There’s nothing like a replay to build tension, nerves, excitement and animosity.
Good news arrived for GAA club members in Dublin and Mayo, after the drawn All-Ireland final. Some 8,000 extra tickets would be made available for clubs in both counties to distribute to their members and use for raffles.
Many of those tickets, from the Mayo County Board at least, are for the Hill 16 and Nally terraces. News of the increased allocations definitely got Mayo supporters excited and there was talk, once again, of making themselves seen and heard on Hill 16.
A sizeable contingent of Dublin fans are not happy that their usual strongholds are being filled by men and women from the west. Common claims have been that Mayo failed to populate MacHale Park for the home qualifier against Fermanagh, and that clubs from across the country are sending some of their allocated tickets to Mayo.
Colm Humphries, a passionate Dublin fan that attended the drawn game, made a claim on our Facebook page that certainly sparked a response from the Mayo faithful. He wrote:
Humphries’ comment has, thus far, received over 40 replies, with a couple of Dublin fans backing up the claims and Mayo supporters accusing their county rivals of sour grapes. The most comprehensive of the Mayo replies read:
‘We travel to Dublin at least two to three times every year. This year alone I have gone to Croke Park four times; four of us… if I am lucky enough to get a ticket it will be fives times this year. [That’s a] round trip in total of 2,038 miles. Let me know when you have clocked half of that up on the road.”
When contacted by SportsJOE, Humphries stated:
‘I’m sure many honest Mayo [fans] would agree that they tried to obtain swaps or sell their tickets to make a profit.’
What do you think – does the Dubliner have a valid point or would you hang onto your Hill 16 ticket if you were lucky enough to get one? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook.
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