The Schemozzle: The All-Ireland final ticket scramble was very different in 1984

Ticket scramble

The final ticket scramble has become an annual event but it’s not that long ago that punters could pay at the turnstiles for the final.

When Kerry and Dublin qualified for the 1984 decider, the GAA decided to make the game all-ticket for only the second time, prompting Dublin to hatch a novel plan.

Before the final, Dublin played Longford in a challenge game and 1,500 fans showed up.

“The county board felt they showed their loyalty by attending the game,” reported Des Cahill, “so they made a list of their names and asked them to come back last night (the Tuesday before the final) when they would try to make tickets available. But a lot more than 1,500 people turned up ...”

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Comic timing

James O’Donoghue’s comic timing is almost as sharp as his poacher’s instinct when he played up front for Kerry. The 2014 Footballer of the Year was at a roadshow for Off the Ball’s Football Podcast in midweek and told the story of how he missed a day’s physio prior to the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin.

Kerry were going on a training camp so O’Donoghue informed manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice of the clash. Fitzmaurice thought his attacker “a bit scatty” and warned him, “I don’t want to hear that you missed the f**king train or something happened”.

O’Donoghue assured him there would be no problems. He stayed with his brother in Dublin and rose at 7am the next morning, only for the handle to fall off the door of the bedroom.

“I was like ‘oh Jesus, noooo, please’ ... I was stuck in the room for eight hours, I rang Fitzmaurice and I couldn’t tell him that the door handle came off. I said ‘Eamonn ... (cue perfect pause) ... I missed the train!”

Research

How much homework did the Kingdom do on the Dubs? If a throwaway comment during the build-up from selector Mike Quirke is anything to go on, a lot.

“The four characters that weren’t there last year – Jack McCaffrey, Paul Mannion, Con O’Callaghan and Stephen Cluxton – you’re talking about 24 All-Ireland medals, 16 All Stars, and about 250 championship appearances,” Quirke stated in an interview with GAA.ie.

The big Kerins O’Rahillys man didn’t pluck those figures out of the air. His tallies on All-Ireland medals and All-Stars were spot on and didn’t just come from a simple Google search as the top result, Dublin’s official website, incorrectly lists McCaffrey as having five All-Stars instead of four.

As for appearances, 250 was a nice round figure; the actual total prior to last season was 224.

Top scorers

Paul Mannion and Sean O’Shea were joint top scorers on Sunday with 0-5 apiece meaning they join a who’s who list of All-Ireland final top scorers.

In the last 25 years, Colm Cooper holds the record having been top scorer in four finals (joint in 2004 and 2011 and stand-alone in ‘07, ‘08, ‘09 and 2011).

Dean Rock tied with Cillian O’Connor in 2016 and ‘17 and with Sean O’Shea in ‘19. His 0-7 saw him take top honours in 2018.

Word of mouth

The old system was unsustainable with club championships, where most of our members play, left on the margins, with the only certainty every year that there would be uncertainty

—  Larry McCarthy in his programme notes

By the numbers

12: Dublin championship wins over Kerry in 33 meetings.