Ger O’Keeffe: World Cup final will have no impact on Kerry's Super 8 clash unless England involved

Ger O’Keeffe has no issue with Kerry’s Super 8 clash with Galway being scheduled for the same 4pm start as the World Cup final on Sunday week, but he reckons the crowd size will be impacted if England are involved.

O’Keeffe was involved as a selector with Jack O’Connor when Kerry and Galway’s 2006 Division 1 final in the Gaelic Grounds clashed with the Munster-Leinster Heineken Cup semi-final in Lansdowne Road. Only 7,598 turned up in Limerick for the match, in contrast to the sold-out 47,800 capacity in Dublin.

The Austin Stacks man doesn’t believe Sunday week’s affair is comparable — “the public are not tuned in by league finals” — and senses the novelty factor of the Super 8 will prove decisive unless England reach the decider.

“It depends on who is in the World Cup final. If England are in it, then it’s obvious there’s going to be a huge issue. If they’re not, I don’t think it would be that significant. The Super 8 is a new competition and it’s unique and everybody has been talking about it for several months, so I think Galway and Kerry supporters should still turn up,” said O’Keeffe, who respects the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) for its scheduling of the match at its usual Sunday afternoon time.

Why should the GAA change some of their premier events because of a soccer tournament? From my knowledge, going back weeks, the game involving Kerry was always going to be on the Sunday. I think there will be big crowds at these Super 8s and, with good conditions and everything, we will plough our own furrow and stand on our own two feet. We have a product, which is going exceptionally well, and I don’t believe we should be concerned about the World Cup.

That it is a Kerry-Galway game that goes up against a major rival sport event isn’t lost on O’Keeffe, but he feels this latest clash should have less concerns for the GAA.

“You were talking about a Munster team with Munster players,” he said of 2006, “whereas this is a World Cup and you can see the highlights afterwards. People are probably making a bigger thing out of it than it is worth.”

The three-week turnaround should suit Kerry, O’Keeffe said, but he feels they can’t be gauged until they face the Connacht champions.

“Unfortunately, Cork were poor on the day and they didn’t turn up. Galway are a much better team than Kerry played last year. We have to wait after this game to see how much each team has progressed.

“The beauty about the Super 8 is that you have to win two matches and the first match is critical. The likely scenario is Monaghan should beat Laois at the weekend and Kerry would have to go to Clones, so you wouldn’t want to be going there having lost to Galway. I’m really looking forward to the Super 8s.”