packages were decided at the start of the league, and wouldn’t be changed at this stage,” said Milton.

The fear is the semi-final attendance of 11,342 was the latest tell-tale sign of the increasing indifference towards the climax of the league, at least among the so-called neutral supporters.

There was also some concerns expressed at the 15,424 that attended last Sunday’s double-bill of hurling semi-finals in Thurles, although according to the GAA, that was along expected figures.

However, they were predicting around 20,000 for the football semi-final double-bill on April 15th – which saw Mayo defeat Kerry, and Cork get past Down – and when only 11,342 showed up, it was indicated afterwards the decision to stage the semi-finals in Croke Park would almost certainly be reviewed in 2013.

The last time football semi-finals were played, in 2007, they attracted a crowd of 23,200 to Croke Park.

At the same time the GAA have dispelled the notion that only attendances above 32,000 cover the costs involved in opening Croke Park, explaining that was the average attendance required to break even over 20 games.

What the GAA aren’t worried about is any possible effect on Sunday’s attendance by the clash with Leinster’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Clermont – which has a 3pm start (Irish time) in Bordeaux: “No, they make their schedules and we make ours, but we wouldn’t feel that’s going to have any impact on our attendances for Sunday.”

There is a reduction in ticket prices for Saturday’s double-bill of Division Three and Four finals on Saturday evening, where admission to the Hogan Stand is €20: the Division Three final between Longford and Wexford is the headline game at 7pm, with the Division Four final between Fermanagh and Wicklow starting at 5pm

Mayo manager James Horan has confirmed forward Andy Moran will take over the captaincy for the rest of the year, having rotated the role so far this year by naming him and also the likes of Keith Higgins and Alan Dillon.

Horan also has a mostly clean bill of health, with Aidan O’Shea still the most notable absentee with a back injury.

Cork manager Conor Counihan also has a near complete panel to choose from, with Aidan Walsh over the back injury he sustained in the semi-final win over Down, and likely to continue in his new role at full forward.