The Mayo faithful infiltrated all parts of Croke Park for the All-Ireland Football Final. There could be even more of them back for this Saturday’s replay.
Before the pulsating Dublin-Mayo draw, one of the most striking images in Croke Park was the bevvy of westerners in Hill 16.
https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/777500780274323457
Many Mayo supporters were always going to infiltrate the Dublin strong-hold but Diarmuid Connolly’s tweet after the All-Ireland semi-final win over Kerry sparked a campaign to swarm the Hill.
16th man #Hill16isDublinOlny pic.twitter.com/qWtlMQM0ma
— – (@dermoc123) August 28, 2016
Swarm they did.
Even these two lads that braved the Dubs, and the rain, near the back:
https://twitter.com/PKeane1983/status/777514096157716485
The amount of Mayo fans that managed to get tickets, and that showed up in anything green and red they could lay their hands on, sparked some complaints from a popular Dublin GAA fan page. There was even serious talk about boycotting the replay.
Aggrieved Dublin fans may well be a theme of the following days if reports in Mayo News are anything to go by.
The newspaper is reporting that each club in Mayo is to be allocated extra tickets by the county board. Senior clubs are set for 26 extra tickets with 20 for intermediate clubs and 16 for junior clubs.
On Sunday, each club received the same allocation as they did for the final. By Thursday, clubs should be in possession of the extra tickets and will have the responsibility of distributing them, as they see fit, to members. The paper adds:
‘Were the guideline extra tickets to be available, senior clubs would have access to a total of 203 tickets, intermediate clubs access to 170 and junior access to 139…
‘In addition to this, a club is entitled to 10 extra terrace tickets for each member of the senior squad from their club. Clubs who achieved the highest sales in the Club Development Draw earlier this year also receive an increased allocation.’
Over half of the tickets the clubs receive will be for Hill 16 or the Nally Terrace.
It’s about to get more colourful in Croke Park.
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