Duffy sets 20,000 attendance target for double header

THE GAA’s Director General Páraic Duffy hopes over 20,000 will attend the Allianz NFL final double header at Croke Park on Sunday.

President Christy Cooney predicted a turnout closer to 30,000 earlier in the week but Duffy’s projection seems more realistic, given recent history of league decider days.

The identity of the four teams won’t have helped the efforts of the marketing department in Croke Park, either.

Cork and Kerry fans are notoriously loathe to take the road to Dublin so early in the season while Derry and Monaghan are now more fixated on the task of translating their good league form into their performances in the Ulster championship.

The 2008 Division One final, also between Kerry and Derry, drew only 9,742 spectators to Parnell Park, where the undercard was provided by the Division Three final between Wexford and Fermanagh.

The prospect of Donegal’s first trophy in 15 years bumped the attendance to 29,433 in Croke Park two years ago when their defeat of Mayo was preceded by a colleges hurling final.

However, only 7,598 people paid into Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds in 2006 when Kerry’s defeat of Galway and the U-21 football final was overshadowed by the Heineken Cup semi-final meeting of Leinster and Munster.

“Last year we had less than 10,000,” said Duffy. “We will certainly have more than that. If we got 20,000 we’d be very happy.

“More than that, we’d be delighted but you have to be realistic and say, in fairness, for Kerry and Cork it’s a long way to travel and even for Derry. Monaghan is about 60/70 miles so you’ll have a fair turnout.”

All four managers — Kerry’s Jack O’Connor, Derry’s Damien Cassidy, Cork’s Conor Counihan and Monaghan’s Seamus McEnaney — expressed their delight that the league decider had returned to headquarters.

Cassidy stated that it was only right that the game should be played in Croke Park, especially given the association’s 125th anniversary, and McEnaney was just as effusive in his support.

“The GAA has made a great decision to play the game here at Croke Park. They have priced it very reasonably for clubs. Juvenile teams can get 20 kids and two adults for €60. It doesn’t get any better than that. This is an opportunity to play one of the best teams in the country in the best stadium in the country and I am looking forward to the 10,000 supporters that Monaghan have coming here to support their team.”