Fox: Tipp fans can drive us forward

If Gaelic Football’s All Star selectors are looking for nominees from outside of the game’s big hitters, they could do far worse than cast a glance in Brian Fox’s direction.

In three championship outings this summer, the dashing Tipperary wing-back has been nothing short of outstanding. Even in defeat against Kerry in the Munster SFC quarter-final, the Éire Óg Annacarty tyro was man of the match in the eyes of many.

Fox, who turned 24 on Thursday, produced yet another assured performance when Tipperary defeated Offaly in their first round qualifier.

And when he was needed most, the right half-back bombed forward to kick two super points in the closing stages of last Saturday’s victory over Wexford.

Now the request from Fox is a simple and heartfelt one to Tipperary fans. This afternoon, when Antrim come calling to Semple Stadium, please come out and support the team.

“It would be great to get more bums on seats,” Fox admitted. “But the supporters we do have are the most hardcore that you could meet.

“There’s not many of them but they’re at every match – you’d nearly know all of them by name. They’re part of it as much as we are but it would be great to have more support. Then again, we have to try to earn the respect of the public in Tipperary.

“The further we go, the more seats we’ll fill. But I’ve spoken to people during the week who are more positive. They want to go and watch us now.”

As far as Tipp selector Gerry McGill is concerned, it’s a no-brainer. And if the game is in the melting pot in the closing minutes, a healthy home support could help to make the difference.

“Home advantage will only count for us if Tipperary people get off their backsides and get out to support us,” he admitted.

“We had decent support the last day but Wexford had more, because their supporters were there for a double-header. I was talking to Tim [Floyd] and Sean [Nugent] from the county board. There’s frustration on their side.

“Croke Park are not helping setting a price of €20 per ticket. €10 would make a lot more sense but if the U21 hurlers were playing, people would come out to watch. The point is that we have a very good chance and we could possibly get to an All-Ireland quarter final.

“Casement Park is every bit as big as Thurles but in a tight, gritty game, you’ll need that roar from the support to drive you on. That’s what our boys need.

“It’s been a great week for Tipperary sport and the footballers deserve the same. If we could get a couple of thousand to drive our boys on, it would make a massive difference.”

In February, Antrim won by three points at Semple Stadium in Division 3 of the Allianz Football League. But Tipperary have improved vastly since then and if they win today it will be the first time since 1998 that three senior championship victories have been recorded in the same season.

And Fox was delighted to hear Tipperary captain Paul Curran reserve a special word for the footballers in his acceptance speech following last Sunday’s Munster SHC final.

“He left nobody out – minor hurlers, minor footballers, senior footballers,” he smiled.

“Everybody’s backing each other up and the minors are all coming to our match on Saturday. They’ll be in the middle of a fundraising cycle but they’re stopping halfway through to watch us.”