GAA confident pitch will be ready in time

Players and managers weren't the only ones under pressure in recent weeks and the Croke Park pitch now also gets a breather.

Maintenance work began yesterday, involving the stripping of grass and any underlying algae, aerating and sanding the soil, then applying fresh top-dressing before re-seeding.

The entire process should take three and a half weeks, which is cutting it close considering Croke Park hosts a Leinster football double-bill on May 20th, just four weeks away. Yet, stadium manager Peter McKenna is confident the pitch will be back to its best in time for the championship.

"Obviously, when working with any natural environment you can't be complacent," he said, "but this is not an extensive job, and something we have done before. And it will certainly benefit the pitch for the months ahead.

"We are aware of the criticisms of the pitch in recent weeks, and it's something we're always receptive to. Some of it has been well made and we try to be positive about it. But I think as Nickey Brennan pointed out at congress, the stadium has come under considerably increased use in recent months, at a time when there simply is not a lot of grass growth.

"We are talking about over 30 uses of the stadium so far this year, including the soccer and rugby internationals, and all the corresponding training sessions."

McKenna also addressed the issue of Croke Park attendances and that not even Sunday's league final - which drew a crowd of 29,433 - surpassed the 36,000 supposedly required for the opening of the stadium to be cost-effective. In fact, none of the games in recent weeks, such as the Division Two semi-finals and various club finals, surpassed that figure.

"I think that figure has really gone into folklore. It's certainly misinterpreted in the context of Croke Park breaking even, and I think clouds people's thoughts on this issue. The reality is Croke Park's average attendance last year was 52,000, up from 48,000 in 2005, and we're also guaranteed at least four or five sell-outs. On balance, this easily makes up for the days when we have smaller attendances.

"There are also the secondary events, the business element to the stadium, which we're also very happy with, and also allows us to stage games such as the junior and intermediate club finals here, and also the colleges."