It’s been a staggering 19 years since the Rebel County, Cork, clinched the All-Ireland senior hurling championship. The mounting anticipation among the zealous fans for a potential triumph at Croke Park in acquiring the revered Liam MacCarthy Cup continues to grow.
The forthcoming clash against Clare on Sunday has instilled fervent hopes and prayers in the hearts of the fans. However, Michael Hegarty, the chairman of Fr O’Neills in Ladysbridge, a home ground to players Declan Dalton and Ger Millerick, expressed that the prevalent demand for tickets is nearly insurmountable. Given the meagre provision from the GAA headquarters, the chairman compared the dire situation to a biblical metaphor, a “loaves and fishes job”.
“The demand for the tickets this time around is truly unparalleled. It’s impossible for us as a club to fulfil every request,” he shared. “The volume of tickets provided to Cork, considering its populace and clubs, is utterly preposterous.”
Under the existing scheme by the Cork County Board for distributing tickets to the 259 clubs, senior clubs receive 26 stand tickets and 16 terrace tickets. Intermediate and premier junior clubs are provided with approximately 22 stand tickets and 12 for the terraces, while the junior clubs can secure up to 16 stand and 10 terrace tickets each.
One of the past mayors of Cork, Mick Finn, who is also a member of the St Finbarr’s National Hurling & Football Club, shared his astonishment as he has never witnessed such a high level of interest preceding a Cork match. He mentioned, “If a club has players on the team, they get 20 additional tickets per player. However even with this, the demand drastically exceeds the supply. There are simply not enough tickets for all club members.”
He noted another intriguing aspect leading to soaring demand is a newer wave of young Cork fans, who have never experienced the triumph of their team winning an All-Ireland hurling championship, driving a fresh surge in demand which is not satiable by the usual tactics and sources.
The exciting triumph of the team over Limerick at Páirc Uí Chaoimh back in June solidified the bond between the fans and the squad. The aftermath of the match was truly a spectacle with ample supporters filling the pitch and the athletes spending an hour revelling with them. This incident has significantly escalated the desire for match tickets.
In an effort to accommodate those who couldn’t procure tickets to Croke Park, Cork GAA conceptualised the creation of a fanzone in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in collaboration with the Cork City Council, however, the stadium’s 15,000 passes were all claimed within 45 minutes.
The chairman of Blackrock, Ger Coughlan, highlighted the stellar performance of their own Alan Connolly for the county team and called the insatiable thirst for tickets “extraordinary” as fans hoped to witness Cork undo a 19-year drought. As compared to previous instances when Cork made it to an All-Ireland, this year saw the ticket requests doubling from 300 to 600. Coughlan believes that if given the chance, Cork’s ardent fans could single-handedly pack Croke Park.
Meanwhile, in Blarney, David Coleman, a respected club veteran with three players on the county panel, is coming up with unconventional methods to secure game tickets. Having had a past experience of living and working in Boston, Coleman has reached out to his contacts in the United States, although he admits that tickets are as rare as hen’s teeth there too. Despite this, Coleman remains hopeful, citing his previous successes in securing tickets amid high demand.