I usually do the annual update on web traffic stats for the blog earlier in January. Last week’s glut of retirements blind-sided me a bit in that respect, however, so here, a little later than usual, is this year’s update.
Covid-19 has caused plenty of graphs that were pointing upwards to tip vertiginously in the opposite direction. It certainly did so for traffic to the blog, where the hit count dropped sharply in 2020 compared to previous years.
This is shown in the graph below. Hits fell by a whopping 1.3 million in 2020 compared to 2019, with the result that the page view count for the year just gone was the lowest since 2015.
Going down
Most years in this annual post I’d be telling you about how the daily, weekly or monthly highs were exceeded over the course of the year. Needless to say, I’ve no such milestones to report in relation to 2020. Aside, though, for traffic levels in November and December!
At least the cumulative graph is still rising – well, it would want to, wouldn’t it? – but the exponential nature of the curve did take a bit of a whack.
Rising, but more slowly
The final graph below illustrates quite nicely – graphically, even – the Covid effect. I’ve plotted the monthly page view data for 2019 and 2020 together so you can see what happened to traffic each month last year compared to the previous year, one that had a more ‘normal’ monthly traffic distribution.
As you can see, once Covid hit and the football stopped, traffic levels here pretty much collapsed and only began to climb again once the club action started. The Covid effect is also visible for year-end as traffic in the final few months of 2019 (our Q4 off-field soap opera notwithstanding) was lower than for any other period of that year whereas last year these months yielded the highest monthly numbers. The highs recorded then, though, were still way down on 2019.
The Covid effect
That’s the lot to report on for 2020. It would nice to think that everything – web traffic on here included – might return to normal levels this year. However, with Covid still on the rampage, the start of the National League delayed and another Championship set to be played behind closed doors, one that’ll be done and dusted in July, it’s pretty obvious that isn’t going to happen. It would seem, then, that those traffic milestones recorded here in 2019 aren’t going to be exceeded any time soon.
Everything and everyone was hit in 2020. But WJ, the service this blog delivers to so many cannot really be quantified by those kinds of stats, by hits, traffic etc. Its the difference between heart and soul!
If Gaelic football flows in Mayo people’s veins and we support our warriors through thick and thin, then this blog often provided supporters of the green and red with the necessary pressure, high and low!
It facilitates debate (sometimes a bit unruly but fairly reffed), it provides great information and entertainment. It mixes a cocktail of belongings to a great band of brothers and sisters, that is the envy of other team supporters far and wide.
Imagine the loss it would have brought with it for so many, if it wasn’t open traffic (even lighter) last year, when it was needed more than ever.
Keep it up Willie Joe, forever and a day!
Hard to see why this site would not be as affected by Covid as everything else. While we were delighted to see football resume in the dying weeks of the year and our warriors play their usual part, somehow it did not seem to stir the same passion as a normal year. Those gatherings for breakfast in Feerick’s were badly missed. Hopefully by June/July we might be able to attend matches and normal service resume. This July All Ireland final is going to take a bit of getting used to, though.
It has just being announced that Peter LEAHY has stepped away as manager of the mayo ladies football team.
Superb work Willie Joe.
Condolences to the Mortimer Family, Shurle, following the passing of Frank, father of former Mayo players, Connor, Trevor and Kenneth. RIP.
Having lived in the US for 45 years this blog is a great way to keep in touch with Mayo football and the thinking of supporters. The archives are a great resource.Thanks for all the hard work.
Sympathies to the Mortimer Family. Sad times. The sons certainly gave to the County cause for years at all levels. Surely Mayo Gaa will post condolences on social media.
Even on my break today there was Damien Lawlor on radio 1 reporting on the covid breach at the final. How do we always manage to be in the ‘news’?? Tom Parsons said in his interview at weekend that him and Robbie were driving up and down to Dublin several times a week for training – isnt that such a grueling and demanding schedule. The players fully adhering to Covid rules – yet them three carry on like that and flout national guidelines.
@Mayofan, from the beginning personally I wasn’t in favor of the intercounty match’s resuming… Some video footage of post County finals had me very worried about what could potentially happen… However from what I see on the TV, both hurling and football games, the players and those officials allowed to attend, were carried out as professionally in accordance with Public Health restrictions as humanly possible… The GAA should and did give very good example as to how to behave on the intercounty scene this Autumn and Winter… But it’s not remotely acceptable that 3 unauthorized people should decide themselves to break the rules and attend the All Ireland football final, regardless of whatever County they come from… Now I don’t who those 3 people are, and neither has the Mayo County Board made that information public… The vast majority of the Mayo County backroom team did abide by the rules, including those who were allowed to attend the All Ireland final under the very nessary restrictions the GAA in place…I can’t think of any good reason why those who broke the very nessary rules should not be named…It would certainly avoid the finger of blame being pointed at those who abided by the rules!
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Sorry did I miss something, 3 Extra members of the back room team got up to Dublin and got into Croke Park without Anybody in the Backroom team noticing OK ???.
Three of Mayo senior management suspended for 3 months. The County Board and manager did not know anything about their attendance. Either the people are fools if County Board thinks this story is true. It should be County Board and management that should get 3 months as well. Would it be nice to name those 3 people who got suspended. If it was a player who got suspended and his name was not released there would be uproar. Maybe if they brought in 3 Players and we won the Final or we won the last day, those 3 people would be named as great servents. I have never seen everything gone so quiet and not a word from anyone. Name those people so we will know how did they gain entry.
It’s a crazy story alright. I’ve heard the names of the three involved and how they gained entry, as I’m sure some of you have as well. While I can understand why one of the three would have wanted to be there he should either have been in the official party or not there at all. As for the other two, words fail me. The whole incident is an embarrassment and it reflects poorly on Mayo GAA.
Saw the covid story on rte sports news earlier. Its interesting that this non compliance is highlighted on the day when Mayo’s numbers are the third highest in the country and an all time record in the county. It really is hard to believe that “the three individuals attended the game without the knowledge of the County Board and Team Manager”!
So three backroom or management managed to escape the hawkeye in Croke…it needs to be recalibrated. It’s like a storm in a teacup. Yes. It’s wrong. But on the scale of wrongs it’s pretty low in my opinion.
However what really pleases me is the lack of response to the remarks of some pundit guy who seems offended that we love our players. Long live the silence and long live our love. Maigheo go deo.
Its disappointing Mayo are in the news again, Mayogaa statement simply hasn’t gone far enough and the whole story makes no sense. Are we supposed to believe no one knew these guys where planning to travel, no one seen them entering or in the ground during the game. All highly unlikely. If these guys were seen within the ground, were they told to leave immediately? Right now it’s a relatively small but I fear this story will drag on and gain traction as there is little other GAA activity going on at the moment. Mayogaa needs to get out in front of this, make a full statement about what actually went on and ban these guys permanently from the team, they need to show they have taken decisive action. If further revelations emerge the gaa will be forced into taking action against Mayogaa.
@Mo-direach.. the breaking of Public Health regulations has and will continue to lead to the deaths of people… Not nessary those who break the regulations, but contributes to the situation all the same, and you can’t, nor can any individual decide on ad-hoc basis what breaches of public health regulations are ‘pretty low on the scale of wrongs’ , ..Mayo has to show leadership on this matter…I’m quite sure that far worse has happened in Ireland and indeed Mayo over this last terrible month, but I am also sure that plenty in Sheebeens or lock-in in Pubs also shook their heads and talked about how if apparently Golf Gate was OK for some, sure a few pints in an illegal setting wasn’t going to kill anyone either!
– Juvenile behaviour at the very least by the three – Now that there are three vacancies in the backroom team maybe we could get more S&C expertise so as to understand how Mayo can match Dublin physically for ~75 mins and not fall away physically after ~60 mins because that is the biggest gap between both teams just now with subs capability a close second.
– As College competitions are now called off for this academic year, the leagues could be next. GAA need cash so would not be surprised if finals moved to Sept by which time some crowds should be allowed into games.
Maybe the guys were actually part of the media teams reporting for the games.
I would like to see other issues getting more airtime, ie, the Dubs using Croker as their home pitch etc.
What about the Sam Maguire doing the rounds in the week before the final ???
I will say this once and once only, Mayo people are far to hard on their players and past players, you won’t see this occur with the Dubs.
They weren’t part of the media, Mayo88.
I wish the gaa or Croke park or whoever would look at the cctv more often and they might see some more rules being broken on the field by their can do no wrong team and hand picked officials
I don’t see how the issue with the three secret attendees is remotely acceptable for their future role with the team.
If three players went out for a few pints the week of the final and it emerged after the match they’d get booted off the panel.
Breaking those rules and putting the team in that position on the day and after was and is much more serious than a typical panel axing offence of going for sneaky pints.
The Mayo team is all about high performance, this is repeated ad nauseum by players and management. This is a massive breach of high performance culture. I don’t want to hear any “Yes, but….” in relation to excuses like a big Croke Park or seeking advantages for the team.
Willie Joe I think it’s time you got rid of the Team photo on top of the page and replace with the squad photograph at the All Ireland. 8 players are gone from that photo above.
I don’t understand how on all Ireland final day with 83,000 attendees a person hasn’t a snowballs chance in hell of getting inside Croke Park without a ticket and yet with a trickle of people most probably coming through 1 entrance, how did 3 unauthorised people get through the entrance ?
If whoever was maning the entrance was not aware of these 3 Houdini’s going through the entrance initially how did they become aware that these 3 were unauthorised trespassers after the fact. Was someone actively looking for transgressors.
The system was breached and Croke Park should explain how this happened.
If the system was breached in Croke Park on All Ireland final day with a miniscule attendance then what confidence is there that every match played around the country since restrictions were introduced have not been breached ?
Is 3 extra unauthorised attendees at the AIF any more serious than unauthorised attendees at a junior B game in Swinford or Kilalla or Ballina ?
The government have made the call on how many people can attend a family funeral, a wedding, house visits and all the rest. Based on sound medical advice.
Where or who gives the authority to the Gaa to decide on who or how many can attend football matches or why were they able to change attendance numbers approaching the final.
The people are told God forbid, if you loose a loved one there are X amount of family members who may attend the funeral. No more or no less.
Only professional sports to take place and horse racing behind closed doors and then there’s the Gaa matches (not professional), and it appears with the authority to decide their own attendances. Flexi attendance. Numbers to attend changed before the final I believe. Was this a government decision and how was the number allowed to change. A funeral to me sounds like a much more appropriate reason to change an attendance number than a football match.
Do the government tell us what to do and the Gaa tell the government what to do ?
@Revellino, Put it like this. It wasn’t possible for the gate people to see, that was why it only came up on cctv. We own this, in full.
We do own it, in full. The Mayo lads were stupid to think it would be let go, dublin own Croker. But you know the thinking was this “ what will it matter on the grand scale? “. It doesn’t apart from us commenting and the media being the media on slow gaa sports news days.
I know we have terrible stuff going on in Ireland today , but in the name of trying to see a bit of daylight, will the national league go ahead?
Storm in a teacup yesterday about the 3 backroom members getting into the final so what nobody died when you compare it to the news that came out of the Mother and Babies home yesterday it hardly warrants a mention. Anyway if i was involved in the county board I’d be trawling America or elsewhere for a sponsor that would pump millions into Mayo Gaa it’s the only way fight fire with fire
@Backdoorsam, … You can’t be serious, “Trawling America” …Things are so bad NOW in Ireland, that unless members of the Mayo County Board wanted to attend a Donald Trump rally, where breaches of public health restrictions as regards Covid 19 are acceptable, .. It’s not a Storm in a teacup…. It’s a very serious matter, and indeed all breaches of the Public Health regulations should be condemed, those who commit those breaches should in my opinion be named so the Innocent need not worry about the finger of blame being pointed at themselves … Too many people have died and will continue to die, as a result of breaches of the restrictions. It’s not up to certain people in the Mayo back room team or otherwise to place themselves on such a pedestal that can break those restrictions….
The dogs in the street know the names of the 3 who got in to Croke Park by now.
For some reason there is a reluctance to release the names officially.
Maybe it can be swept under the carpet for half a century. Yeah that’s the best way to proceed.
Any word on John Finns broken jaw from 85? Or the act of thuggery that took place in the tunnel at half time on 19th December?
Rubbish leantimes it is a storm in a teacup
In the grand scheme of things we lost the all ireland the GAA Could have let it Slide the 3 extra lads that got in broke the rules but so what nobody died. And yes the only way we will complete with Dublin is to raise as much money as we can and give our footballers as much financing as the Dubs get
@Backdoorsam, if it’s a Storm in a tea cup, name those people… the people will see that it’s a Storm in a tea cup… Maybe the National League will resume in the coming weeks, maybe it won’t?..If it does, and Public Health regulations are allowed to be breached by one, two or three…Why not 21, ..101, or any number of people..If on the biggest sports day of the terrible year of 2020… Everyone in the Mayo set-up can’t abide by the regulations, how can there be confidence that similar or a creeping increase of breaches won’t happen as we go into what has started off as an even more terrible 2021, and less or no cameras or no TV audience in excess of millions worldwide…All Ireland titles are completely immaterial in the greater scheme of things, in fact I am very sorry to say this to you or anyone else that reads this contribution, ..In one particular Local Electorial Area of Mayo, the worst statistics as regards Covid 19 were reported for a 14 day average last week..In Mayo as a whole 466 new infections were reported yesterday ,at a time when to too many shame this Rep of Ireland, an Island with a spare population has reported the worst statistics as regards on Monday last… Now this did not happen without far too many in Society deciding for themselves what breaches would be OK for themselves to break…In all sincerity I say to anyone who reads this that I believe that the very high infections rate in Mayo would even be higher if Mayo had won the All Ireland Final, be that by the nodding and winking if those who are having a great time in a Lock-in in a Pub or Hotel, or Sheebeen or a irresponsible house party.
I will not name those people Leantimes it’s none of my business who they are. There are worst things going on in Ireland that than what those 3 guys did. Obviously it’s very important to follow the guidelines set by the Govenment and vital that we all stay apart for now but the all ireland final was played during Lockdown 3 and I honestly don’t think 3 extra backroom team members being allowed in made a blind bit of difference to anything
If these three Mayo backroom team members are to be named – Should the people responsible for the she been in Westport be also named. Should the pubs that opened “serving food” and ignored the guidelines completely be named. Should the people who organised and attended house parties that were in breach of the guidelines be named. This is where the real damage was done and caused the virus to spread to the levels we have today.
@Backdoorsam, I wouldn’t expect you or anyone else on this Blog to name those responsible.. For last year’s championship to go ahead it was incumbent on every participating team, and every individual within the team setup to comply fully with the nessary restrictions…Mayo or three indivuals didn’t comply..There is no room for blurring the lines in matters of public health…Mayo County Board has to take it’s responsibility seriously, there isn’t a hirachy of breaches that can be deemed OK for some and not for others… Leadership is now required and a message has to go out of Zero acceptance of any breaches of public health…No exceptions, and no excuses that we were in level 3 and somehow complaince was less important because of that…That absolutely stupid acceptance of such breaches is without doubt why Ireland reported that Worst in the World, stats on new infections last Monday… And that acceptance of a blind eye turned to some breaches also why there will be an increased amount of very small gathering in Churchs, funeral homes and graveyards for the coming weeks and months that need not be happening at all.
I personally dont give a fuck who the 3 people were too much of this shite in Ireland today, naming and so called shaming.
Time to move on to the current issues.
The whole bloody point of people would care to read, think and be factual is that that type of nod and wink breach is lock step absolutely in line with why Irelands Covid numbers are so high.
Nobody died? Stop for a moment and think.
A poor attitude to Covid regulations is exactly why many needlessly are going to die.
Yes, it is linked and yes this is a very serious breach at the level of those three backroom team members being completely untenable and completely outside the bounds of high performance if wishing to go at this from the preparation of the team side.
I take the restrictions very seriously which is why i haven’t seen anyone outside family circle for any length of time in months.
But some perspective is needed. This was 3 extra people in a practically empty 80k seater stadium. The risk to anyone was miniscule.
It was a breach of regulations and they have been suspended for 3 months which is plenty.
You know what, perhaps the gaa should not have been allowed back. I mean 30 to 40 guys tearing about the pitch, hopping off each other, hugging and all that when they won or scored… and then off home to their families. It’s time people took a deep breath. I’m doing my best. I believe everyone here on this site is doing their best. I wish it would all end and sometimes I may say something casual or flippant. But I’m ok with that. If it upsets people I’m sorry. I wish nothing but good health and happiness for you all and all you love.
I also think there is too much talk about Covid. Yes it’s here, it’s real and it’s shit. But let’s just do our best to take care of ourselves and people around us.
Good health to you all.
The excitement over the Mayo 3 and their Croke Park shenanigans is the joke of an admittedly young 2021 when you consider there were and probably still aren’t any sanctions for people who are asked to go for a Covid test but do not. And when you consider that there are and have not been any sanctions on people who arrive from abroad and fail to self isolate. And when you consider that there have never been any efforts to check if those arriving from abroad are self isolating apart from a phone call to the occasional person, as if that is a check. The phone can be answered regardless where the traveller is. Where are all those Gardai who we are told are busy enforcing the 5 k rule? I haven’t seen one on a checkpoint since last Easter and I am frequently – at least weekly – on the road far from home.
So far as I am aware the news of the whole “affair” broke in the Connacht Telegraph. Which persuades me that said newspaper must have a death wish. Certainly I will not be buying it while that is it’s idea of backing Mayo.
Meantime the good news. Peter Leahy is gone. Let’s hope that those young Meathmen he is giving his attention to will be able for it. And am I right in saying that Mayo Ladies do not have a Co Board in place to appoint a replacement? It will be interesting to see what or who Connacht Council will bestow on us. Or will they bother?
I’ve sneaked out of Croke Park a couple of times (2004 and 2006), but I’ve never sneaked in to it.
Maurice Sheridan new Mayo u20 manager as per AH REF..
WJ … he should get a job with the Mayo News !!!
Mayo GAA tweeted that news out this evening as well, My Ball, as did the Mayo News. Just saw it myself in the last few minutes. Good appointment.
A question, did anybody ever sneak into Croker or got of their children in without a ticket ?
I got my 11 year old into the 2017 final with only 1 ticket between us.
The toughest of finals to secure tickets were 2006 and 2017.
Great appointment, wonder who his backroom will be
Chris Barrett gone