30,000 expected at Semple Stadium

MUNSTER GAA chiefs are hoping at best to break the 30,000 attendance barrier for next Sunday’s provincial SHC quarter-final between Tipperary and Cork in Semple Stadium, and have accepted that the crowd will be down on the last three corresponding clashes between the counties.

The pre-match sale of tickets has been poor in Cork with Monday night’s public sale in Páirc Uí Rinn attracting a particularly small crowd. Approximately 3,500 tickets have been sold in Cork to date which compares unfavourably with the pre-match figure of 15,000 tickets which were frequently sold in Cork on the Monday night before major inter-county championship games, between 2003 and 2005. However the advent of online bookings and ticket vans have contributed to some extent to that decline.

The attendance for Sunday’s game will have slumped seriously from the attendance of 42,823 for the 2008 Munster quarter-final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. A year later, a around 35,000 gathered in Semple Stadium to see Cork face Tipp, while last May there were 36,827 present for the meeting of the counties in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It is still hoped that there will be a decent walk-up crowd from both counties, particularly if weather conditions are favourable, and the 2011 championship debut of the Liam MAcCarthy Cup holders should help attract fans from Tipp.