September Road

Anyone buying or selling a ticket?

OFFERED: Genuine fan can't attend All-Ireland final because of broken leg. Gutted. Ticket bought for 50. Will sell for 150.

It's that time of year again, when many GAA supporters have to empty their piggy banks and decide just how much they want to go to the All-Ireland final. For many, scrounging around for tickets is an alien concept. For the well-connected, one or two will always turn up, even for an All-Ireland final. But for others, and this year especially for those in Kilkenny, Cork, Mayo and Kerry, obtaining entry into Croke Park on All-Ireland final day will be a nightmare - and a long path that often will end with the weary fan parting with hard-earned cash on the street outside the stadium. No matter how much you hate a tout, it's hard to walk away from one at 3 p.m. on the day of an All-Ireland final when you don't have a ticket.

September Road hates touts. After obtaining a precious ticket for the Mayo v Meath All-Ireland football final replay back in 1996 - and then having the wallet containing the ticket stolen outside Croke Park on the day of the match - touts refused to part with a replacement £10 ticket for less then £90.

Watching RTÉ's coverage an hour later, an embittered September Road debated which was the lowest: pickpockets or touts. We're still undecided.

Newspapers like Buy and Sell are full of ads from fans desperately seeking tickets for this month's finals. Meanwhile, we found an ad offering two hurling final tickets, "€240 for both". Lovely. There's nothing like a true fan, is there?

Of course, some will find themselves with an extra ticket come final day - generally the result of begging from several sources and having more than one deliver. But genuine GAA supporters don't fleece genuine GAA supporters.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no law to stop it. Nothing to prevent touts putting fans over a barrel.

What drew September Road's attention to the issue this weekend was an ad on Ebay - that great auction site inside your computer - offering two All-Ireland senior football final tickets and B&B for one night in Dublin. The current bid is £250 - about €370. Don't get too excited about the bargain price - the "reserve" hasn't been met yet.

No doubt, the 200 tickets for next Sunday's hurling final that were stolen in Dublin last Thursday will turn up next weekend on the street.

Replacement tickets have been issued, but while the GAA insist there will be special screening of tickets and the stolen ones will be weeded out, September Road suspects the chances of gaining access to Croke Park with one of the tickets are fairly good.

The problem, of course, is that even if you do get in, someone else has a legitimate ticket for the seat. And given the day that's in it, you can hardly chance just sitting in any vacant seat and hoping for the best.

The numbers on the tickets have been made public, but should you find yourself forced to buy on the street this weekend, best take down the numbers you definitely shouldn't buy.

Lower Cusack: Section 307 - Rows AA, KK, LL, MM, NN, PP, QQ, RR, SS, TT, UU, and VV. Section 310 - Rows L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T and DD. You've been warned.

If you want to exchange or buy tickets, Barry's Hotel and the Hill 16 pub are traditional hunting grounds, as is the All-Ireland Sevens in Kilmacud on the eve of the finals.

When tickets given to England rugby international Ben Cohen for last March's Twickenham clash with Ireland turned up at an unofficial ticket agency, he was named, shamed and had his ticket allocation suspended.

Why can't we do something similar for the All-Ireland hurling and football finals?