Sport

Draft plan agreed but venues may not fit bill

MASTER FIXTURE LIST FOR 2009: Ticket demand for Tyrone v Armagh in their provincial quarter-final may see the Ulster Council…

Wed Dec 03 2008 - 00:00

MASTER FIXTURE LIST FOR 2009:Ticket demand for Tyrone v Armagh in their provincial quarter-final may see the Ulster Council move the fixture to Croke Park, writes Ian O'Riordan

ALL FOUR provinces have now agreed the dates and venues for next year's championship, thus completing the GAA's Master Fixture list for 2009. As is customary, the venues for certain provincial finals won't be decided until the participating teams are known, although there are a couple of further exceptions in the earlier rounds of the Ulster championship as the capacities for the chosen venues are examined more closely.

The main deciding point there is whether to stage the football quarter-final between All-Ireland champions Tyrone and close rivals Armagh at Healy Park in Omagh, which was the chosen venue, or else move it to a neutral but bigger venue - namely Croke Park. The Ulster Council are concerned that Omagh's capacity of just under 25,000 won't meet the demand, while Croke Park's capacity of 82,500 would at least guarantee everyone who wants a ticket should get one.

For now that game, set for Sunday May 31st, has been listed as either Healy Park or neutral venue, and the Ulster Council will revisit matter sometime in the new year, possibly based on the form of both teams during the league. But the Tyrone-Armagh rivalry is among the most intense in the country, and given the stakes involved, the demand for tickets will almost certainly exceed Healy Park's supply.

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The Ulster Council made history by moving the 2004 Ulster final to Croke Park, where the meeting of Donegal and Armagh attracted 67,136, and Tyrone and Armagh met twice in Croke Park in the 2005 Ulster final, which went to a replay. If next year's game does go to Croke Park it will be the first Ulster quarter-final to do so, although it may be the game remains in the province, and the neutral venue is set for Clones, which has a capacity of 36,000.

Likewise, Derry's football quarter-final meeting with Monaghan the Sunday before, on May 24th, is for now also listed as either at Celtic Park or a neutral venue. The problem there is that ground improvement work is currently taking place at the Derry city venue, and the Ulster Council aren't expected to make a final decision on that venue until around Easter time.

In deciding their championship venues, the Munster Council have gone for maximum possible use of Semple Stadium in Thurles. It will host all of Munster's senior hurling championship matches, with one possible exception, with several football matches also fixed for the venue.

The only possible exception is a Tipperary versus Clare hurling semi-final on June 21st, which would take place at the Gaelic Grounds. Tipperary play Cork in the first round on May 31st and if Tipperary win, then the semi-final goes to the Limerick; if Cork win it goes to Semple Stadium.

In football, the Tipperary-Limerick quarter-final on May 30th will also be played in Semple Stadium, and if Tipperary win, so will the semi-final on June 7th, where they will play Clare.

However, the Munster Council have not yet set venues for either their football or hurling finals because of the home and away arrangements that currently apply in the province.

Likewise, the Leinster Council will be maximising Croke Park next summer, with Dublin's football opener against Meath on June 7th followed by two semi-finals, and, naturally, the final.

However, while practically all the dates and venues in next year's competitions have been set, the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee have put off until December 12th the decision on whether or not to stage the Christy Ring Cup hurling competition earlier in the year.

This year's final between Carlow and Westmeath took place on August 3rd but the CCCC is now considering running the second-tier hurling championship off earlier to free up players for club games. Clubs have been frustrated by the length of time they must do without their county players and are hoping that plans to push the Ring Cup forward will solve this problem.

In the meantime, the CCCC have also informed county boards that they must set aside a second venue up to or near intercounty standard to reduce the number of postponed games during the 2009 leagues.

A number of postponed matches in this year's leagues caused a fixtures backlog, whereas next year, in the case of bad weather, an official will be nominated by the CCCC to inspect the pitch on the evening prior to or the morning of the game where a final call on the venue will be made.