Once the final whistle blew on Jones Road last Sunday, the attentions of the more than 25,000 Mayo fans who made the trip east turned towards getting their hand on a ticket for the main event in 16 days time.
Once the sheer excitement and thrill of Mayo’s win had settled down, for those charged with organising the distribution of tickets the phone calls started coming in thick and fast.
Speaking to the Mayo Advertiser this week, county secretary Kevin O’Toole said that preparations were well under way to get things moving as quick as possible. “We’d be expecting around an allocation of between 8,000 and 10,000 initially in the first batch of tickets,” he said. “They’d normally be roughly split 50/50 between stand tickets and terrace tickets. We’re having a county board meeting this evening [Friday, September 6] to move the planning along and we will be meeting with Croke Park on Monday to get everything sorted out”
As to where the tickets go, the county board have a to take care of those who signed up for the Cáirde Mhaigheo supporters club that was launched earlier this year. The €200 season ticket guaranteed you entry to all national league games, club games in the county, and the ability to purchase a ticket for the inter-county championship, including the All Ireland final (depending on attending the majority of games ). “We have between 800-900 people who have signed up and supported us with the Cáirde Mhaigheo initiative from the start.” The tickets will nominally be disturbed from through the clubs down to their members once they are allocated by county board on what is also expected to be a 50/50 split between terrace and stand tickets.
Another batch of tickets will have to go to the members of the Cáirde Mhaigheo London who, as part of their annual subscription, were guaranteed an All Ireland final ticket should Mayo make it that far.
O’Toole went on to say that he hoped that the clubs would be getting their allocations of tickets distributed to them from around Wednesday of next week on, and that clubs would have to pay for them to get them.
It was also confirmed that the post All Ireland final banquet would take place in the Regency Hotel in Dublin on the night of the All Ireland final.
Also Mayo GAA are encouraging everyone to get involved in a ‘wear green and red day’ day on Friday, September 14. “We have been in touch with Cumman na mBonscol and other schools who will be running with it as will a lot of the large business and industries. We’re not asking people to go out and buy a jersey or anything, just to wear green and red for the day and donate a couple of euro for it towards the training fund for the team.”
While the pressure is on those at the top table of Mayo football to get the ticketing motoring, those in charge of the clubs will also be feeling the pressure from their members as the hunt for tickets heats up around the county.
