Huge fall in crowds at opening rounds

LAST Sunday the curtain came down on an intercounty programme which put up the house full signs in Croke Park more often than ever before.

Crowds of record proportions witnessed the concluding stages of the Leinster championship and the attendances at the Dublin-Meath semi final and the final versus Kildare taxed Croke Park to it’s very limits.

This trend continued for the quarter final and semi final stages of the All-Ireland series with the notable exception of the Cork-Kerry clash which drew a most disappointing 50,000.

Of course, the emergence of an exciting Dublin team was one of the main reason’s for this happy state of affairs, which would suggest that all on the football front is well.

However, this would be very misleading as beneath the shining veneer some worrying cracks seem to be appearing.

Crowds at the qualifiers were down a massive 31.8% on the previous year.

This must be especially worrying as it would seriously call into question the perception of the qualifiers. We had some very one-sided games; Leitrim were annihilated by Tyrone, while Kerry rode roughshod over heartless Wicklow and Fermanagh and of the ‘weaker’ counties only Limerick benefitted from the new system.

If we are to judge by the attendances at, what would have appeared to be very attractive games, the paying public seems to have turned thier back on the new format.

Less than 20,000 turned up for the Kerry-Kildare game and only a paltry 9,000 saw Mayo defeat Roscommon.

Likewise there was a fall-off in attendances in three of the four provinces. The only increase was recorded in Munster and this can be accounted for by a succession of draws when Cork needed two games to dispose of both Kerry and Tipperary and Tipp had also drawn with Clare.

The figures were further boosted by the double-bill in Thurles on the day of the Munster football final when Cork hurlers failed to Galway.

Without these circumstances the attendances in Munster would have been down considerably.

Of course the World Cup could be said to have accounted for the disappointing attendances at the earlier rounds but the real factor seems to be that with the huge choice now available football enthusiasts would appear to have become more discerning.