Leinster Council’s cool €1m bonanza

THE first 80,000-plus attendance at Croke Park in 42 years - and the biggest ever for a fixture other than an All-Ireland final - is expected to yield a €1 million bonanza for the Leinster Council.

The Central Council will benefit to the tune of 18% of the gross gate.

While the official attendance at Sunday’s Bank of Ireland Leinster SFC semi-finals was 82,072 - the biggest since the figure of 87,106 for the 1963 All-Ireland SFC final between Dublin and Galway - the exact return won’t be known until the county boards settle their accounts.