Nowlan Park ‘mentioned’ for Dublin’s Leinster opener

All-Ireland champions Dublin will face the winners of Laois and Wicklow in the quarter-finals of next year’s Leinster football championship. Whoever emerges, there is likely to be pressure on the provincial council to fix the match for a venue other than Croke Park.

There has been speculation that Nowlan Park in Kilkenny - which has the biggest seated capacity of any venue in the province after Croke Park - might be selected as the venue for Dublin’s first championship match if they were drawn against counties from south Leinster.

In next year’s championship semi-finals, Dublin could face Meath, who they have played in three of the last four Leinster finals. New Kildare manager Cian O’Neill sees his side get a less complicated route to the final on the other side of the draw, which also features Longford facing Offaly for the third successive championship.

In Munster Cork and Kerry avoid each other in the semi-finals and are on course to meet in the final. Cork have drawn the winners of Tipperary-Waterford whereas champions Kerry will take on Clare or Limerick. Should the favourites progress there will be a third successive Munster final in Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, after this year’s replayed decider, as Páirc Uí Chaoimh is under reconstruction.

Once again in Connacht, where Mayo will be chasing an unprecedented sixth provincial title in a row the champions have been drawn on the same side of the draw as Galway. That makes for good news for new Roscommon management Kevin McStay and Fergal O’Donnell, whose team will have the more accessible route, through New York followed by Sligo or Leitrim.

Ulster finalists for the past three years Donegal and Monaghan have been drawn together on the same side of the draw. Donegal avoid the preliminary round, which will be contested by Fermanagh and Antrim, but should they beat the winners Rory Gallagher’s team will play either Down or Monaghan.

Tyrone, who haven’t won an Ulster title since 2010 although they have reached the All-Ireland semi-finals in two of the last three years, have drawn Derry in the quarter-finals with the winner taking on either Cavan or Armagh.

The issue of scheduling Dublin to play fixtures in venues other than Croke Park has been simmering for a couple of years, as it will be 10 seasons next June since the county last travelled in the championship, to Longford.

Since then Leinster Council has consistently voted to keep Dublin in Croke Park on the grounds that the enhanced gate receipts benefit all counties in the province even if the practice in playing terms is unfair.

Leinster Council chair John Horan, speaking in Croke Park yesterday before the draw was made, suggested that there was a reluctance to take the champions out of Croke Park if demand outstripped capacity in provincial grounds.

“It has never been an issue, taking Dublin out of Croke Park,” he said. “That hasn’t been the problem. People have looked at it in terms of the total practicalities. Go back and look who Dublin drew on previous occasions - taking them out of Croke Park would have put them into a Tullamore or Portlaoise and those grounds just don’t have the seating capacity, number one for the supporters and number two from the financial end of it.

“Nowlan Park was mentioned. We have explored the financial aspects and it would be a big cost to us to play Dublin down in Nowlan Park. It hasn’t been put to a full council meeting but if the draw comes that way then yes, we will look in a serious way at going to play the match in Nowlan Park.

"That would satisfy an awful lot of people in taking Dublin out of Croke Park. Just because I'm from Dublin, it has never been an issue for Dublin county board or Jim Gavin or the players. I actually think, having talked to some of the Dublin players, they would love the novelty of it.

“That to me would create a whole energy about it, (which) would be a marketing tool in itself for the game. There isn’t a doubt we would fill Nowlan Park - we just have to look at the final economics of it.”