So the IRFU’s time at Croke Park has ended on a somewhat sad note with the defeat by Scotland and the failure to claim the Triple Crown but this disappointment will be nothing compared to what the GAA must be feeling as they look at the accounts.
Since Croke Park finally opened its doors to ‘foreign sports’ back in February 2007 after years of political debate about the issue, it has been a revelation for Irish sport.
The GAA received a massive cash injection thanks to deals done with the IRFU and the FAI as well as any additional gate receipts they took as part of the deal.
The amount the GAA is reportedly to have raised by allowing the use of their stadium is €36million, and this came at a time of financial recession.
It also gave the GAA a use for Croke Park in the winter months when it is rarely used.
If the GAA had not been so stubborn over the past decade, and had they not voted no to a change in ‘Rule 42’ (a rule that only allows GAA sports to be played on GAA grounds) in 2001, then we may have continued to see rugby and soccer played at the country’s best stadium in the future.
The IRFU and FAI were forced to plan the redevelopment of the crumbling Lansdowne Road after the collapse of the Irish governments plan for a national arena and the GAA’s stance on the use of their headquarters.
They spent millions of Euros that could have been reinvested in developing both sports and building a smaller stadium that would be suited to hosting less glamorous internationals, AIB Cup finals,FAI Cup finals, etc.
Instead we will have the Aviva Stadium, no doubt a fine ground, but it’s 50,000 capacity is too big for the above mentioned finals and too small for Six Nations rugby and crucial soccer qualifiers.
In the past four years, rugby in Ireland has grown dramatically in popularity due to the success of the national team, and Croke Park was the venue as Ireland picked up their first Grand Slam in 61 years as Ireland beat France, England and Italy at GAA headquarters in 2009.
The fact that 82,000 people could watch those events obviously helped raise the interest in the game, while also creating a much louder atmosphere. The smaller attendance in the Aviva Stadium will obviously make it more difficult for fans to get to games and what the atmosphere will be like in the redeveloped, and so called ‘spiritual home', remains to be seen.
The same goes for soccer, while it has always been a popular game in Ireland, the move to Croke Park has allowed many more fans experience a competitive home international match rather than just a meaningless friendly when tickets were more easily available at the old Lansdowne Road. Maybe that chance helped young fans to become more proud of their country’s football team and not just the big English clubs they support.
However, it is not the fault of the IRFU or the FAI that this has happened. Some have said more pressure from them on the GAA may have helped to keep Croke Park open to other sports but it would have been too late - the redevelopment had begun, the investment was made and the GAA had made its bed when the success of the move had become apparent.
Obviously, the GAA would have had to vote again on the issue but given the success of the past few years, it is unlikely they would have said no.
The GAA has shot itself in the foot. They may say they have not budgeted for the additional income from international events but the fact of the matter is rugby and soccer internationals created a massive amount of revenue and also indirectly increased the popularity of Gaelic Games.
When fans travelled from different countries to watch their nations do battle with Irish rugby and soccer teams at Croke Park, many returned to visit the stadium’s museum and no doubt grew to appreciate the importance of GAA to Ireland’s culture.
So now when the likes of Kerry, Kilkenny, Cork and Dublin are not bringing the crowds to Croke Park then the GAA will have to turn to Westlife and Bono rather than Brian O’Driscoll and Robbie Keane to keep the money rolling in at Headquarters.
And it’s a shame that they would rather glitzy pop stars swagger in front of Hill 16 rather than Irish sporting heroes competing against the world's best.
What an ass!
ReplyDeleteYour right about the sad note but its only the loss to Scotland that is sad. The rest is complete rubbish.
"this came at a time of financial recession."
There was no recession when the GAA took the decision to allow in what you label as ‘foreign sports’
'It also gave the GAA a use for Croke Park in the winter months when it is rarely used.'
What do the GAA care about use of the stadium in the winter months. In fact there is an added cost to pitch maintenance with the games being played at this time of the year.
"The IRFU and FAI were forced to plan the redevelopment of the crumbling Lansdowne Road after the collapse of the Irish governments plan for a national arena and the GAA’s stance on the use of their headquarters."
The question here is why didnt they build a stadium over the past 10,20 or 30 years? What you should be saying is that through lack of foresight the IRFU and FAI ended up homeless paupers.
"They spent millions of Euros that could have been reinvested in developing both sports and building a smaller stadium that would be suited to hosting less glamorous internationals, AIB Cup finals,FAI Cup finals, etc."
And who's fault is this? Why didnt they build an 80k capicity stadium if thats what they needed.
"In the past four years, rugby in Ireland has grown dramatically in popularity due to the success of the national team, and Croke Park was the venue as Ireland picked up their first Grand Slam in 61 years as Ireland beat France, England and Italy at GAA headquarters in 2009."
Now your on to dome thing. The popularity of rugby due to the use of Croke Park. Surely for a rival organisation this should be a worry, cash cow or no cash cow.
"However, it is not the fault of the IRFU or the FAI that this has happened. Some have said more pressure from them on the GAA may have helped to keep Croke Park open to other sports but it would have been too late - the redevelopment had begun, the investment was made and the GAA had made its bed when the success of the move had become apparent."
If its not the IRFU or FAI's fault whos fault is it? Do you think the GAA really care about the loss of revenue? Not a toss to be honest.
"The GAA has shot itself in the foot. They may say they have not budgeted for the additional income from international events but the fact of the matter is rugby and soccer internationals created a massive amount of revenue and also indirectly increased the popularity of Gaelic Games."
Shot itself in the foot. Are you joking? The money was handy, was used for some development in the counties but as the GAA have shown over the years they can stand one their own two feet unlike the FAI and IRFU. As to the misconception that the popilarity of GAA can be attributed to soccer or rugby is totally asurbed.
The popularity of GAA is down to the great organisation the GAA. Simple as that.