Next month's All-Ireland club finals in Croke Park will be all-ticket for the first time in the history of the competitions because of the temporary capacity of 35,000 at the venue. The GAA also confirmed yesterday that the National League finals will also take place at Croke Park.
The popularity of the four clubs involved in the St Patrick's Day fixture combined with the attractiveness of both features could well lead to a situation where demand outstrips availability.
"It ought to be pointed out that 3,000 of those available seats are in premium level so in terms of regular stand or Hill tickets, there will be around 31,000 allocated," said GAA public relations officer Danny Lynch.
The finals have drawn approximately 40,000 on occasions, and this year reigning football champions Crossmaglen, chasing their third successive championship, predict that well over 10,000 people should travel to support them. Their opponents, Dublin club Na Fianna, have also commanded notable attendances in their run.
The hurling final between St Joseph's, Doora-Barefield and Athenry is also a mouth-watering prospect. In last year's semi-final between the same clubs, Athenry lost after having a perfectly valid point waved wide.
The extensive re-development work being carried out on the west side of the stadium, where the old Hogan Stand stood, did prompt the GAA to examine the possibility of switching venues for the games.
"Thurles was named as an alternative and the idea of holding each final at a separate venue was discussed but ultimately it was felt that it was important to preserve the tradition of the occasion. These finals and the sight of fans in the city on St Patrick's Day have become very much part of the occasion and that swayed it," said Lynch.
Because there have been delays in securing the roof on the new Canal End, it will be closed, leaving solely the New Stand (on the old Cusack site) and Hill 16, with ticket prices at £7 and £5 respectively. Croke Park has only two operable dressing rooms at the moment, but temporary facilities will be installed.
Part of the pitch near the Hogan and Hill 16 end of the park will undergo temporary resurfacing work as building work left the edges of the surface a little threadbare.
Meanwhile, Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney will add his opposition to the sweeping proposals to be put before Congress by the Football Development Committee in April.
Although generally very receptive to new ideas, Delaney's report will highlight the potential damage to the games in Leinster.
"How do you decide who the weaker counties are in a province like Leinster where four different counties have won the Leinster SFC in the last five years and two others have won the under-21 title in the same period?" he asks.
He maintains that the new structure would push the under-21 championship into the wilderness and totally destroy the junior championship. As well as undermining efforts to re-draft the hurling structure, he feels that the financial forecasts of the FDC are "utterly flawed".
He argues that the supposition that the new format would yield the Leinster council an annual revenue of £5 million is "based on the supposition that all games, through 11 rounds of this competition, will hold the public's interest.
"This is just not realistic," his report continues. "After the halfway point of the competition at least three-quarters of the games will become meaningless - either because counties will have qualified for the provincial series or will be totally out of contention."
He concludes by querying the wisdom of handing over the administration of a 165-match programme to a small, centralised committee.
Meanwhile, speculation continues that the Players Advisory Group will recommend the appointment of a GAA agent to dispense advice and assist in negotiating sponsorship deals for players.
