It was a good week for attendances.
- Breffni Park (Cavan v Dublin) – 16,331
- MacHale Park (Monaghan v Mayo) – 10,817
- O’Donnell Park (Donegal v Kerry) – 6,320
- Healy Park (Tyrone v Roscommon) – 6,110
- Pearse Stadium (Galway v Cork) – 3,387
There’s appetite there for football.
In most counties.
- Semple Stadium (Tipperary v Antrim) – 722
Just the 52,278 free spaces in Thurles.
More than that were probably looking for tickets to Croke Park on the first Sunday of September. The place was nearly packed to welcome home those same hurlers after reclaiming Liam McCarthy.
It seemed like things might’ve changed.
What Liam Kearns and his men did last year was downright unprecedented. The footballers of Tipp rose from the ashes and advanced to the last four of the All-Ireland series for the first time in eight whole decades.
In a predominantly hurling county, the size five operators were working minor miracles and they were winning hearts and minds of the entire country while they were doing it.
LISTEN: Tipperary manager's approach to drinking is bloody refreshing and others should take note https://t.co/seowe4h3u3
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 23, 2016
They went toe to toe with the might of Mayo in an All-Ireland semi-final – it’s crazy to even think that.
But come the first game of the new season, no-one cared.
Listen, a Division Three game against Antrim isn’t the easiest sell in the world but 2017 was supposed to be the start – or the progression – of something special for the footballers of the Premier County.
And, on SportsJOE’s GAA Hour podcast, Colm Parkinson dug out the supporters in the county for not carrying on the momentum that saw so many of them gifted with two trips to headquarters in 2016.
“Tipperary coming off an All-Ireland semi-final last year, they’re trying to get a bit of momentum going, they have a decent team… and 700 turn up,” Parkinson said.
“Antrim have played Laois in the league, they bring a decent crowd. That would just put into context the pathetic support.
“You talk about Kilkenny not caring about football… Tipperary care about football through their coaching and their actual team but the general public, it’s just a disgrace.
“Where are the bandwagoners?”
After the highs of Croke Park and all the dreaming, it was left to the players to gee themselves up and dig out a win against Antrim. But they must feel further away from the big time than they ever have.
Listen to the full rant below.
