Munster Final attendance slumps to 12-year low

THE attendance of 23,693 in Páirc Uí Chaoímh on Sunday (just 2,500 lower than for the drawn game) was the lowest for a Munster football final in Cork in 12 years.

Tipperary met Cork in the 1994 final there and the crowd was a mere 13,115 — compared to 42,735 in 1995 when Cork recorded their last final win over Kerry, at Fitzgerald Stadium.

Twice in the ‘60s — 1961 draw (17,500) and 1967 (18,500), both at the Athletic Grounds — crowd figures fell below 20,000. In 1974 there was a massive attendance of 49,497 for the final in Killarney. That year, Cork went into the game as All-Ireland champions and retained their title.

Since then, attendances have hovered around the high thirties, occasionally exceeding 40,000. It was down to 33,254 for the 2004 meeting of Cork and Tipperary in Thurles.

The attendance figure for last year’s Cork/Kerry final in Páirc Uí Chaoímh was 32,000.

Sunday’s game marked Billy Morgan’s eighth Munster success as Cork manager. He achieved four-in-a-row between 1987 and 1990 (notably taking over the team after the county board provoked a huge controversy by dropping him as a selector). Cork won three-in-a-row from 1993 to 1995.