Kelly wants to spread big games

GAELIC GAMES: GAA president Seán Kelly has expressed concern about the number of matches being played in Croke Park.

Elaborating on remarks he made in the match programme for Sunday's Galway-Kilkenny semi-final, Kelly said: "It's quite obvious that there are too many matches being played in Croke Park at the moment. You can't have major development in provincial grounds and not play any games in them, particularly now that there are eight quarter-finals between football and hurling."

His comments come at the end of a summer during which there has been rising discontent among supporters at the number of fixtures being staged at the headquarters venue despite the availability of more convenient grounds.

"There is also evidence that people aren't coming to Croke Park in as great numbers as they have been doing," added the president.

That evidence is presumably based on the turnout at the Ulster final replay between Armagh and Tyrone - which was only about half of the 60,186 that attended the drawn encounter. Even last Saturday's quarter-final between Armagh and Laois attracted just over 32,000 spectators.

Kelly believes that now is as good a time as any to reconsider the question of venues given that the football qualifiers and quarter-finals have been running for five years and this season for the first time hurling followed suit.

"It would be no harm to sit down and look back at the early years and take into account that experience before coming up with an ideal fixture list that would include provincial grounds getting games."

When the qualifier system was passed by the special congress of October 2000, one of the proposals that was defeated suggested provincial football champions should be allowed play their quarter-finals at a venue in their home province. Kelly feels this idea had its merits.

"It makes a lot of sense not least because it incentivises the winning of provincial championships."

Originally this idea was struck down because it was felt by the congress delegates it would benefit the stronger counties. Ironically, the first year of the quarter-finals saw the idea pursued by default, as three of the fixtures were between counties from the same province and were accordingly played at local venues.

The only other match was between Dublin and Kerry and that was staged in Thurles. Since then, however, with the opening of the completed stadium in 2002 all quarter-finals have been played at Croke Park.

One of the difficulties involved in adopting the idea is that Ulster doesn't have a large-enough venue for big matches - or at least the experience has been until last month's Ulster final replay that supporters from the province attend in greater numbers when Croke Park is the venue. However, plans are afoot to build a large stadium for all sports in Belfast, and that would obviously be an option for Ulster counties.

Kelly's reference to declining numbers attending Croke Park isn't, strictly speaking, true in that this year's quarter-finals have already attracted bigger crowds than last year's even before the Dublin-Tyrone replay is factored in. But he is correct in identifying a growing reluctance on the part of successful counties to come to Croke Park several times a season.

"There is an element of travel fatigue but you also have the situation where team managements want to play in Croke Park but the line to the supporters is that they have no choice in the matter. Counties used to going there are getting tired of it.

"It is expensive for families to go to Croke Park but I think that most people planning a summer would like to have the opportunity of two or three trips a year. Some people complain about the price of the tickets, but looked at individually and in comparison to other entertainments, I think we're very competitive."

Traffic has been another difficulty for those travelling to Dublin, with gridlock on the M1 before the Armagh-Tyrone matches and parking problems around the Croke Park area, particularly on a Saturday, when spaces are still metered.

Finally, Kelly has indicated counties that don't want to enter the Tommy Murphy Cup may be excluded from next year. The competition for weaker football counties has been hit by withdrawals and lack of enthusiasm in its two years to date.

"We'll have to consult with the counties and find out who's genuinely interested and who isn't and maybe make entry to the competition by application.

"It's a pity that some counties are so dismissive of it because I know that Clare were disappointed not to be able to defend their title this year and I saw Declan Browne in Tipperary (who play Roscommon for a place in the final against Wexford) saying he couldn't understand all the negative talk about the competition, as they didn't get chances to win All-Ireland medals that often."