I'm no fan of Blatter, but that would change if he pulls this off. With bucket seats being banned for the 2006 qualifyers (Putting that in perspective, they start only a year and a few months from now) we either play in a 22,000 capacity stadium or play abroad, both options are unacceptable.
I think its totally the wrong tactic. The GAA will only revel in turning down someone as high profile as Blatter. The organisation can be exceptionally bloody-minded when it feels it is under pressure to "do the right thing". This is not a case of getting a bigger hammer to drive in the pesky nail. The GAA must be either convinced that soccer is not a threat to its core constituency/membership numbers (which in my opinion it is) or the FAI will just have to wait and hope a more liberal wind sweeps through the GAA over time.
"With bucket seats being banned for the 2006 qualifyers (Putting that in perspective, they start only a year and a few months from now) we either play in a 22,000 capacity stadium or play abroad, both options are unacceptable" We'll be playing in a 22000 stadium - -no doubt about it
I reckon that if the Irish team are forced to play in Liverpool or Cardiff next year due to the new restrictions on these bucket seats the GAA will suffer because of it. If they don't open up Croker, they will be seen rightly or wrongly as having forced the Irish team to play outside the country.
does anyone else think the insular short sighted gaa are cutting their noses off despite their face? As much as I love Hurling and Gaelic football the two sports have pretty much no appeal outside of ireland yet they have this magnificent stadium totally devoted to them, now if the gaa allowed other sports ie soccer and rugby be played their a much wider viewing population would be able to see what a wonderful and organised ametuer organisation it is, and one more point, how can two sports - soccer and ruby again be considered to be foreign sports when they are two of the most popular sports in ireland?
at this stage i think any intervention can only be a good thing, if only to put a mittor to the gaa and let them see a reflection of how they really are. but the times, they are a changin' (albeit very slowly) new gaa president - 'kerryman' sean kelly has tentatively suggested that he would not be against opening up croker. the general consensus is that FINANCIAL considerations may well decide any policy change to open up Croke Park to other sports. my main concern is the apparent shift of opinion from the county boards on the matter. the last vote was 197 vs 106 against the motion, which is quite a difference from the time when it failed to achieve the 2/3rds majority by a single vote! if it fails for a third time (possibly in october) then it cannot be debated for another 3 years!!!! tell me the voting process wasn't a farce. several hundred delegates, a show of hands, one count only, a single counter for each section of the huge auditorium, the results whispered to the guys on the top table, then the announcement failed to achieve the required majority!!!! The outcry, the calls for a recount, even for a paper ballot, the refusal. "It would be unprecedented!", said the representative from Cork (the principle opposer), silencing the nervous majority.
my/our tax helped pay for croke park to be refurbished and the gaa is supposed to be an association for all people in ireland, yet we get no say at all in the use of this stadium - i call for a referendum or aq big huge scrap between the hierarch of the gaa and the fai - no hurls or guci loafers allowed
I really don't think the GAA could care less how they are perceived outside of Ireland or indeed how they are perceived inside Ireland. Their raison d'etre is to promote the Irish games and Irish culture among the Irish people - not to push their games abroad. They are still an immensely strong organisation and don't really need to worry about what fans of other codes think of them - unless it seriously hits them in the pocket, and I can't see that happening now that Croker is almost fully developed. I think they'll make up their mind to open it in their own sweet time. The strange thing is that a delegate to the GAA Annual Conference from somewhere like Leitrim probably has more chance of effecting change within the organisation that the combined lobbying powers of the FAI, IRFU and FIFA.
In fairness, your rank and file GAA member is no more a knuckle dragging trogdolyte than any of the hard core soccer crowd. I mean FFS, it's not like the FAI is the embodiment of enlightenment. Most GAA people want Croker to be opened up, there was a list posted one time of all the big name inter-county Hurlers and Footballers that thought it was a great idea..... pretty much all the big names were on there. I bet if you did a poll at the Football games at Croker last Sunday, or the Limerick v Waterford hurlign SF at Semple stadium you'd have found the vast majority of people in favour of Robbie K and the boys playing on Croker's hallowed turf. There's a small old style FF type element that still weilds power greater than their numbers in the GAA but they'll all die off soon. At the end of the day Croker will open up if none other than financial reasons..... it will have to pay for itself and there are only so many big paydays in the GAA calender. Either way you look at it the FAI and the aren't we so sophisticated and unprovincial soccer crowd could learn a thing or two from the GAA. The fact that the FAI has exsisted since the creation of the state and represents, in Ireland, the most popular sport on the planet and yet they don't have a stadium, even a sh1tre one, while the GAA has, (besides a world class jewel in Croker) Semple stadium, Pairc Uí Chaoimh, the Gaelic grounds in Limerick as well as many decent county grounds, says the FAI have a lot to answer for. Even the IRFU has a decent stadium and they are way down the list when it comes to sport popularity.
And besides, when the GAA says it doesn't want to help promote a "rival" sport, they have perfectly valid reasons for saying so. Look at the ground that both Hurling and Football have lost to soccer in Dublin. With a population of 1 Million peeople Dublin should be winning the All-Ireland every year in both codes. The attraction of soccer what with the EPL, the CL, World Cup, Euros etc etc, is massive. Look at the fact that there has to be a combined "Dublin Colleges" team entered in the Leinster Senior Colleges hurling chpshs..... the combined might of the schools of a city with over 1 million people...... and they can still lose to a school from a small town in Wexford. As a passionate lover of the greatest game on the planet, Hurling, I find that very sobering.
speaking of stadiums, whats going on re the national stadium anyway? every few weeks there are a few stories announcing progress and talking about the proposed sites and then nothing.
GAA Why should the GAA let soccer/Rugby into Croker? Let's face it Lords/Twickenham would not let rival sports like soccer play there even when there is no ground big enough to play major internationals/cup finals in London. As for those who say the taxpayers paid for Croker no more than 20% was paid for this way. The GAA has paid this in ticket taxes from big crowds over the years. Now the GAA is getting the blame for the failure of Goverment / Bertie Bowl / Eircom Park & the complete failure of the FAI/IRFU to build modern stadiums despite all the money from World Cups/Rugby Internationals over the years. If these organisations had put their own money into new grounds like the GAA had the courage to do then the goverment would give them the same grants towards the costs as the GAA received. I think the GAA will agree to host games soon as the costs of the loans for Croker might become an important factor. Anyway let's face it soccer in Ireland is a joke apart from the international side. No one is interested in the Irish League which the FAI decide to move to the summer to compete against Hurling & Gaelic Football, good move that? Would love to see the Ireland team playing in Croker though!
I am still miffed at the GAA for not allowing the soccer team to play there. Surely, the GAA can strike some sort of financial deal with the FAI where the GAA get a percentage of every soccer ticket sold for Croke Park? And, considering most International Ireland games will sell out even Croke park, this would amount to a fantastic cash injection for both the FAI and GAA. This money could then be re-distributed for the promotion and general betterment of both sports in Ireland. The main problems, as far as I was aware, was the issue of disruption to the people who live around Croke Park.
Yes, that fact seems to be overlooked in the rush to brand the GAA as anti-soccer inbreds. The local residents accosiation has given the GAA some almighty resistance in recent years regarding scheduling of big GAA matches... I can't imagine they'd be happy with big soccer matches, esp if there's the threat of violence, which is almost never a threat with the crowd at a GAA match.
What's starnge about this???? So the Fai etc should have more say at congress that the ordinary delegate?
There are three main factors which will eventually effect the change to allow Soccer/Rugby to be played in Croker. 1) Money. Eventually the GAA will need to raise more money to maintain the stadium. This is hugh, all over the world there are problems financing big stadia - The Olympic Stadium in Sydney and most of the stadia build in Japan for WC 2002. Including Yokohma are in financial difficulties. 2) Even if the GAA open Croker there is a need for a second stadium of the 65,000 seater variety whch could in facy be used by all three codes. The GAA would be absolutely crazy to open Croke Park until the Government, FAI & IRFU start to build the new stadium - and I mean well started. Given the nature of the government and history of the stadium to date who would trust them to build the new stadium if the GAA opened Croker prematurely. 3) The prospect of playing home soccer games in front of 22,000 people from 2004 on. This will focus minds greatly. Any other problems such as the resident's assoc can be overcome. As for violence at soccer matches. Surely that's only been an issue when A) we played Northern Ireland during the 90's - and in the current climate that should not happen again. B) The odd game against England. I can not see any more friendlies being organised with them. So yes it's an issue but we should keep it in perspective. Just think ... The Eircom stadium would have been operational by now and cheaper than all the money wasted todate on Abbotstown etc.