Latest: Cork GAA expect 2,500 fans after increased crowd allowed attend county final

It's understood that the exact attendance figure permitted will fall somewhere between 6,100 and 7,000

Páirc Ui Chaoimh: Originally limited to a capacity of 500 due to Covid restrictions. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Cork GAA chiefs are expecting a crowd of 2,500 at Sunday’s county football final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh after today securing permission for an increased attendance at the Castlehaven-Nemo Rangers decider.

Cork GAA are still awaiting official confirmation of the exact attendance figure permitted for the delayed 2020 Cork premier senior football final, but it is understood that number will fall somewhere between 6,100 and 7,000, in keeping with the sanctioned crowd sizes for the Munster SHC final and All-Ireland SHC quarter-final played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last month.

The number of spectators filing into Páirc Uí Chaoimh for Sunday's 3pm game won’t come anywhere near the forecast 6,100-7,000 limit, with county board officials anticipating a crowd of between 2,000 and 2,500. Tickets for the game, outside of the initial 500 already allocated, went on sale shortly before 4pm today.

Longford County Board also received notification today that the attendance at their 2020 senior football final, to be played at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday, can rise above the 500-spectator cap that currently pertains for stadiums with a capacity of 5,000-plus. The delayed decider between Killoe Young Emmetts and Longford Slashers will now be watched by 1,500 spectators.

Both Cork and Longford coffers will benefit from the increased attendances, with Cork set to pull in a gate receipts total five times greater than what they would have collected had the 500-cap not been lifted.

Cork county board chairman Marc Sheehan welcomed the increased attendance and that no Castlehaven or Nemo Rangers supporter would now be left at home.

“Following on from the successful hosting of the Munster hurling final and All-Ireland hurling quarter-final, both of which were pilot events, we are pleased that we have the opportunity to have additional spectators in Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the premier senior football final.

“Having worked on this over the past week, we are very pleased with the outcome and very glad to have clarity. We managed the bigger games at 6,100 very, very well. We have the voluntary resources of stewards and an event control team and we are very much up for it in terms of the safe staging of this fixture.

“Two great teams, with two great followings, it is an opportunity for people to attend and that is very welcome at any time.” 

Sheehan urged all those attending the delayed final to be Covid compliant before, during, and after the game.

“We would be urging our attendees and patrons to wear masks and observe social distancing. We will be making every effort to ensure that it is run in that spirit.” 

News of an increased attendance was welcomed by both the Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers camps, with management personnel and players on both sides having been critical of the initial 500-cap.

“I was in Dublin for the All-Ireland hurling final and I do wonder if there is one rule for one and one rule for another. It is unbelievable. I'd say there will be more inside in the pub watching the game or on a big screen than there will be at the match,” Castlehaven manager James McCarthy told the Irish Examiner earlier this week.

Nemo forward Paul Kerrigan had said the 500-cap brought “undue stress” on clubs in deciding who gets a ticket.

“I know as a player we're only going to get one ticket for the game. I have a wife, a kid, a sister, parents, they'd all love to go. It's a bit mad.”

Earlier: Cork GAA set to announce increased crowd allowed attend county final

1.12pm: Cork GAA has secured an increase in the number of spectators permitted to attend Sunday’s Cork Premier Senior football final between Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers, with the figure to be announced in the coming hours expected to be in the low thousands.

Officials, management personnel, and players from both camps had been hugely critical of the 500-spectator cap that was to be in place for tomorrow’s game, with this 11th-hour announcement by Cork GAA welcomed by both Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh was attended by more than 6,000 spectators for last month’s Munster SHC final and All-Ireland quarter-final, giving rise to optimism that Cork county finals played at the venue throughout August would be watched by more than the 500 limit that currently pertains to stadiums with a capacity in excess of 5,000.

It emerged last week, however, that Cork GAA efforts to secure a larger crowd for Sunday’s delayed 2020 football decider had been in vain and that both Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers would receive no more than 250 tickets each.

“I was in Dublin at the weekend at the All-Ireland hurling final and I do wonder if there is one rule for one and one rule for another. It is unbelievable,” Castlehaven manager James McCarthy told the Irish Examiner earlier this week.

“I'd say there will be more inside in the pub watching the game or on a big screen than there will be at the match.”

Nemo forward Paul Kerrigan had said the 500-cap had brought “undue stress” on clubs in deciding who was given a ticket.

“I was obviously in Croke Park at the weekend for the hurling. And when you see the madness up there, which was good to see, with the crowd, like, it was still a busy crowd. Even if they doubled the 500, to be honest, it would do both clubs.

“There's probably undue stress on the clubs giving out tickets. I know as a player we're only going to get one ticket for the game, which is...I have a wife, a kid, a sister, parents, they'd all love to go. It's a bit mad. They wouldn't be two huge clubs either so even if it went from 500 to 1,000 I think it would definitely do everyone.”