MUNSTER COUNCIL secretary Pat Fitzgerald says that the season has started well in the province’s championships from a financial point of view.
With just days to go before the first major hurling collision of the summer, this Sunday’s Tipperary-Cork first round in Thurles, Fitzgerald is upbeat about what has been expected to be a difficult season for GAA attendances given the economic crisis.
“We’re very happy with the gates so far,” he said. “There have been fantastic figures in the football with 4,600 at Limerick-Tipperary and 3,500 at Waterford-Cork. We’d be anticipating around 45,000 for Thurles this weekend and we’re pretty certain of 40,000.”
The hurling estimate appears low given that the last time the counties met in Thurles three years ago, the match attracted a nearly full house of 53,076, but Sunday is a first-round match whereas in 2006 the counties were contesting the Munster final.
Comparable attendances at non-final fixtures between the old rivals show that 12 months ago 42,823 attended Tipperary’s first championship win in Cork for over 80 years. To find the previous such fixture you have to go back 17 years to the counties’ semi-final, also in Cork, attended by 42,416.
Nonetheless, Fitzgerald’s satisfaction with the football gates are well-founded given that the Tipp-Limerick crowd is nearly three times that which attended last year’s meeting between the counties, whereas the other match was the biggest championship crowd to watch Waterford in five years.
The Munster Council has developed a number of marketing initiatives, including increased availability of family tickets and promotional offers in hotels in Killarney for Sunday week’s Kerry-Cork semi-final.
One drawback this year is that should the Tipp-Cork match end in a draw there will be extra-time rather than an immediate replay, in line with rules adopted by the GAA last year in order to free up some more time for club fixtures.
Meanwhile, Stephen Nolan has been ruled out of Wexford’s Leinster first round hurling meeting with Offaly next Saturday after tearing a groin muscle in training.
Team manager Colm Bonnar has revealed that the Faythe Harriers forward sustained the injury during a training game last Saturday and will be ruled out of action for three weeks.
Bonnar has also confirmed that experienced duo Darren Stamp and former captain Keith Rossiter will play no part in next weekend’s match.
In addition, Bonnar must also plan without long-term injury victims Eoin Quigley, Colm Farrell and Barry Lambert.
The spine of Bonnar’s team has been decimated by injuries in recent times and the former Tipperary star admitted: “There’s a lot of experience in that bunch of lads.”
Hopes were high that Stamp and Rossiter might feature for the start of the championship but the Oulart-the-Ballagh pair have now returned to their club.
