It’s still a bit too early for stuff about the match itself – though the local papers are doing their bit this week to keep the fires stoked ahead of Sunday week – but there’s information you’ll want to see on the ticketing side of things. Full details on that are here.
Tickets for the game went on sale last night and it’s likely to be a sell-out. Stand tickets aren’t on general sale – the stand only seats 5,000 and so all available space there will be gobbled up by season ticket allocations from the two counties – so, for most, the only option will be the terrace. And, yes, the traffic will be brutal too. Salthill, how we’ve missed you.
Can’t wait for Sunday week.
It’s time to right the wrong of last year. Anybody reading the Mayo News this morning and seeing Damien Comer and Galway supporters on our field celebrating taking us down, will have felt that sick feeling in their stomach again. It was a tough sight for any Mayo person to endure that night.
That was a painful and awful moment. It’s time to put it right and show our critics that we have not gone away.
I’m not sure that was either painful or awful, Ger. I’ve said repeatedly that the sight of the Galway crowd on the field after the game singing The Fields of Athenry was one of my most memorable sporting moments of 2016. It was their All-Ireland, and it showed. Pity we didn’t get the chance to show them the real Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final.
I don’t think any of us will mind being stuck for hours in traffic as long as we beat them.
As one who still resents Leitrim’s win in ’94 , two in a row would be unacceptable. Rochy, are you listening.
Can you imagine if it was a Mayo player ie Aidan O shea who failed a drugs test the outcry from the media would fill pages for months …..but yet the Kerry lads were able to keep it under wraps about Brendan OSulivan ……how many more failed tests that we have yet to hear about….. i thought they had great energy in Limerick in extra time super human infact….
We have zero failed tests to hear about freespoon.
There is yet to be found a full on effort by any individual to performance enhance.
Three cases, one an inhaler, one an over the counter contaminated supplement (stupid but not Lance Armstrong), then a guy taking some pills with Stanozol again stupid but not a doping program.
Lets not contribute to the downward spiral of GAA debate.
JP Why was it kept so secret and i know it was probably a inocent mistake but if any of our high profile players or even Diurmuid Connolly the press and Kerry media would be all over it like a rash not hidden for a year….
I do not know why it was kept secret. The investigation would have took a while tracing the batch of product.
Seamus Heany, when he wrote ‘whatever you say, say nothing’ must have been inspired by a Kerry man. When they don’t want to tell you anything, they don’t. We have to learn from them. As for the failed drug test, maybe their is nothing more to it,and nothing more to do,. But ‘Freespoonwitheverytub’. (imagine the hulablou if it was AOS or any Mayo player for that matter) I’m pretty sure the player was not in any way attempting to illegally use performance enhancers, he’s has served his suspension, the procedure is pretty strict,. Several Gaa player’s take legal supplements, very easy for a contaminated batch to catch out a player, or possibly the taking of something like a cold and flu remedy…
I agree Leantimes maybe im reading to much into it but Tomes Oshea has known about this news breaking a long time yet all he wanted to talk about was selfies was he trying to deflect attention from his own camp…If it was us they would be mocking our medical team at best….
The original ban of 4 years was reduced to a few months after numerous appeals by Kerry. The real scandal is that Kerry found it so easy to reduce the sentence. If this had been an Antrim or a Leitrim would the leniency be shown? You can bet certain sections of the media would only have loved if it had been a Mayo player that tested positive.
Does anybody know how many mayo season ticket holders there are in total?
Apparently the appeals meant it took a long time and it was not released.
The appeals look reasonable. A contaminated tiny amount of Mha in an over the counter supplement.
That is the most minor offence.
Does anyone know can you just present your ST at the gate or do you have to print off tickets?
Does anybody know if the game is on tv?
Dr. Sharon Madigan was on Off the Ball yesterday evening and said that about 20 percent of sports’ supplements are contaminated, and these rogue batches can contain enough of a banned substance for an athlete to fail a doping test. Staggering statistic really and it just goes to show the shoddy regulation of the supplement industry. Stick to your cabbage and supds lads.
niallmc1983, i believe it to be 4,000 or 4,500 season tickets. mayo and duns are only teams to sell out their allowance every year
I think its 2500 croke park season tickets and about 1700 chairde Maigheo so thats about 4200 in total.
How come nobody told Bernard Flynn about the failed drugs test It must be almost as serious as posing for selfies after a challenge match Wonder should Bernard himself be subjected to a test after the stuff he came out with
@fw printed tickets I believe
@corner back game is live on RTE 2
Willie Joe I’m not sure how you enjoyed that moment but each to their own I guess. Can’t see the highlighy in it. We threw away an historic 6 in a row chance. 2 years with Nestor will be unacceptable and we are less likely to revive ourselves this year. SR be warned as catcol says
I think it was with the realisation that it was their All-Ireland, Ger! I agree completely that we threw it away last year – we went into that match seriously undercooked and paid the price. I’m definitely not expecting us to fall into the same trap this year.
The mood in the Galway camp would suggest that they are very confident. I am hearing some great things about the setup in the Galway camp and the progress that has been made in the last 12 months. In particular their strength in depth. First Championship win since the time of the Indians in Croke Park is just around the corner and the 2 in a row for good measure.
Agree with To win just once!!! Hilarious.
Liberal role in the tie, wouldn’t like to be running around Pearce Stadium with a belly full of spuds, the cabbage would be alright tough!
Willie was that real Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary? Only won by 5 and got goals against the run of play.
I believe Mayo will beat Galway on June 11th because the form is better than this time last year and I don’t believe Galway have improved much from last year if at all.
I wonder will the 60 foot by 30 foot Mayo “floater” flag which was mentioned on here on 27th April by the Mayo independent supporters club be making an appearance in Pearse.
It would look good behind one of them goals, especially if its a sell out crowd with plenty of Mayo “foot soldiers” to pass it along.
Or will it be kept until August for Hill 16 v Kerry.
Jim FLag,
Yes it will, I see Sinead posted on Facebook, that it will be behind the western tce goal, on the Rockbarton road.
One thing that you notice about the failed drug test by the Kerry player was that again EVERYONE in Kerry stuck together, backing THEIR player. You notice that since Dublin have started winning All-Ireland titles again, they do the same thing as well, EVERYONE sings from the same hymn sheet. Remember the campaign against Lee Keegan.
While for us if one of our players was caught up in a situation like this, it wouldn’t surprise me if we had someone from OUR county board going on the radio blaming our player for taking something he shouldn’t have. You’d probably have some of our pundits in the media doing the same thing as well. Again it shows the one for all and the all for one philosophy in the All-Ireland winning counties.
Charlestown beat The Neale in U16 Div 2 final.
Only caught the result and team photo online. Jese Charlestown have some big lads coming through.
@Jim Flag, yes the 60ft X 30ft flag will be in Salthill on the 11th of June. We will be gathering on the eastern terrace, (Rockbarton Road terrace) before the under 17 game. Everybody is more than welcome to come along and join in. More information can be found at this link https://mayoisc2016.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/statement-club-plans-mayo-v-galway-pearse-stadium-salthill-11062017/
HSE I agree completely with the points you made about the Dublin and Kerry approach. I believe this is the correct approach to have in every county not just Mayo. Dublin and Kerry have their detractors as well but when a United front is called for what we see from them is impressive. Contrast that with the Mayo approach. In a game of inches this will have a big bearing on results. Just look at the abuse the O’Sheas have got in recent times as an example. There dozens more I could name over the years. There is a market among Mayo folk for the soap opera the negative spin. H&C were pushing on an open door in this regard last year. Pointless blaming people outside the county who attempt to cash in on this home grown phenomena.
@Nephin, The Rockbarton Road Terrace is actually the Eastern Terrace. There was a mistake made with the original post by myself yesterday in which I incorrectly stated that it was the Western Terrace. This has now been changed. Hope there is no confusion over this., thank God I’m not a pilot!
We won by five alright, Mayomagic, against a team that had beaten Galway by eight in the quarters, without ever really looking like we were going to lose it and without ever coming close to hitting top gear. Had it been Galway we were playing in that semi – our third match in Croke Park in four weeks, where we’ve played and won repeatedly in recent years, where the wide open spaces suit our style and where, at that stage, they hadn’t won a game since 2001 – I believe we’d have been well ready for them. So, yes, I do think they’d have got a bellyful from the real Mayo had that meeting come to pass.
I see a lot of people saying Galway fans are overly confident of this one…I don’t know who these people are but I can tell you that the vast majority of true Galway football folk are realistic and agree that Mayo are favourites and rightly so on the basis of being AI finalists last year. Yes I do believe Galway are improving but I can assure you most Galway supporters are not getting carried away. Personally I’d have it at around 60%/40% in terms of probability favouring Mayo. I do think this Mayo team are past their peak but they may still be ahead of Galway.
I think it could be a cracker, let’s hope conditions in Pearse are ok. Safe travelling and to those worried about traffic congestion get there early and enjoy salthill for a few hours!!
So, by rights, the stand will be corner to corner Mayo supporters?!
Or will they chuck some Season Tickets out into the terraces?
Any possibility of a full house for this one?
Yeah PJ, imagine if we had a case like what happened to the Kerry player. The Connacht Telegraph would probably do a scoop on it. A country board official would probably go on the radio. Then one of our pundits might be on the tv about it. They would all be pulling in different directions and have different versions of the events involved.
In Kerry or Dublin, it doesn’t matter if their player is in the right or in the wrong, they will back their players to the hilt. Look at the way the Dubs have backed Philly McMahon and Diarmuid Connolly, no matter what they have been involved in. This then produces total loyalty from the players involved in the controversy.
From what I’m hearing, Mark, this game is heading for a sell-out on the ticket front.
Regarding the positive drug test, I think its only right that it was all kept quiet until the whole process was concluded. These are amateur players and their name shouldnt be dragged through the media until all the facts and reports through sports ireland are concluded. Nobody should be under any illusions that this was an isolated incident, these guys are all using the same supplements and im sure there will be more negative samples in the future including in Mayo, I know for a fact some club players in Mayo have failed tests for similar issues.
Regarding the Galway game, I see it at 50:50. Galway have improved from last year, its daft to think they havent, just look at some of the players they have back line the corifin lads. I would expect Mayo to improve considerably on last years performance so id say its about 50:50 on the day. The team who can impose themselves on the game earlier should come out on the right side of the result.
HSE I probably had the CT in mind surely. But the other side of that coin is that they are playing to an audience that they have a good understanding of. They pull all the right strings for their audience and make a living at it. Just goes to show you are never standing too far away from someone who is prepared to put the boot in if the opportunity arises. H&C a case in point
Mayomad. Galway over the last year have shown little regard for what happens in the earlier part of the game. It would appear that they setup to win the last 20 minutes in a game. They start slow defend in numbers a dozen players back behind the ball and settle down at the start. Then they pour forward in a storming finish.
And so the ‘not in my lifetime’ tour rumbles on to Salthill on Sunday week. Traffic, traffic, and more bloody traffic. It’s like a throwback to the 90s heading back from Croker. Have to be careful in the house these days. I’m outnumbered 2/1 by the Galwegians. I get the dog to taste my dinner just to be on the safe side. The match? Mayo by fiveish.
First sellout in a Connacht Championship game since Tuam 99?
I can’t wait!
Wonder when we will get our tickets into ST Account. Hope we get decent ones, but in fairness, the stand in Pearse is fairly good.
Yeah PJ, if there ever was a positive test in our camp, someone would probably go running to Martin Breheny in The Indo with the scoop, now that would be the final straw for us Mayo supporters!
Debatable Willie. Have to take into account Galway were probably very complacent going into that Tipp game they didn’t seem to do their homework on them while Mayo management knew all about the strength and weakness of Tipp. It was also Galways first Connacht since 2008 and they looked like a side that had over celebrated.
A number of wins were got but IMO the real Mayo weren’t seen against Fermanagh,Kildare,Westmeath and even against Tyrone winning by the narrowest of margins with them kicking a bucket of wides, compare that win to the quarter final wins v Donegal the previous years. The Mayo performance against Tipp left more questions than answer going into the final I think something similar would have happened if it was Galway v Mayo semi final.
The 2006 Connacht FInal which Mayo won by a point in Castlebar (last minute Conor Mortimer free kick) had over 34,000 at it and was practically a sell out.
Fair play to the Mayo supporters group! cant wait to see the flag
It’s all supposin’ supposin’ I guess, Mayomagic, but if you draw a straight line between the Tyrone performance and the display we put up against Dublin in the drawn All-Ireland, that would give a rough idea of how we might have performed in a semi against Galway, had it come to that. But of course it didn’t. I still can’t understand that Galway performance against Tipp at all – they win Connacht against the odds, they’re then handed a gimme quarter-final against a Division Three team (when we won Connacht in 2011 we got defending All-Ireland champions Cork in the quarters, in ’13 we got the defending champions Donegal!) and they end up getting beaten off the field. Whatever about their players having their heads in the clouds after the Nestor Cup win (and there’s plenty of evidence that this was the case) for management not to be prepared and to fail to have their team in the right frame of mind for that game beggars belief. And yet that catastrophe has now been all but airbrushed from memory …
Willie Joe and MayoMagic,
worth nothing that Padraig Joyce commented that he passed the Galway Team bus somewhere outside of Athlone on the way up on the morning the game vs Tipp last year. Now I know it’s a short enough journey with a shiny new motorway and all, but it’s probably not the best part of the morning preparation for an All Ireland Quarter Final.
Maybe he passed a funeral also, now where have I heard that before???!!! Galway, welcome to the house of pain.
Jaysus, baconfactoryend, you’re on fire today! That’s two crackers from you already today and, as the man says, the night is but a pup.
That’s a fair point WJ. What ever the outcome on June 11th that was a pretty good airbrushing job on that performance. When you face a Div3 team who really struggle to beat Derry a week previously then sitting back expecting it to all to come together in the last 20 minutes was probably naivety of an extravagant nature. Tipp if I remember correctly blazed a few goal chances as well as the 9 they had to spare. It was an extraordinary result from Connacht champions. Akin to our loosing to Longford in 2010. Will we ever hear the end of that one. We need a lad with one of those Galway air brushes.
I don’t believe anything has been airbrushed from the Galway memory. It was a catastrophe there’s no doubt about it. There’s no point in dwelling on past games too much, you look at them, learn from them and move on like all teams have to. Nothing is being airbrushed from the memory. If you’re surprised by some pundits tipping Galway for this fixture, that’s as much a reflection on Mayo’s recent performances as it is on Galway’s.
I remain sceptical about this one being a sell out. What’s John Prenty saying?
No chance of bring a friend to this one then? Same as the Sligo game. The better half had to go to the terrace so I decided I would go to the terrace too and then looked across at a far from full stand. Not great for an old guy who was not blessed with 6 foot genes. It seems that in Pearse stadium we have the same quandry.
I think we tend to forget some of our own headlines. After the Lee K video on YouTube our county board put a firm line out backing the player and what he does out of season. Fair play they have put there head in the sand.
As for the game. I am not convinced on the management yet. Looking for a more complete proformance. And definitely need to show some ruthlessness if we get on top.
I don’t think we have seen it yet from this management.
Whatever about the management, the game , the weather, the pitch, the traffic, the big Flag, the ref, John Prenty or John Nancy…I sincerely hope they get the anthem at least half right on this occasion or maybe that might be too much to ask!
I do mot think it will be a full house. A lot more Galway supporters is certain but will as many Mayo supporters travel to Salthill I have my doubts.
Well done the Mayo independent supporters club. That is a very clear post ye have put up about the plans for the 60 foot flag on the 11th. Even included to look out for the “signal” of the band playing the first note. Lets hope every Mayo person in that part of the ground helps to get that monster into the air. Military precision.
Top marks lads for trying to organise this.
This will look brilliant from the other 3 sides of the ground if done right. Not to mention the view of it for the players on the pitch as they parade around. Quickens the heart beat alright.
Yes well done Mayo Independent Supporters Club. I’ll be there to help and will have a few others with me.
Totally separate issue, but it’s great to see Carlow preparing to play Dublin. Apparently the fixture has electrified the county, and is probably their biggest game in 30 years. Of course they haven’t a hope of winning but it’s still great to see. Would they rather to be playing some other minnow in a B championship in front of 2 men and a dog?? I somehow doubt it. I hope there is no two tier championship brought in as it will kill off football in weaker counties and big games like this will be a thing of the past.
Just on a point. Club players are not subject to testing. So I don’t see how they could have been subject to tests in order to fail tests for the same reasons.
Macs left boot…… on that note i actually hope there is a two tier championship introduced. Carlow are basically, in the words of Conor O Shea ( rugby guy not our guy) going to turn up and get their tummy tickled. What goodcould a potential 15 – 20 point drubbing do them? Should Carlow put up a half decent performance, just wait for all the ” ah didn’t they do well to get that far” like ya do with the local U11 village team that gets beaten out the gate by the town team 5 miles away, it will be pure patronizing. If their is a proper two tier championship, with promotion , relegation etc then i think it would work. Lets say, top 4 teams in second tier go up, bottom four in top tier go down. It might give more meaningful games to teams longer in the summer… i wager that Waterford, London, Antrim, etc will get one more game and that is it, i really can’t see the point in it. But alas i feel it will never happen, too much money the provincial championship. Just a thought.
Wayne Scales, A two tier system would give the lower teams some competitive games and make matches in the championship more evenly matched but there would be draw backs to that structure.
Every team should have the opportunity to play for Sam, I dont think the same enthusiasm would be in a team to train for a lesser cup, it has been tried with poor results.
Young player dream on big championship games playing for the all ireland. A county stuck in the lower tier (There would be teams who would be nowhere near promotion). Players in these counties would naturally gravitate towards other sports where the chance to play at a higher level exists.
Sponsorship would be an issue, hard enough for lower teams to get sponsorship as it is, would be more difficult in a second tier competition. Sopnsors want their name in the all ireland and the exposure it brings. Mayo County Board have highlighted the effect on revenue a drop to div 2 would bring, a drop out of the main championship would be devastating financially to weaker counties.
In theory a two tier system is a good idea but when all factors are considered it would result in the strong getting stronger and the weak fading away. The two options imo are an open draw championship or a champions league format where your league position determines seeding. Both would require the provincials to be scrapped. Little chance of that though.
I don’t see why everyone can’t compete in a two tier championship.
Groups of 4, top two teams to last 16. Finish first then your last 16 game is at home against a 2nd placed team from a different group.
Bottom two into the second tier comp. Finish 3rd, your last 16 game is at home. Something to play for all the time, 4 games guaranteed, extra silverware on offer. And this is regardless of whether you are Carlow, or Mayo. You finish outside the top 2, then you are in the second tier championship.
The Tommy Murphy Cup was a random, cobbled together mess.
Mayomark, would agree. That structure would be excellent. All teams deserve to start out in the All Ireland playing for Sam. League position should determine seedings, would give additional importance to the league. Also gives bottom two a summer of football. A straight two tier with promotion and relegation would never work and wouldnt get padded at congress.
All relies on the provincial chsmpionships being scrapped or removed from All Ireland series. Fat chance of that happening.
MayoMAD… I agree with a lot of what you are saying, i really do, but if its OK, I will come back on a couple of those points…
1) i don’t buy into everyone should be entitled to play for Sam.. why? everyone is not entitled to play for the champions league, soccer or rugby world cups etc , you have to qualify to prove you are good enough. Even our club structure does not put the best teams against the worst,,, they are graded and play in that tier, as is the case in inter-county hurling, Why so, is it only Inter county football that this sense of entitlement should be there?
2) Teams stuck in tier 2, will have something to aim for… getting to tier 1. As it stands, what we would class now as tier 2 team that might get stuck there ( waterford, leitirm, carlow etc), have absolutely nothing to play for.. no hope of winning a provisional title and no hope of getting to An All Ireland quarter final, never mind win it . I do not necessarily agree with the theory that players would gravitate to other sports, I think there is plenty of examples of lads choosing to play GAA over other sports just for the love of it. I can’t see this changing. Indeed the prospect of a few more meaningful games in the height of summer might encourage more participation,
3) The sponsorship issue… fair enough i don’t know a whole heap about this. But if my company sponsored a team, and got exposure on the Sunday game three times in the second tier competition, and in local news papers more often because of more games i would not see this as a bad thing., We are very fortunate to have a large company like Elverys sponsoring us, a lot of counties have hotels etc on their jerseys, and as such more exposure would be a great thing.
@mayomark…. the Tommy Murphy cup was an insult to teams, but they only entered that after they were knocked out the main competition, as you said a complete mess….
Fat chance, indeed, mayomad. I was at the Connacht championship launch the other week and the arguments being trotted out then were the same tired old ones about local rivalries being best (in fairness, the Mayo/Galway one is the last one standing there in the whole country but this is now the exception rather than the rule), the dreams of the small county beating a major power (Dublin are 1/200 to beat Carlow on Saturday and the handicap is set at 19 points) and a provincial title being the primary goal for weaker counties (a hope that has died a death in recent years too). There was no sign there of the turkeys voting for Christmas any time soon. If it were me, I’d split the provincial championships off from the All-Ireland and weld the league onto it instead. Play the provincials in the spring and the league at this time of year, with league placings deciding the line-up in the All-Ireland series. Job done.
I think the current structure encourages the weak to get weaker in the sense that they can’t generate any momentum with young players at both club and county level.
If we look at club football for a moment. Just imagine for a second that Mayo club football in championship was all 50 teams competing in senior. Have a think about specifically Westport and Louisburgh in 2016/17.
Would Westport and Louisburgh have a feel good factor getting knocked out at the group stages of the senior championship as would almost certainly happen?
The same applies to inter county in that compare Carlow beating Wexford to Carlow getting beaten by Dublin by nine points. Carlow getting beaten by Dublin by nine points is the better performance. But you are never going to be able to build anything on that. You’re not going to get a young lad to skip earning 150 euro on the combine for the weekend as opposed to going in to U21 or senior trials.
In Mayo we are blessed in that something like an invite to U21 or senior trials is a massive deal for a young player.
If Carlow are winning a series of games in a tiered championship there are games players can aim at and enjoy.
Playing careers of Division 3 and Division 4 and two games in the chamopionship they will never build anything on that.
does anyone know if the terrace in pearse stadium has seat numbers?
ordering tickets online and its giving me a seat number, cant find a proper seating plan online tho?
don’t want to be behind the goals. Can anyone help
I remember being at the 2013 game, and there were seats in the stand. Be wary though gemma as the stand will most likely be sold out. You can go anywhere on the terraces though.
Sorry seat numbered in the stand.
We haven’t played well in Pearse Stadium for a while now.For some reason we don’t seem to be able to get going there.
Also we have not improved our full back line since last year.
That last point especially has me worried about this game.
The only caveat being that Mayo are possibly more of a running team than one that can shoot the lights out from the ff line.
I fancy Mayo to win in all honesty but certainly there will be no repeat of the 2013 cakewalk on Salthill.
I’d imagine at this stage Mayo supporters would be only too delighted to endure the heavy traffic route to/from Pearse Stadium on July 9th and stand on the terrace with a season ticket if need be. Best of luck in the back door lads, no body begrudges Mayo an All Ireland, except the team their playing naturally enough, remember it’s been done before !!!