Okay, so we’re all completely chilled out and in no way succumbing to the hype machine ahead of our forthcoming All-Ireland final appearance on Sunday week (ooh – a little tingle went right through me as I tapped that out). While this means that the poor old sheep are probably safe enough from the paintbrush over the next ten days, it shouldn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun in the run-up to the big day either. So, with this in mind, and with thanks to those good people in T-Rex Clothing who made this all possible, I’m delighted to unveil a competition which will help to pass some of the time between now and Sunday week.
Castlebar-based T-Rex Clothing, in case you haven’t yet heard of them, is a supplier to GAA clubs like Breaffy, Moy Davitts and Swinford along with schools, colleges and businesses. Recent campaigns and clients have included RTÉ’s The Hardy Bucks and the 2FM Ballbusters sports show. T-Rex recently launched their new sports range with the help of Breaffy’s finest, Aidan and Conor O’Shea. The company’s proposition is that it’s able to supply quality garments at competitive prices and in small quantities, giving clubs the option to print what they want when they want and enabling them to avoid stockpiling club gear.
Having spoken with Mark at T-Rex about doing something together in the run-up to the final, we thought it would be fun to produce a bespoke limited edition All-Ireland 2012 commemorative Mayo GAA Blog t-shirt. So we did and here it is:
Nice, huh? But that’s only half the fun because we’re now launching a competition, which will run for the next few days, giving you a number of chances to win one of these prized garments. There’ll be one t-shirt on offer every day from today until next Monday to the first person who correctly answers that day’s question. I’ve enlisted the help of John Cuffe (he gets a t-shirt for doing this) to set a series of Mayo GAA-related questions for this purpose.
Okay, then, today’s question is an easy one just to get you going. Who won Ulster and Connacht SFC medals playing for Donegal and Mayo?
Entries to mayogaablog@ymail.com, the first correct entry will be declared today’s winner and I’ll do an update to this post once we have a winner.
Off with ye now and leave those poor unfortunate sheep alone.
UPDATE: We have a winner, who is Paul Armstrong in Coventry, UK, who correctly answered that it was Martin Carney won Ulster and Connacht SFC medals playing with Donegal and Mayo. Congrats to Paul and thanks to everyone who entered. There’ll be another competition along the same lines tomorrow.
Good omens WJ, Mark at T-Rex as opposed to Marc from T.Rex is a start. The T.Rex from my glam days had a song called “Telegram Sam” , we await our own telegram from Sam soon. Another hit was “Metal Guru” , lets hope the mettle is in our Gurus . Good luck to T-Rex and I hope they sell a million T Shirts.
i was sitting in a great seat for the semi final right beside the mayo bench , during the minor game of course it was full of kerry personnel , the mayo team came out and sat in front of the benches and the kerry backroom team were actually falling over each other to shake Aidan oSheas hand, he went up to them and had a good 5 minute chat with them. later on there was a young fella in mayo colours on the bench who was a ringer for Aidan , i presume this is another brother , part of the panel ? he looked far more like aidan than seamus does…
Very trendy WJ, a collector’s item!
well done to paul !
That’s Conor, Roger.
One of a few young lads training with the panel
Hi Wille Joe,
After reading the Mayo News website this evening I am a bit confused whem I read that the County Board is offering additional tickets to Clubs if they raise money.
Extract from article as follows….
“Clubs who raise €1,000 before the final will receive an additional ten stand and ten terrace tickets. There’s a further 20 tickets (ten stand, ten terrace) for clubs who raise €2,000”
I can only assume that when the County Board refer to raising money that they expect this money will go to them and not stay in the Clubs?
Is the County Board saying that Clubs must pay the additional amount in order to secure an option to acquire additional tickets at face value?
If the answers to the above questions is ‘Yes’ then is our County Board planning to sell tickets to Clubs at above face value?
I then go on to read the following….
“Children are being encouraged to wear green and red colours and costumes to school on Friday, and to contribute €2 to the Mayo team training fund. By doing so, schools, staff and pupils are all in with a chance of winning some amazing prizes. First and second prize in the draw are Family Tickets to the All-Ireland Football Final while third prize is a full set of Mayo or school jerseys for the school which submits the photograph which best captures the ‘Spirit of the Red and Green Fun Day’ at their school”
Is it not illegal to solicit money from children u16 years of age?
Maybe I am completely off the mark here but is our County Board breaking the law by ‘touting’ tickets and ‘soliciting’ money from minors?
Countdown to the 23rd continues and the hype around Mayo is just as it should be – lowkey. Season ticket holders should have received their emails with regards to final tickets by now. One gripe with the Mayo County Board, joined Chairde Maigheo in Feb, my cheque for 120 euros was cashed, I got no receipt, have received no emails with regards to the twice monthly lottery draws, no email updates on Mayo GAA fixtures and NO jacket !!!. Emailed the County Board 5 weeks ago still no response, professional fundraising or what ??, will join Westport club for next year instead !. Come ON Mayo.
Well, when it comes to the county board & tickets, I was at 5 senior finals that Mayo contested, I would say that easily I & the entire family would be in the top 10 o/o of the amount of games we attended. None of us ever got a ticket in Mayo! In 2006 I went to Carlow to get a Hill ticket, From my perch there you could easily see the Green & Red in the furthest corners of the stadium, In contrrast Roscommon supporters had a good scattering of of the central positions. In the past anyhow it was near impossible to get a ticket in Mayo, if you actually supported the county trough thick & thin. This is definatly NOT the case in other countys. The amount of tickets that go to the competing countys is approx 54,000 & that’s a fact. Minors get 6,000 each, so Mayo & Donegal should get 21,000 each,. Thats not counting season tickets, that come from Croke Park, I dont know about the Cairde Mayo tickets. Every year Mayo played in an All Ireland senior final, I have seen people that I know that would not have attended a single match, club or county all year at the All Ireland final. IT CERTAINLY MAKES ME SICK! The Mayo county board would need to take note, that Mayo are not garunteed to win on Sunday week & with their millions of debt & should that happen they will be stuck with their cronies trying to pay off for their massive almost empty stadium, its time to look after those that have looked after them all thesse yeats past. In the past ordinary Mayo supporters were treated like idiots, but now its alot easier to get truthfull imformation from a varity of sources. Only last week I read an article in the ‘Mayo News’ about ticket allocations, it talked about ‘innatial allocations’ thats not the real figure. When Mayo contested Minor All Ireland finals it was comparitivly easy to get good stand tickets & I’d say only genuine All weathet Mayo fans look for them. I’m as good a Mayo fan as anyone but to say I’m discusted with the same auld shite that goes every time Mayo reach the senior decider is an under statment!
@ Lobitin I read this interesting piece in the Herald re tickets:
http://www.herald.ie/sport/gaa/where-the-tickets-go-3222725.html
PJ – those observations are obviously best dealt with by the County Board. As I’m not involved at club level within the county, I’m not close to the specifics of how tickets are being allocated for the final but from that Mayo News report, it appears that clubs are being incentivised to use at least some of their initial allocation for fundraising, which, on the face of it, makes sense, given that it’s a good opportunity to do so. If this is the case, then the objective would seem to be fundraising rather than touting. I’ve no idea where the funds raised will go – others can perhaps confirm whether or not clubs will benefit. As regards the point about the Fun Day, I assume it’s the kids’ parents that are being ‘solicited’ for money rather than the kids themselves. That’s the way such requests tend to be dealt with in this house at any rate!
It’s obvious from what you have to say, Lobitin, that the issue of tickets can be a fraught one and I doubt that any system, no matter how perfect, would meet with universal approval. I think it’s important, though, to stick to the facts as people know them when discussing this issue and keep emotive language out of it.
Thanks for the link ‘Diehard’ I think ‘Willie Joe’ that in all fairness I stick pretty close to the facts, The actual county allocation is 58 thousand +,,I said 54 approx’ I was going from memory having checked it on another web site a few days ago, the county board have always talked about initial allocation as if it were the final figure. Next week what we will hear is, if their previous form is anything to go by will go something like this, ‘they will have to wait & see whats returned to Croke Park from clubs around the country! ..I’ll try and be more diplomatic in my language in future, but genuinly I try and stick to the facts, always!
That’s fair enough, Lobitin. I guess the point I’d make is that the whole issue of tickets for the final and who gets (or doesn’t get) them is clearly an emotive one and it’s one that will become even more so as the day approaches. The simple fact is that demand always exceeds supply for the final (especially the football final and even more so this year given the novel pairing) which means that some people are going to be disappointed no matter how many tickets are allocated to the county and what method is used to distribute them. Given this, I don’t want the site to become a forum for those who want to unburden themselves about perceived grievances relating to the allocation process.
OK Willie Joe, I understant your point of view, probally very wise not to want this site become a forum for greviances about tickets, the subject is a bit of a minefield. I’ll say no more about the it, Digits thanks for the usefull link earlier, I thanked Diehard for it in a previous post!
olive kerrigan , i would just say one thing while the cairde mhaigheopackeage was not effectively delivered this year you are guaranteed your ticket, if you are relying on the club you might be left short…
Whilst I hear and feel Lobitan’s frustration the money paid for tickets to intercounty matches goes to the provincial councils and Croke Park. The county board finances are financed by clubs primarily, county board tickets (clubs again), Cairde Mayo tickets, sponsorship, club gates and other sources. The tickets from the county board goes to players, officials, clubs, cairde Maigheo and sponsors. I dont see a lot wrong with this.
As regards the €2,000 and the Green and Red day I dont feel this is not too much to ask. The cost of bringing a minor team to AISF, a junior team to an AIF and a senior team to a AIF is huge and the debt has to be paid off also. The money has to come from somewhere. Ultimately the money comes from the public or sponsors as even the clubs have to raise the moeny from somewhere. Simple maths have to be applied – if the county’s expenditure exceeds its income then ultimately there is disaster therefore teh moeny has to be rasied. For supporters of the county team to have a better chance of getting a ticket they need to join their local club €100 for county board ticket, become a volunteer with their club (coach, etc we charge these €45), or get a Cairde Maigh Eo ticket €200.