Big game attendances in serious decline

WHATEVER has happened to the earthquaking Tipperary/Clare rivalry of the last ten years? Time was, and not too long ago, that when these two bitter Munster rivals met, the ground shook and jam-packed stadiums rocked to the sound of ash crashing on ash, bone crunching bone. Even the after-shocks were enough to keep people energised for months.

This Sunday in Cork, the first big championship game of the new season is set to take place, Clare and Tipperary once again, but according to those charged with distributing the tickets within the counties, there's more interest to be had in a bank current account.

"Ticket sales are poor at the moment, very poor," admits Clare county secretary Pat Fitzgerald. "There's a terrible lack of interest and it's difficult to know what's fuelling that. In 2001 I sold 13,000 tickets, that was down to 7,000 last year, and it looks like it will be well down on that again this year."