Anger is being expressed by Clare GAA fans at the handling of the ticket sale for the highly anticipated All Ireland Hurling Semi Final.
Clare will once again face Galway this weekend, following a thrilling draw in Croke Park on Saturday, this time making the journey to Semple Stadium, Thurles.
But tickets are only available online or through Super Valu and Centra outlets and haven’t been distributed to the GAA clubs – something the GAA has put down to the short turnaround between games.
Stand tickets sold out in a matter of hours today.
These people queueing in the rain at Ryan’s Centra in Ennis have been speaking with Clare FM’s James Mulhall
GAA Response:
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DECISION TO PUT TICKETS ON SALE THIS MORNING, WITH LITTLE ADVANCE NOTICE TO FANS.
This has been the practice around most of our games for quite some time once the match arrangements are confirmed.
WHY ARE NO TICKETS BEING DISTRIBUTED THROUGH CLUBS?
In consultation with the two counties the decision was taken to use our well established network – used by many of our club members – because of the six day turn around. The burden on county and club administrators would have been considerable in the short time-frame, not least in Galway who are hosting a football quarter-final on Saturday aswell.
WHAT WOULD THE GAA SAY TO LOYAL FANS WHO, THROUGH BEING IN WORK TODAY FOR EXAMPLE, ARE ANNOYED AND FEEL THEY WERE GIVEN LITTLE OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE TICKETS AS THE TIME IN WHICH THEY WERE GOING ON SALE WAS NOT ADVERTISED PUBLICLY IN ADVANCE.
This system of online and retail distribution has also been used for all of the games in Munster and many of our members source their tickets this way.
CAN YOU ALSO OUTLINE WHY THE DECISION WAS TAKEN TO STAGE THE REPLAY IN THURLES ON SUNDAY AS OPPOSED TO, FOR EXAMPLE, CROKE PARK ON BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY, GIVEN THE OBVIOUS DEMAND FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE THE GAME.
We don’t use Bank Holidays unless we have to because of traffic etc. Also, it’s not a Bank Holiday in the north. The shorter distance involved in reaching Thurles mean supporters from both counties won’t have to travel as far for the replay, which traditionally don’t draw the same attendance as the initial game.
