O’Rourke: Ladies’ finals stay at Croker

CROKE Park will continue to host the finals of the Ladies Football TG4 All-Ireland championship finals in junior, intermediate and senior, chief executive Helen O’Rourke confirmed yesterday.

It follows a policy decision taken last year not to move to a smaller venue, on the basis that it would be harmful to the image of the sport and deny players the opportunity of playing in one of the world’s great stadiums.

Use of the stadium involves payment of a sizeable rent, to which their affiliated clubs — in the region of a thousand — are required to contribute.

“We came to that realisation that if we want to play our finals in Croke Park, the Association has to take responsibility for it,” said Ladies Football Association President Geraldine Giles. “For that reason, we have made it compulsory for clubs to buy six adult tickets (costing €25 each) for finals.

“The reality is if we want to play our finals there we have to be able to take responsibility for whatever cost goes with it. That’s why we sat down last year and debated the issue.

“Everybody wanted to stay, so we had to look at ways of funding it. And it’s not just the cost of staging the finals on the day. It’s all the promotion and everything that goes with it.

“As well as buying the six tickets, it’s also a means for the clubs to buy into the day,” she added.

The official attendance at Sunday’s finals was 20,015 (down from 21,237 last year and 25,665 in 2006). “If you look at the crowds in Croke Park for other games during the summer, it wasn’t bad. There was a women’s marathon on in Cork and county finals in a number of counties,” said Giles.

The attendance at this year’s camogie finals, played with the All-Ireland U-21 hurling final, was 18,500, down from 33,000 last year. O’Rourke said the attendance figures couldn’t be compared. “They are not a stand-alone women’s fixture. There can never be a comparison with camogie once there are men involved,” she added.