155 thoughts on “Meanwhile back at the ranch”

1. Did Harrison come in the second half of the Galway match in the first round?
   I like Billie Joe’s idea of a midfield trio of Aidan, D. O’Connor and Keegan for the Kildare match.
   Colm Parkinson reckons the switch to midfield could be perfect timing for Diarmuid and Mayo. He thib=nks the freedom of midfield as opposed to the half forward line could give him a new lease of life.

2. It’s hard to make sense of it all WJ but the important thing from a Mayo perspective is to keep focused. I’m so sorry for Seamie but equally happy to hear some positive news on injury front. I hope we play this weekend but feel something has been released from the bottle that could have long term consequences for the GAA. I understand Kildare’s point but feel nobody is blameless in the fiasco. No one stood up for Mayo on the Limerick saga but perhaps this just shows the powers that be that you simply cannot walk over the smaller counties for whatever reason. Hope it’ll get resolved but Mayo keep focused and we’ll be just fine. Thanks for all the updates and the patience of Job…he must have been a Mayo man!! Maigheo go deo

3. If Kildare go the legal route does that not screw up the championship schedule e.g. can we play the following week in Round 4? What happens if we qualify for Super 8s but Kildare get a retrospective ‘approval’ to have the right to play the game against us?

   Its all spiraling out of control. Don’t forget we can’t hang around until Friday for a solution. Logistically, this need to be sorted out now.

   It shows badly on the GGA truth be told.

4. awful news for Paddy Mc… we all want to see the best players put on an exhibition of football in the Summer months and he was certainly in form and one to watch.

   Head down now Mayo fans and players and let’s not be sucked too far into this sh*t storm. It’s not really our issue. as long as the basics can be confirmed soon (game on/off?, logistics, times and venue) we can just go and do our business on whatever patch of grass we are told to grace.

5. He did, Crete Boom – I’ve corrected that now. I’ve also corrected another error I made there – the Kerry game in Round 2 was the last game he played before getting injured, not the Galway game. I meant to double-check that before putting the piece up but then overlooked doing so.

6. Terrible news for Seamie and us and what a good game he was having. And now out of work. Facing into recovery. So many injuries this year. Such bad luck. Our lads could have done without this heat and now this fiasco.

7. No worries Willie Joe, I am sure you are under serious pressure at the moment!!!

8. Bad luck for Seamie it’s a big blow tohim at this stage of his career. Hope his recovery goes well.
   Head down lads and keep truckin’, for once there’s a drama in GAA circles that doesn’t involve Mayo…..almost!!

   Maigh Eo Abú

9. I wonder in all the years that Barry Moran has been on the mayo panel, and it has been many years at this stage. Has he ever gone through 1 season uninjured? Surely there has to be one or two young midfielders in the county that could be added to the panel that would have a better impact. Dont get me wrong, hes a fine midfielder, its just that when hes needed to be called upon, hes very rarely available. He’d definitely be handy now for an impact sub role.

10. Great news about Big Bird ready to fly again. Surely he can have a big impact on our centrefield quandary .He’s been floating around the squad, getting a few minutes here and there. On his day he’s one of the best fielders in Ireland and has been used very effectively in defense as well. He could match those big Kildare fielders – at least for half the game.
    Great to have Vaughan and Harrison back too.

11. We will need a few extra bodies around the middle. Vaughan being back is a great addition, expect Diarmuid to start. Kildare are strong in the middle of the field with Moolick and Feely but was surprise feely only came off the bench against Longford. Daniel Flynn at Full Forward will be the main threat.

12. The “Silly Whites” have certainly put the cat amongst the pidgins by throwing the toys out of the pram. No problem going to Croker up to this.
    Not our problem. Great to have a few players returning just in time. Very tough on Seamie and McBrearty. If there is a game I will be there.

13. Those four you listed Willie Joe will seriously strengthen up competition for jerseys in the 26. Four is a lot to add in as chasing a spot starting or bench.

14. Re big Barry, he just hasn’t the pace for midfield in Croke Park, then again neither does aiden. Having Lee and Diarmuid and aiden there sounds like a good idea to me, with Lee and Diarmuid doing the hard running and aiden for his fielding.
    Kept away from the other debate and will continue. However I really hope the game goes ahead somewhere, anywhere.

15. perfect game to blood new midfielders. If they win the throw in its game over

16. Arlene Foster has offered to host the game in Fermanagh. She said it’s about time the people of Fermanagh got to watch some football

17. Don’t see any new additions, gaps will be filled by returning players like Vaughan an Harrison freeing up other players to move further forward like keagan. Vaughan when fit could do a job in midfield but for this game DIarmuid is the most likely candidate

18. A lad at work just said to me that Mayo should be happy enough going to Kildare. He reckons its the only place that we’ll get any silverware.

    He should be regaining consciousness in about 5 minutes.

19. Re, Marty Morrissy on the RTE SixOne news… He was interviewing a business leader in Newbridge.. They are apparently entitled to a big pay day, because Kildare were drawn out first… Is the Irish Derby not enough for them? .. Seriously nobody is going to feel any sympathy for business people in Kildare, the richest County in Ireland.. Maybe Sheikh Momhammod who is reportedly worth €19, 000,000,000..yeah that’s 19 Billion and his nearby Kildangan Stud are not spending enough in the Town.. Mind you the Sheik got €300,000 in the single farm payment last year.. So he can well afford it… And Maybe the people of Kildare might concern themselves with matters of real importance regarding the injustice in the countries of those millionaires and billionaires Monarch’s who own horses and property in Kildare. EG stoning women to death and cutting people’s heads off in the public square.. Everything is realitive.

20. I would think that the Kildare county board will let team management down and accept an “investment” package for like are team and facilities. New pitch and a holiday for the team. You know how this works…….!

21. Can anyone clarify what they mean by an all ticket basis? Does that mean season ticket holders or all public have the opportunity to seek tickets? Excuse my ignorance

22. Thought that report on Six One was totally one sided No attempt to tell the other side. One wonders if RTE were the broadcasters on Saturday if that would have been the attitude. Also you feel if the Kildare Board really felt they had a case to make they would have started the appeal process by now. of course the reality is they don’t have a leg to stand on and know it

23. Anyway great news to see some of our own lads ready or nearly ready for the battle again after time out with injuries.

24. There is probably enough of tickets bought in Mayo already for the Croke Park fixture plus the season ticket holders to fill St Conleths Park. Will be a wholly mess given monies back on those tickets if venue gets changed again. There seems nobody is stopping ticket sales while this rolls on.

25. Nicky Brennan on newstalk adamant Kildare will have to fulfil the Croker fixture or face severe penalties.

26. JJ Kelly
    All ticket means you can’t pay or buy a ticket at the ground. You have to have purchased a ticket via standard outlets. There would be limited tickets for sale as the season ticket holders would have first dibs

27. @ Jpm Paddy Power odds have shortened dramatically on the game being held in Newbridge 1/4 at the moment was 9/4 a short while ago.. either people are lobbing none on or PP know something we don’t!

28. Hi there, if the game is fixed for Newbridge on Saturday, how will the general sale tickets be sold do you think? Will it be online and/or through Centra & Supervalu? There wouldn’t be time to get them to clubs which is where I feel the small general sale allocation should be distributed.
    On the big topic, I agree with Kildare but why has it taken them 15 years to front up on the issue of giving up their home advantage? Similar with many Leinster sides who have weakly trotted off to Croker when drawn against the Dubs. It shouldn’t have taken them this long to stand up for themselves.

29. Seems to me that Kildare are afraid of our sixteenth man, no one better then Cien to understand that.

30. Definitely something afoot.. Paddy Power now showing 1/5 for Newbridge with Croke Park gone out to 4/1…. will Croke Park tickets already bought be valid for Newbridge… if so we should start snapping them up quick!

31. 1/5 newbridge now .

32. Them odds are strange alright. There must be an announcement imminent.

33. If Kildare get their way can we expect to see the dubs actually play proper away games subsequently???

34. Dont pay too much attention to Paddy Power lads. They could be easily drawing in the heavy hitters to go big on that 1/5….while also getting publicity (which their getting). Tickets for Croker are still on sale online. This match is in Croke park or nowhere.

35. we need a decision fast.a lot of people are very confused including myself. mayo county board should come out and make a statement and get it finalized once and for all be it newbridge or croker.supporters have plans to make.

36. Paddy Power are now offering 4/1 odds that the Kildare v Mayo game will be played in Croke Park. Longer odds than Kildare are to win…

37. This will be an absolute shambles if the match moved back to Newbridge. Also what are the chances of us picking up another serious injury on a rock hard pitch?

38. Would they expect anyone to pay €25 to stand in the worst county ground that I have ever been to?.. Do the GAA expect children to be able to see the actual match, if lunacy prevailed and the game was actually held in Newbridge?

39. Be aware of Bookies publicity stunts.. The game might not actually go ahead, at all!

40. Nickey Brennan only opens his mouth to change feet,
    Kildare are only making a reasonable request to have the advantage of a home game with a top team like Mayo who are at home on the CrokePark grass.

    This is a unique game and making comparisons to other occasions they agreed to play in Croke park for an increased financial cut from the top table is simple not admissible as a yardstick or a reasonable precedent from which to draw a balanced reflection on what this game is about.

    When O Neill saw his team being pulled out first his fists would have been pumped as he had just been given a two maybe three point handicap and against ye that may just have got Kildare over the line. This isn’t about the past this is about a real chance to be the first Leinster team to go through the qualifiers and make the super eights. He is a manager under huge pressure because of an extended run of losing games in league and championship games and he won’t want to give up his one advantage.

    People saying this is like Mayo being asked to play in limerick is ridiculous, Kerry no more wanted to play a semi final outside Croke Park than mayo did. Most of those Kerry players only played once or twice in limerick and that was at minor level where they lost to Mayo. It’s over three and a half hours from south Kerry to the Gaelic grounds and an hour and fifty minutes from Tralee which is in north Kerry. What grounds do the people of mayo think it should have been played in ?? Pairc Ui Caoimhe or Semple Stadium ??? I can’t think of another ground that would have had the capacity or infrastructure to host a huge game like that.
    People need to focus on the real issues and not on the conspiracies that float into the mix when unexpected events arise. Mhayo and Kerry county boards agreed that venue in the event of a draw as Croke park was unavailable due to a fcuking American Football Coggege game. Now there is the issue that should have filled the collums in the days and indeed weeks that followed, money talks and tradition walks,,

41. Pearse Stadium in Salthill would have sufficed?

    Tralee is 1 hour 25 to limerick..listowel 1hr (thank you google maps)..and you can usually take about 10/15 mins off those journeys!!;))

42. Belmullet is so far away it’s in a different time zone!!!

43. My son was in UL and door to door it’s 1.40 and I’m no slouch mayonaze trust me. Tralee to limerick at 5am may be 1.20 – 1.25 but that’s with no traffic and no speed vans trust me. Regardless how on earth is an unfamiliar pitch perceived as an advantage to another team and where do you suggest it should have been played ?

44. At this stage I really think we should all just say mass. It’ll solve all this. We can let Cian O’Neill do a guest sermon or something.

    The whole situation is like a Monty Python sketch right now.

    I really don’t care where the game is played, we’d win anyway.

45. very sorry for Seamie, get well soon man. Now is a good time to see who is able for it, I remember that 1996 replay where Liam McHale was sent off, the same sickened feeling that I have now with the 2 buckos gone, maybe someone will do a Brady on it and step up to the plate with real intent of making a big name for themselves? Time will tell, but I can see Rochford rearranging the team and it being very competitive, theres a few that we know don’t have the engine or speed of tom or seamie but they are still skilled operators that are well able for a half a game at full throttle, that may be what we will see. I wont name names, but we have some cover if its worked right, by that I mean not expecting 70 minutes at midfield for the lads that will be brought in.

46. Jimbo. How can the mayo cb make any announcements when it’s still not settled what is actually going to happen.

    Going by what was reported kildare again have to notify the gaa of their intentions of whether or not they are fulfilling the fixture 48 hours before the match. If that goes, then at 7pm thursday evening we still won’t know what’s happening.

    If the gaa believe they are on terra firma they should make a decision and announcement Wednesday am. It would be the only fair thing to do for mayo and the fans.

47. Oh dear, we’re in danger of reopening Limerick 2014 all over again! For what it’s worth, I do think it’s relevant – we were forced to go there (I don’t, though, recall Kerry complaining too much about it), we got ZERO support from other counties, the media or anyone else and we ended up going. The venue shift (plus Cormac Reilly – I can’t believe I’ve put that topic on the table too) probably cost us the All-Ireland but, hey ho, that was then. Time moves on, we all mellow.

    Gamechanger: You’ve summarised Kildare’s position – or, rather, Cian O’Neill’s (has anyone seen or heard from the Kildare County Board chairman yet, by the way?) – very well. And it’s an understandable position. But …

    As has already been pointed out, though, there are several precedents of qualifier games (and they’re all important, as they’re all knockout ties) being shifted on capacity grounds alone. There’s no new precedent being created here, not even for Kildare.

    If Conleth’s Park was a ground that could take a game like this then there’d be no argument. It can’t – 8,000 supporters, most of them standing so that means no families with small kids, nobody with mobility issues etc. Have you been to Conleth’s Park? It’s just not suitable for inter-county championship games, period.

    Plus the facilities there for players are a joke (which, by extension, makes the GPA argument a joke too) – ancient, tiny dressing rooms, no pitch to warm up on. It’s outdated by several decades.

    There really should have been no debate on this issue and if Kildare had taken the sensible option of playing in Portlaoise this nonsense would all have been avoided. But it’s too late for that now and Kildare have no-one to blame but themselves.

48. Thomás O’Shea said after the Limerick game that we just had 2 more games before the Super 8s… after the Tipp game he said we now just have 1 more game before the Super 8s.

    I thought he was just making a mistake, but did he know something nobody else knew! 😀

49. Sad news about Seamus O’Shea, alright. He has been a great servant to the cause for a long time. Sport has many rewards, but sometimes it is very cruel. With any illness a positive mental attitude (PMA) is a key ingredient. I hope SOS has this PMA in truck loads to help him over this setback. Looking forward to his return to the Green and Red when he has made a full recovery. Heart breaking news about McBrearty. He will be sorely missed in the Donegal camp. Watched Mathew Ruane playing recently and he is moving well. Any chance he will make his debut in the league.

50. No keepmovingforward. Sure he thought galway were the 2017 connacht champions. He’s a bit like meself. Prone to blunders.

51. Gamechanger if Kerry did not want to play the game in Limerick 2014 they kept fierce quiet about it at the time Cian o Neill’s cancelled press conference is interesting Either something is being sorted behind the scenes or Kildare Co Board didn’t want him on the air waves again. Odds shortening on Newbridge is also very interesting. While I have a certain amount of sympathy to Kildare’s plight it’s important that all these great Gaels who are falling over themselves in support of Kildare realise that there is a second team involved in this, a team who have given more entertainment and value for money than any other team in the last 7 years, a team whose supporters outnumber all opposition regardless of where games are played,a team whose supporters have travelled in huge numbers to Limerick a few weeks ago and to Thurles last Saturday, a team whose supporters are now asked to travel to Croke Park for a 7pm throw in on a Saturday evening and who are being asked to pay a few extra euro for the privilege.

52. And Pat Spillane thought Fermanagh were in to the super 8’s after winning the ulster semi final.

53. Mayonase I cannot believe you wrote that. Salthill, are yuo serious. Nobody wants to go there. Give me Limerick any day before it.

54. I remember being in St Conthleth Park in 1998.. Possibly October, for a league match… League’s used to start in the Autumn and Winter back then…. The restart after half time was delayed, so as the live commentary on a Horse Race could go out over the public address system!…. Seriously!

55. What has gotten completely lost in all of this is the blatant disregard for supporters travelling coast to coast for a bloody 7pm throw In
    For a qualifier
    AGAIN

    But yes a big boo hoo for poor little Kildare who are tribal about playing all championship games at their fortress ………

56. I was at the semi-final replay in Limerick 2014 – it turned out to be the perfect location! This notion that because it was a Munster venue, it would somehow be advantage Kerry was way off the mark. In truth, football in Limerick is a poor relation to rugby/hurling and soccer. As one Limerick supporter once confided – “if it was on outside the back garden, I would pull the blinds”. I think Kildare deserve the home fixture – never to late to do the right thing. Might sound outlandish, but this cccc decision is akin to Donald Trump moving the American embassy to Jerusalem – just suck it up ffs

57. I was there for a league game in 2013 Willie joe and I couldn’t agree more with every descriptive point you make but it’s their pitch regardless how how underdeveloped it is. It’s where they do their drills and their attacking and defensive setup and where they know where the wind catches the ball and where it’s level and where it’s uneven. A home ground is like an old friend, you know it’s secrets and you trust it somehow.

    In any other scenario I would agree with you on the capacity and facilities available to both supporters and players but this is the springboard to the Super Eights and O neill will fight hard for it as he knows what it’s worth is.

    Meant to say I hope poor Seamus O Shea makes a full and speedy recovery, seems almost too much to believe a first choice midfield pairing both suffering freakish season ending injuries. I look forward to seeing the two of them running out in the green and red next year. Very sad also to hear an out paddy McBrearty suffering that God awful injury, he is a fabulous player to watch in full flow.

58. Back at the ranch didn’t last too long there WJ. Yes Harrison did appear against Galway but presumably his injury recurred. Vaughan I think is back training just of 2 weeks based on someone’s earlier post. My guess is he’s the only one sure to make the 26 being first back although he’ll need to be contributing more than e.g COS and Nally in training. For our next game management should play EOD who has a similar cut to Donegal’s Eoin Ban Gallagher. Coen I think is a sub from now on if we want our best team out. Boyler won’t last 70 in the heat so Coen will get game time.

59. Just to point out, Gamechangers description of a home pitch was not referring to Mayo’s home advantage.

    “it’s their pitch regardless how how underdeveloped it is. It’s where they do their drills and their attacking and defensive setup and where they know where the wind catches the ball and where it’s level and where it’s uneven. A home ground is like an old friend, you know it’s secrets and you trust it somehow.”

    God love us, wouldn’t we love if that was the way.

60. The mayo county board are right to say nothing at this stage – it’s not their fight. I have some sympathy for Kildare but surely now enough is enough. Their point is made – they’ve been training all year for this – the GAA is not for turning they might as well get on with the business of playing football and let common sense prevail for players and supporters alike. Its crap for them but thats the reality they are in now. Are they really that stupid that they would throw away all that just to make a point? The player’s heads must be in a tizzy – what a waste of valuable energy! Perhaps this mess will make the GAA tighten up on its procedures for next year’s qualifier draws and avoid this happening again. Personally I think these 1 week turnarounds between games are ludicrous anyway and if disputes arise then it’s nigh on impossible to get anything sorted in time. The GAA will hopefully set a deadline for Kildare to confirm participation in the tie for Thursday morning so that we can make plans to travel or not.

61. Well boys n girls it’s a right fine mess and for once we are not bang in the middle of it albeit fairly close and certainly affected by it . There is a lot of sympathy for Kildare generally and certainly among a lot of Mayo folk on this site. You see Kildare are a lot like us or at least how we used to be ,almost Mayo lite in my opinion or how we were Pre James Horan.
    You could see us being in this kind of scenario back in the noghties or dare I say Limrick in 14. Back then we were a loveable bunch of Underdogs and when drawn against a top team with home advantage we would too have thrown the toys out id that were taken away by Croke Park with an agenda to favour the big side against us. Hence the level of support for Kildare on here as certainly some of us still see us in that mould of loveable underdog.
    If we dident know it already we are now the big dog here and Croke Park are desperate for us to make the super 8 etc. We are a major player or probably more important the next biggest cash cow to the Dubs so we need to get used to things like this going our way and doors opening to us in a way they dident 10 years ago.
    It’s a major tribute to our team and the management that we have been transformed to such an extent that had any other team in the draw been pulled out including Tryone or Monaghan the game would have gone ahead in Newbridge .
    It’s a new era folks so best get used to things going our way in unexpected ways in future. You don’t hear the Dubs complain when they get every advantage going so let’s embrace it and see where it takes us . We are one of the Big Boys now let’s see where it takes us and whether Newbridge or Croker we have the winning of this so move on nothing more to see here we have bigger fish to fry.
    Ps
    Very Tough on Seamus and Paddy Mc Brearty hope they both make it back asap two very different but fine players like Tom a loss To The season.
    Aside note while the loss of our two midfielders is a massive blow I do believe we could yet see a silver lining to this dark cloud. A chance for others to step up and maybe a faster and more mobile midfield is exactly what this team needs now to explode into life
    Rant over

62. Eureka… I have it… Shane Ross is the minister for sport (Really)… He’ll sort it out, just look at the job he done with the Hickey Fiasco in Rio de Janerio, and ticket touting at major sports events… The guy is terrific…. Now that he has sorted out North Korea and South Korea, this should be easy pizzy…. Then he will sort out the much tricker issue… What song should Mayo Fan’s sing?.. Good luck with that, Shane Ross!

63. Potentially 12k Mayo people and 6k Kildare people would go to this football fixture on a glorious summers evening.. that’s 18k souls following the team and sport they love. An all ticket affair in Newbridge with a capacity of 8k means that 10k supporters can go feck off somewhere else cause their not going to be there. Let’s say there’s 2.5k season tickets that gets first dibs then that leaves 5.5k available to go on sale. Divide that by two for a fare share between both sets of supporters and you get an allocation of 2.75k tickets. I’m sorry but thats a pile of shite.
    I notice other counties are very free with their opinions on this matter.. and why wouldn’t they.. there’s no cost to them. There not going to get thrown out of the championship like Kildare if they don’t turn in CP. Or there not going to have at least 2\3 of their supporters miss out on attending a game. It’s all fine talk.. put yere money where yer mouth is.. what’s Kerry going to do to sort out this mess that don’t involve riding on the coat tails of others misfortune

64. Revilliono a Kerry colleague of mine sent that to me today too!…Typical. Mayo have nothing to do with this whole mess and it’s lets all slag Mayo sure. That’s awful news on Seamie. It’s just seems like it’s one thing after the other lately. On the positive side great to hear Vaughan and Harrison back in the picture.

65. Toe to hand,
    What’s Kerry going to do about this mess ??? Nothing, in fact I’d say it’s barely been spoken of at tonight’s training as it has absolutely nothing to do with our preparation for Galway next Saturday fortnight.

    Rochford will tell his team that we have a game against Kildare next Saturday nightstand 7pm, venue to be confirmed. That’s all they will be focused on and he will advise the lads to tell their family to avoid unnecessary distractions about tickets or accommodation or anything that will require them to break focus on the game. It’s a very unfortunate ingredient for the preparation of both teams but especially Mayo as they have no hand act or part in this sorry mess. Let’s hope there is white smoke soon and regardless of the decision that the focus turns to football as a walkover would be a very nasty stain on the first year of the S8’s for all concerned

66. PJMcManus. I was joking. Kinda. In terms of proximity and familiarity, Salthill for Mayo is what Limerick is for Kerry. If the game had been there do you think Kerry would have accepted it? No f8cking chance. In fact their county board wouldnt have agreed to it prior to it happening – unfortunately, by all accounts our buckos did. That was the problem. That being said, it wasn’t fair and we were shafted up the rear end by that incompetent twat reilly who is back out from his cave in the hills. He cost us an all Ireland. Mayo were the best team in the country in 2014. We’ve lost many finals fair and square cos we weren’t good enough but in ’14 we were done.

    Man of Aran – it wasn’t the perfect venue. It was not a balanced situation as neutral venues are supposed to be and therefore imperfect.

67. The calls on here and that stupid Facebook page whose name shall not be named for the mayo team to turn up at Newbridge in “solidarity “ with Kildare reeks of the political correctness I have referenced here before
    Get real
    Maybe I should have hash tagged that 😉

68. Exactly Gamechanger10.. nothing. And thats what the Mayo County Board are going to do about this.. nothing. It’s all good and well taking the high moral ground on the rights and wrongs of this but when it comes down to it if the shoe was on the other foot Kerry or any other team in the country would be doing the exact same thing as Mayo are doing now.. and that is nothing. Yet over the past 24hrs this blog has gone through the roof with by in large outside interest casting down this high moral ground of how Kildare are right and that we (Mayo) should be supportin them in their cause along with every other county and give the two fingers to CP. We are in a very different position to every other county in this matter because we are been directly impacted by this fall out. You say a walkover would be a nasty stain for all concerned! If the precedent of the short and often skewed memory that is Limerick is anything to go by.. this will be very much left at Mayo’s door in the short term and the years to come

69. This has the whole Country in a tizzy, and is turning into something like the last referendum, its all anyone is talking about. Your not cool unless your siding with Kildare it seems? People attacking the Gaa because of what? The Gaa trying to accomodate as many fans as possible who want to see there County play…..shame on them!!!!!. I know people in the uk who booked flights home to Ireland the minute the final whistle went in Thurles, to be here for round 3. Should they be told to f off now because Kildare have suddenly found a sense of pride, for the first time in years???. Their ground is too small, get over it.

    The Mayo fanbase is massive and touches all corners of the globe, its more than football at this stage, the dissapointments and heartbreak have made it so. We all know what it means to us individually, to see our lads playing in the green and red. We feel every hit they take, every point they score as if we scored it ourselves….not one Mayo fan should be denied to entry to a round 3 qualifier. The Gaa are using common sense, time Kildare copped on and agreed to Croke park. Like they have done on countless occasions in the last 20yrs, otherwise forfeit the game asap, so fans can plan accordingly.

70. If by any chance, the Kildare match doesn’t go ahead in Croke Park, where does that then leave Cavan and Tyrone, who are down to play in the first match..
    Surely they wouldn’t be expected to go all the way to Dublin, for a stand alone fixture, when venues like Enniskillen and Clones are available ?
    You can also be sure, that people in Cavan and Tyrone have already purchased tickets for Croke Park, which is another reason why I can’t see the Gaa backing down.

71. Needs to be sorted out today at the latest because Tyrone and Cavan planning for Croker and will need to change plans. Kildare’s issue affects 3 other teams not 1. They were offered alternative ground which they turned down, GAA needed to make a decision which now affects 4 teams not 1.

72. Christy is togged out pitchside in Newbridge with his shovel. Did anyone ever find the ring I gave to Nancy Spain..

73. The issue involved in this Fiasco are completely of the making of Kildare and the CCCC… No one else is involved… St Conthleth Park, has been sold out in principle for years by the Kildare GAA themselves.. A venue where a child could not expect to see a sold out match.. Many of the Mayo season ticket holders are actually children, and great enthusiastic GAA fan’s and player’s for their own club’s.. I isn’t right to expect someone who has a right to be there, not being able to actually see the match!

74. It’s amazing how clear the thinking is during the night!! Those of them calling for Mayo to support Kildare and turn up in Newbridge…ah now I see it. Mayo kicking about in Kildare and Kildare send a dummy team to represent them in Croke Park… game awarded to Kildare. Hup Mayo ?

75. Kildare may not have thought this thing through from the off or failed to see the bigger picture. If there was ever a chance of Kildare beating Mayo, then this was their opportunity and Croke Park was the place to do it. Were they to pull this off their season could take off in a big way and their opening round defeat to Carlow would be confined to the dustbin. As the 4th round qualifier will be against one of the losing provincial finalists and seeing how Cork was humiliated by Kerry, Fermanagh put to the sword by Donegal, Laois finding the going tough against the Dubs and Roscommon no great shakes either, a rejuvenated Kildare coupled with a favourable draw, could in the blink of an eye, find themselves in the Super Eights and be guaranteed another 3 matches – a mouth-watering prospect I would have thought.

76. While the theory of Mayo turning up and playing in Newbridge is earneet, it is jot that simple.

    CCCC have deemed the ground substandard for the fixture, ans raised health and safety issues. Those do not go away from an insurance view, however genuine they may be.

    We just have to go where we are told and this is not a problem of our making. It does take the good out of the summer though

77. I have to say my original thoughts on this was that the game should be played in Newbridge…if they got home advantage they should be entitled to it. My sympathy for them is limited because of the way they have gone about it…this huge public stance about the injustice of it all…isn’t that a bit rich considering the amount of times they have given up home advantage to play Dublin in croker when it suited them?

    Of course the media has painted a David versus Goliath situation and now a lot of the vibe from the general public is that Mayo should come out and stand side by side with Kildare and play in Newbridge….Well excuse my French but fuck that. Mayo have absolutely no obligation to do anything other than to turn up for the game at the venue which is decided on by GAA hq. Such hypocritical rubbish..no need for morals when players are being dragged to the ground at the end of an AI final but woe betide a fixture venue should be changed.

    Also I read Philip Jordan’s column and he commented on the fact that the GAA should be supporting counties like Kildare by providing funding to improve their grounds. Now dont get me wrong I am all for the improvement of grounds around the country but it’s the ‘counties like Kildare’ bit I am a little confused by. I am no expert on funding or the history of GAA grounds around the country so maybe someone on here could enlighten me as to why exactly Kildare have such a shit ground compared to other counties competing at the level they are operating at?

78. Ah! Shane Ross is the boyo that will step in and sort this mess out. Sure with that accent and his knowledge of the game not to mention his upbringing.
    His mother was the head gate man in Guinness’s and wasn’t his father the minister for weeds in ploughed fields.
    That’s the bucko that will put this one to bed.

79. Time to move on as my interest level has plateaued. Rumour has it that Kildare will refuse to play Mayo anywhere, if our lads tog out in its black gear, as they deem it an incitement to ridiculing its whiter than white image.

80. No deal from last nights conclave, GAA and Kildare standing firm. From our point of view this is a load of crap at this stage. Can’t organize hotels, travel etc, tickets..

81. RTE reporting that no new developments have arisen in the saga… both sides still firmly entrenched. I actually think a walkover is the most likely scenario now, Kildare have no doubt been emboldened by all the pub lawyers who make out they have solid grounds for appeal…

    Sorry but no way should the GAA capitulate here. This farce is all thanks to Kildare.

82. We will know by tomorrow as Kildare will have to write to the GAA 48 hours before throw in confirming their no show. We are going to be handed this game

    Fuck sake. This is total horseshit

83. Gamechanger – “A home ground is like an old friend, you know it’s secrets and you trust it somehow.”

    If they love their home ground so much then why did they cede it so many times in the Leinster Championship?

84. Mayo should go to croke park at 7 kick the ball over the bar get on the bus and play the game in newbridge.
    No just think we should wait and see and go about our bussiness as the match is still on.
    Disappointed at the lack of respect shown to the man who runs this site by a certain few.
    He was brave an enough to give his views which i think are very well put.
    Let mayo not be drawn into this,god knows we have had enough shit storms over the years ourselves and sure as theres shit in a goose there will be more to come.
    Best of luck with the recovery sos im sure you will be back to your best.head down work hard as you always do.

85. “Of course the media has painted a David versus Goliath situation and now a lot of the vibe from the general public is that Mayo should come out and stand side by side with Kildare and play in Newbridge….Well excuse my French but fuck that. ”

    walterwhite i couldn’t agree more , starting with RTEs pathetic “appeal to stephen rochford” and all the people on this site who should know better telling mayo to support kildare ?? you must be kidding. Mayo should go where the game is fixed for, croke park. If it gets changed to newbridge then go there and put these lads to the sword.

86. and you have to love brolly sticking it to SKY on his newspaper column.

    SKY have nothing to do with this but as he is paid by RTE he will find a way to work them into it.

87. I’d expect a Kildare press conference later with all their squad present totally backing their county’s stance. Mayo will be awarded the game, Kildare then will bring the GAA to the courts , The championship will continue, and Cian o Neill will go down in the annals of standing up the GAA and i believe Kildare will eventually win their case and make some money out of the GAA

88. and the kildare players will forever wonder what might have been if they bet mayo and then maybe got into the super 8’s “i coulda been a contender”

    training all year, missing weddings, nights out , family events and then end your season with a press conference , brilliant

89. I wish this Would be resolved today one way or another it’s hard to make plans for Saturday with everything still up in the air. While I sympathize with Kildare’s position the game should go ahead somewhere Croke Park on a sunny evening at 7 pm would be nice. Anyway hope it’s sorted today

90. After so much written about Kildare’s situation in the media, on here and on social media I don’t know how the likes of Ultair still don’t understand why Kildare have moved games in the past.

    Just because county boards have caved in previously it doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do.

91. Would you like to summarise it Custard Pat?

    Actually don’t bother, I’ll do it for you in 3 characters:

    €€€

92. It’s a pity Cian O’Neil was not as upstanding in his dealings with Mayo before agreeing to join Kerry.

    Maybe right is on his side here, but maybe after losing to Carlow he needs to do something to save his job

93. MayoMchale – I’m of the same view as you there, I think Kildare have rushed this most especially their manager. Firstly they were very impressive in how they used Croke Park in the first half of their Dublin league game and some of their forward movement is very well suited to the wide open spaces that CP offers or appears to offer. Secondly they have got everyone talking in their favour and no doubt mistakes have been made here by the hierarchy but its not a popularity contest that they are trying to win, its round 3 and I feel they could have aired the injustice against them and built the siege mentality without backing themselves into a corner and creating a huge vacum for both sets of players. And most significantly from a managerial point of view, we are in the process of trying to bed down a new midfield pairing against what will be quality midfield opposition, we found out last week the kind of quality which can be found in that sector of the field and I would much prefer to be bedding down that midfield for a couple of games in what at least appears to be a tighter ground where help from a wing back or wing forward can be afforded without as great a threat as can play our in CP. Finally some teams are just better away from home, we are one of those teams and guess so are Kildare!

94. Paddy powers now go 6 to 4 that the game goes on in Croke Park. It’s 1 to 2 Newbridge. Walkover is 8 to 1.

95. Nobody wants a walkover…I want us to play Kildare and if it’s newbridge then let’s play ball.

    Mayo being turned into he bad guys now by keyboard warriors from Galway to Meath. Funnily enough the most support I’ve seen for the situation Mayo are in is coming from our friends the Dublin fans.

96. Mayo will not be so foolish as to get drawn into this debacle and anyone with any level of understanding of the preparation levels required for inter county football both physical and particularly psychological will know that. I have no doubt the mayo county board learned of this mess like the rest of us and that was from media sources, perhaps they got a slight heads up from some reporter trying to get a juicy unprepared comment but that would be about it.

    I can only hope that some form of a compromise will be reached very soon as the Mayo traveling support deserve some form of confirmation either way. If Kildare decide to withdraw on a point of principle and put all their chips on the legal option with the DRA it could really throw the cat among the pigeons with regard to the remaining qualifiers. It will then have ramifications for every remaining team. I think that next years championship will have quiet a bit of small print added to its text.

97. The walk over would suit us down to the ground. Our lads need as many days rest between games as possible with the hectic game a week schedule up ahead if we get to the Super Duper 8s. Keep doing what you are doing Kildare – fair play to ye standing up for all that is right and all that – oh and thanks for the much needed two week break to round 4. Sure ye’ll be better for it next year when ye tap the sheik up for a few million quid and develop st conleths park. A big thanks also to the CCCCCCCCC for digging their heals in – again the walk over and the break will suit us grand. Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

98. I really don’t see any move on this until 7pm tomorrow. Everyone ending up losing out including ourselves. We could really have used this game to help develop the young lads and sort out midfield and get a couple of the lads returning from injury some game time. I’m afraid the protagonists see this as only involving themselves. It’s a shame this hadn’t been discussed and sorted before the venue announcement.

99. A walkover might suit Mayo but it also might unsettle the players you never know how all this stuff effects people who just want to play the matches and not be involved in things like venue selection. The 2018 championship would be badly tainted by a walkover so hopefully the game will take place but its been a pr disaster for the GAA.

100. Well worth reading Sean Moran in the Times today on the debacle –

     https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/se%C3%A1n-moran-gaa-correct-not-to-respond-to-kildare-ultimatum-1.3544935

101. The last para –

     The one imperative in the whole sorry episode from Croke Park’s perspective is that they can’t have a county wantonly refusing to abide by its directives in relation to fixtures. Setting such a precedent would lead to anarchy.

102. Paddy Power: Arlene Foster to attend the match regardless of venue – 300/1

     She’ll have an easier time restoring power-sharing in the north then the GAA will with this fiasco!

103. Tickets no longer on sale for Croke Park on Saturday on Gaa.ie

104. I’d take a walk over right to the final if I got it! The time for developing lads was in the league and I’m sure Rochford knows what he has from training etc. I can’t see how this effects Mayo players psychologically – they’ve been around the block long enough to deal with this – they don’t arrange the games! Remember that if we make the super 8s we’ll be playing sides that have been well rested for weeks. You only have to look at the Munster and Leinster Championships in hurling to see how poorly those who played for 3 weeks in a row did by the end (e.g. Limerick and Wexford).

105. No tickets available from GAA.ie for Saturday in Croke Park from this morning???

106. Season ticket money not taken either.

     What a farce.

107. Tickets sales for Saturday in Croke Park have been suspended.

108. @ Rock
     Thats one possible implication of the GAA/CCCC backing down but its not the only possible outcome. The other is that they take a long hard look at themselves upon the fallout and at how they apply their rules and processes so bloody inconsistently and often incoherently and they say to themselves – right, we can’t go on in this amateurish way anymore – the players and the fans and individual counties deserve more.

     Kildare look like they are not for shifting at the moment. I thought it would be resolved at this stage and the fact it isn’t suggests its unlikely to be. That is terribly sad for those players who have trained so hard over the last 6 months. We probably won’t recognize it in the immediate future but this could be a watershed moment in the GAA that we look back on and history may ultimately look favourably on the sacrifice Kildare look like they are willing to make.

     I for one have this uneasy sense this last few years that the GAA hierarchy are growing beyond accountability to the grassroots and acting independently of them. It never used to be that way – the dog use to wag the tail but that is changing and I think the Super 8s is evidence of their willingness to plough on with no regard to their members and certainly no regard for “weaker” counties. Kildare-gate or whatever this currently gets labelled might be just the jolt they need to realise the grassroots and tradition and fair play do matter not just when they are convenient to accommodate but especially when they are not.

109. @Rock. Definitive article in Ir Times. thanks for alert and summing up
     “The one imperative in the whole sorry episode from Croke Park’s perspective is that they can’t have a county wantonly refusing to abide by its directives in relation to fixtures. Setting such a precedent would lead to anarchy.”

110. They can’t take money Kildare have informed them they are not playing.

111. @Cantini
     I’m not entirely unsympathetic to Kildare and I doubt too many are.

     There are however, a number of issues at play here. First of all they’ve consistently ceded home advantage in the championship for decades and played these games in Croke Park. So it begs the question as to why are principles so important now? They’ve also completely failed to maintain or develop a country ground that is fit for purpose and capable of hosting large scale championship games. The GAA has also operated this policy with other counties – namely Wicklow and Laois – and there was little or no comment at the time.

     There is no doubt that the GAA has suffered from poor (or non) communication on this process. It leaves them in an extremely precarious position and Kildare seem unwilling to seek/accept a compromise. I’m a Mayoman and want to see the lads progress but would genuinely hate to see a walkover.

112. Why are ticket sales stopped ?? Gaa caving in ( which I’d be hugely surprised at ) or have Kildare written in ? Fuck this is a pain in the hole . Mayo county board doing a fine job saying nothing .

113. The Bring a Friend option on the Season Ticket account wasn’t working from yesterday morning.

     Cantini – how can this be seen as a “watershed moment”? No new precedent is being set here in relation to the fixing of a venue for a qualifier game, not even for Kildare.

     And where have you been for the last thirty years if you think this is the first shot fired by the GAA in this direction? Sure, let’s all go back to the good old days, great little country we had then at so many levels …

114. @DecM I agree the mayo county board are doing a fine job saying nothing. This whole saga is nothing l to do with Mayo Gaa or our country board. Our county board get lots of abuse but look at the work they have put in we have a fine stadium, we have the player fund lotto, they team is well looked after. We in mayo have enough struggle to fight against before we got drag into some other counties nonsense.
     Maybe the Kildare county should look at themselves and the state of their home ground.

115. According to KFM sport, a deal on Newbridge on Saturday or Sunday is imminent

     If this is moved to Sunday I’ll be fucking sick. We should absolutely not accept it

116. Obviously exiles heading over for this are the minority but after having to book short notice (jacked up) flights and all the other admin, this is a joke. This last minute bullshit does no one any good. Not a popular view, but if there’s a walkover the recovery time for the squad wouldn’t be the end of the world. Not Mayo’s making so I can live with it

117. Newbridge on Saturday folks…confirmed………the Establishment backs down

118. It’s Newbridge 7pm Sat, now let’s go beat them

119. 7pm throw in

120. Finally! Lets go and beat them now!

121. RTE are reporting the game is set for new bridge on sat at 7…….

122. Happy the Gaa backed down, now Kildare will have to put in a performance to back their actions..

123. RTE reporting that the match is in Newbridge on Saturday at 7.

124. Just heard it’s 1pm on Saturday in new ridge ??

125. Bad outcome for Mayo, but fair outcome. We’ve been left in limbo all week. None of it of our own doing, while Kildare have been united by this farce and now have that extra motivation to back up their actions. If we come out with a win we will have put in a massive day’s work

126. It mightn’t be a popular decision with all the Mayo (and Kildare) fans who can’t get tickets, but it’s the right one. Home advantage should mean home advantage.

     Once all the season ticket holders get in, and the remaining tickets go to whoever get them, then the rest of us will have to put up with seeing it on Sky this time.

     Thank God this saga is over and we can get back to matters on the pitch.

127. RTE reporting that the game is on in Newbridge 7pm Saturday

128. I presume any season ticket holder that decided to opt out can change that now

129. Once more a golden opportunity lost to do the right thing. Staying silent wasn’t an option. Kildare have won ground war and have nations dympsthy,. A simple holding statement from county board along the lines of “mayo.refusing walk over and will play Kildare at whatever venue”. No hostage to fortune there but keeping nations goodwill. I know, more county board bashing but whats me. Checked and cleared Twitter WJ,

130. Pravda reporting that the Kremlin-like ‘no washing of linen in public’ continues within the GAA so closure of ranks is immenent.

131. The whole country will be cheering on Kildare. Jaysus Mayo will have some battle on their hands now lads.

132. The Lunatics are running the Asylum!…. This is a DISGRACEFUL decision.. With the loyal Mayo fan’s walked all over by the CCCC.. Even worse the Preparation of the Mayo Gaa Team has been held up and hampered by those Clowns… The CCCC is in a right mess now…. It’s not the same issue as Roscommon getting the Connacht Final… Roscommon is equally as good a ground as the alternative on this occasion Pearce Stadium… But those Clowns who have been dumbing down the Actual Capicity of Provincial Stadia, for whatever agenda they have.. It’s probably another Pro Dublin, with the Super 8 in mind and it’s wrongly inbuilt ‘Advantage’ to Dublin.. I don’t consider that St Conthleth Park is a Provincial Ground…. Quinn and Prunty have made right Clowns out of themselves now… Every Mayo Fan, who wants to be there now, will not be able get a ticket.. But let’s make sure that we outnumber the Kildare fan’s 10..to.. 1..

133. Yeah, glad decision made and no risk of legal implications, we just need to win the game and all will be okay in the gaa world for another week.

     Will be interesting to see what effect this has on Kildares perfomance, may galvanise them or create a draining effect. They tend not to play an effective blanket defence so should suit us, and SKY may have bumper viewer figures!

134. At least you’re consistent, John. How you can pin this one on the County Board is beyond me but each to their own.

     As I said to you yesterday, to get out of the moderation net you need to post a comment using a different mail address and once I’ve checked one through you’ll be back on the loose. Go easy on the County Board, you hear?!

135. Jesus John the nations sympathy…. who gives a continental f**k about that…. lets go, lets beat them, lets move on

136. I’m not sure it is advantage Dublin, Leantimes. This logic sees Dublin playing away to every Leinster county when drawn to do so from now on – Kildare will surely insist on this, won’t they? Same logic, one assumes, for Leinster finals. Personally I can’t wait for such a decider to be played at Cusack Park in Mullingar on some other capacity-challenged gem. A whole new glorious vista has opened up for Gaels the country over. Anyone fancy joining me at the crossroads for a little dance to mark the day?

137. i agree with you leantimes

138. Well, all of this should have created a siege mentality in the Kildare dressing room, which makes them a much more dangerous animal than would have been the case before the circus began.

     There will be more than the usual qualifier-level of hype around this one, but the fact that it’s on Sky as opposed to RTE will probably mean that come Saturday the world will have moved on to being outraged about something else, and Mayo can concentrate on sneaking a win.

139. @Rock

     I think the difference is as described in your own words they “conceded” home advantage. The point is it was their prerogative to do so. On this occasion they have not conceded it and found it was going to be forced upon them for what no one can argue is for very poorly argued reasons by the CCCC – they cannot deny them home advantage on the grounds that lots more people want to go to the game (But that is precisely why they are doing it) – they said it was because of spurious H+S grounds and concerns about risk of “animosity”….what a load of bollox….does anyone really believe that is reasonable?

     @WJ
     I think it will be a watershed moment for a team to give a walkover in such a high profile game. The fact that his has happened to Wicklow and others (and Mayo in 2014) seems to be quoted as a justification for the decision – i haven’t seen anyone saying that what happened in those scenarios was right? The argument seems to go along the lines well no one created a fuss when this happened to Wicklow – well maybe more of us should have – maybe Wicklow should have too. So I think it could be a watershed moment in the sense that instead of just fancy rhetoric a team in a high profile encounter is going to match courage with their conviction – I dont’ recall any comparable stance taken in my time watching the GAA…..moments like these are watershed because change things and regardless of what the CCCC/GAA say, if Kildare do this, they will have no choice but to change and make sure a scenario like this never arises again…and that will be a good thing for the rest of us.

     Also while I respect your opinion always WJ – i simply don’t think Kildare having conceded games historically and not developing their grounds should weigh against them in relation to this particular issue i.e. they have the choice of home venue again on this occasion to be conceded away if they so choose, which they haven’t. You can argue teams should develop grounds of sufficient capacity – (i’m not sure how practical that is especially with half the county boards in the country wallowing in deb)t – but that argument is akin to telling someone penalised in the wrong for something that “well you deserve it anyway because you are bollox”…that sort of logic can be applied to almost any scenario you want to run roughshod over someones rights

140. All a bit moot now, Cantini. But,as I’ve already pointed out, the ramification of this decision for the GAA are nothing less than enormous, not least for their revenues. But that’s one for another day. The populists – yet again – have claimed this particular day. Like other recent populist triumphs, though, I fail to see how this one will help to usher in a better world. But I’m sure there’s some genius out there on Twitter with a pithy put-down answer to that question.

141. Wille Joe, I agree with what you have just said… But the manipulation of actual ground capacity as was the case in MacHale Park and Hyde Park recently.. I don’t know what criteria the CCCC used to justify the playing of Laois V Dublin in Nolan Park… Or playing the Carlow V Dublin match in O Moore Park as happened last year.. But there definitely has been a disingenuous attempt by the CCCC to portray the actual Ground’s capacity as less than it really is… In the case of Castlebar and Roscommon recently….I seen the evidence first hand in MacHale Park in May, with possibly 6 or 7 thousand empty seat’s.. And similarly I seen the same thing in the Hyde for the Connacht Final… In my opinion, the Hyde is a bigger ground than the Connacht Council first choice for the occasion, Pearce Stadium… Probably more room at the back of the goals in Salthill, but my God when you look at the terrace opposite the Stand in Salthill, it’s actually tiny.. But both of those Ground’s have actually held in excess of 25K with no safety issues, in the past… Very poor visual for Children in Salthill in Particular…

142. Well I’m not on twitter WJ – and happy to debate anything beyond pithy put-downs. Populist decisions aren’t always the right ones but they aren’t by default the wrong ones either.

     back to the football – i think the Kildare will shoulder that bit more pressure now having claimed their off field success.

143. In reference to the Dublin dimension, here’s a question: would people rather see Mayo be scheduled to play Dublin in a Super 8 game in Dublin’s actual home ground of Parnell Park (capacity ~12K) or in Croke Park (capacity plenty)?

144. Now what happens with the tickets that were sold are they valid and new tickets for Newbridge to go on sale

145. Loreto Road… If it’s a vote you want, the people of Mayo would rather play Dublin on our own All Seater… Depends on where you look for your information between 38,000 & 42,000 Capicity….

146. The Kildare game has been removed from my season ticket account. I’ve a feeling a shaft is on the way!!!

147. Have just spotted that NiallMc and was just thinking the same thing….

148. a lot of people around ireland that had sympathy with mayo
     says if mayo turne up in croke park go on the pitch and are
     awarded walk over they would shout for the dubs or any
     other county that plays mayo they putting the blame on mayo
     wich not mayo.s fault should be blaming the idiots at hq
     if newbridge was too small why not use tullamore
     just around the corner from kildare and a lot nearer to mayo
     he gaa big boys don.t give a shhhh about the fans expically
     mayo its a long way home to bellmullet after a 7 oclock start
     in croker sat evening gaa knows they have no competion
     with any other sport in mayo its gaelic football nothing else

149. Leantimes … sure, for Mayo’s home game of the Super 8 (and I’ve little doubt you’ll be there this year) it should be in whatever county ground is preferred by the Mayo Co Board of course. I thought the issue was Dublin having two games in Croker though, which on the face of it IS a bit unfair. The alternatives don’t seem fair either though.
     So was just curious which of the Parnell Pk or Croke Park option Mayo folks would prefer. Getting tickets for
     Anyway, maybe for another day. Ye’ll win on Saturday. The extra tension plus Kildare’s added motivation is just the perfect sort of incremental challenge the current Mayo team seem to thrive on in building extended summer runs.

150. Annnnnndddd season tickets account back upto 10/11

151. Great to put this issue to bed now,
     Cian O neill had better keep his wits about him any time he sees long grass from now on as some in GAA HQ have knives almost as long as their memories. Kildare and Mayo will find a way to gain focus and traction for Saturday’s game as a result of this issue, I hope no mayo player gets the line if things get a little tetchy on the field, cool heads now needed, good luck to you all on Saturday and safe journey to all.

152. We can all now focus on the actual game. Better be worth the wait given all the bullshit about where it’s hosted!

153. Loreta road
     Mark my words on this, by 2028 or sooner you will be attending Parnell park for the Leinster final, a smaller ground will be used by that stage by the GAA to try and make it some sort of spectacle but we already know the result regardless of what ground is used.
     Tell me I’m wrong and tell me how it will have changed by then to make this not be the case.
     Jaden can chime in too if he likes.

154. Dave, I think its quite possible there won’t even be a Leinster final in 2028. Or at least not in any guise that we recognise today. If the provincial competition (or non-competition more correctly) becomes separated from the All Ireland Champ and becomes an O’Byrne Cup type of competition then you could be quite right about the final being in Parnell Pk!

155. @Leantimes There are lots of different factors that can lead to a grounds capacity been reduced, its just not about the size of the venue.