THE DECISION To schedule all of Dublin’s football championship games in Croke Park is likely to be revisited at the end of this year.
The issue has come up for debate of late and was discussed at a Leinster Council meeting last year.
At the time delegates felt it was best to schedule Dublin’s games for Croke Park in order to attract a bigger crowd.
“It was raised by council members and a decision to keep them in Croke Park was made by the council,” revealed Leinster Council vice-chairman Jim Bolger.
It was given a fair briefing by all the counties who attended the Leinster Council meeting on the night. The county reps decided that the best decision for the council was to have Dublin playing in Croke Park given the numbers.
“And the numbers may not travel to a provincial venue because Dublin have been so successful in the last number of years and there is a better chance of getting a bigger crowd in Croke Park.
“But it is something that we can revisit. For this year we discussed it and it will probably be discussed at next year’s council meeting when we are talking about fixtures.”
Meath player Conor Gillespie believes there is an argument to play some of Dublin’s preliminary round games out of Croke Park.
“There’s definitely an argument, at the preliminary stages anyway. You could bring Dublin down to the provincial grounds which would definitely offer something different for the championship.
“But, ultimately, if you’re going to beat them, you’re going to have to beat them in a final and that’s going to be in Croke Park. And that, as a player, is where you want to play them. You want to play them on the biggest stage.”
