'No excuse' - will Galway fans light up Pearse Stadium in 2025?

Will the new Pearse Stadium floodlights shine on the kind of crowds Galway football needs?

Galway players and supporters before the All-Ireland SFC Preliminary quarter-final match against Mayo at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

A few nights before Christmas, the sky in Salthill shone brightly. Galway completed a successful testing of their new Pearse Stadium floodlights ahead of the highly anticipated league opener against All-Ireland champions Armagh. Having built it, will the crowd come?

It is a live concern. Galway’s last home championship game of 2024, a preliminary quarter-final against Monaghan, had an attendance of just 6,768. The turnout for the hurlers final fixture of the season was 8,087 for a do-or-die clash with Dublin.