Dublin supporters less enthused by prospect of Fermanagh clash

The Dublin footballers would appear to be less of a crowd puller after being paired with Fermanagh in Sunday’s All-Ireland football quarter-final.

Despite the relative “novelty” of it being a first ever championship meeting between the teams, the general presumption that Dublin would be playing Cork on Sunday – and not, as it turned out, Fermanagh – has possibly impacted on the immediate demand for ticket sales.

There is still the expectation that a crowd in excess of 50,000 will attend, with Kerry playing Kildare in the first of the quarter-finals (2.0), followed by Dublin against Fermanagh (4.0). However, last year’s corresponding fixture drew of a crowd of 72,440.

Brisk

"It's still a little too early to tell, given the relative proximity to the sale of tickets, although the indication so far is that sales have been brisk, and we'd certainly be confident of a crowd in excess of 50,000," said Alan Milton, head of GAA media relations.

“We couldn’t issue the ticket sales until this Monday, until the exact pairings were down. If we’d sold some tickets on the assumption that Dublin would be playing Cork, then some people might have been looking for a refund.

“There were a number of permutations so we couldn’t confirm anything until such a time as we knew exactly who would be playing.

“There is a relative novelty about Dublin playing Fermanagh, although maybe Dublin against Cork would have been bigger draw, given the small population involved with a county like Fermanagh.”

Last year’s quarter-final pairing involving Dublin (played on the evening of Saturday August 9th) drew a crowd of 72,440 to Croke Park. Donegal beat Armagh in the opening game, before Dublin beat Monaghan.

However, GAA attendances on the whole continue to rise above last year’s figures, particularly in Ulster.

Promising

“It’s certainly been another promising year so far, across the board. Ulster football attendances are up around six per cent on last year.

“It still really comes down to the supporters of the individual counties, making the call whether they think their county has the chance to be successful or not.

“As we move on from the provincial series, it is about building on that.”