Galway and Clare played out a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final last Saturday in Croke Park that ultimately ended in a 1-30 to 1-30 draw. The result means a replay is due and the sides will face each other next Sunday at 2.00 pm in Semple Stadium, Thurles. Thus, the ticket scramble is well underway.
The GAA decided not to distribute tickets through the county boards and clubs for the fixture. Instead, they went on general sale through Centra, Super Valu and Tickets.ie. This proved contentious.
Speaking to RTE Sport, Clare County Board Chairman Joe Cooney was highly critical of the decision.
"It is a joke, there are a lot of genuine supporters out there especially elderly people who can’t go online to order their tickets. I believe there are big queues, I was talking to a man who had to wait two hours online before his turn came around."
GAA have made a serious balls up of this replay.
1: Dublin v Roscommon should have been moved to Parnell Park & Clare v Galway fixed for Croke Park.
2: Tickets should have gone to clubs to facilitate members.
3: No notice given for online/shop allocation.— Derrick Lynch (@DLynchSport) July 30, 2018
In response to a @ClareFM query, the #GAA say because it's not a Bank Holiday in the North next Monday, they couldn't fix Clare v Galway in Croke Park on that day.
"We don't use Bank Holidays unless we have to because of traffic etc. Also, it's not a Bank Holiday in the north."— Derrick Lynch (@DLynchSport) July 30, 2018
Stand tickets sold out for Clare Galway replay. Lots of kids won't get to go now. Croke Park will be half full at the same time for a game of no consequence. After the best hurling weekend ever, it feels like another own goal for the #gaa to promote the game
— Tomas Forde (@TomasForde) July 30, 2018
#GAA It is a absolute disgrace that the majority of the tickets for Clare/Galway replay are not available through the clubs. Most people were working today with no opportunity to go online or wait in queues at the shops. What about the club members?
— adrian casey (@adocasey) July 30, 2018
The GAA have confirmed to Balls.ie that this decision was taken due to the quick turnaround.
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 as well.
Galway's footballers play Monaghan in Pearse Stadium on Saturday. As for the All-Ireland semi-final replay, that match will be live on Sky Sports and RTE Two, while RTE News Now will show Dublin vs Roscommon and RTE One will broadcast Donegal vs Tyrone.
