The All-Ireland ladies football finals will remain in Croke Park, despite just 20,015 passing through the turnstiles for last Sunday's triple-header. It follows a decision taken last year not to move to a smaller venue on the basis that it would be harmful to the image of the sport and deny players the opportunity of playing in the 82,300 capacity stadium. Last Sunday's attendance was down from 21,237 last year and 25,665 in 2006. But Ladies Gaelic Football Association president Geraldine Giles was satisfied with the turnout given the other attractions on the day. "If you look at the crowds in Croke Park for other games during the summer, it wasn't bad. There was a women's marathon on in Cork and county finals in a number of counties," the Kinnegad woman said. Use of the stadium involves payment of a sizeable rent, to which their affiliated clubs - in the region of 1,000 - are required to contribute. "We came to that realisation that if we want to play our finals in Croke Park, the Association has to take responsibility for it," Giles explained. "For that reason, we have made it compulsory for clubs to buy six adult tickets (costing ?25 each) for finals. "The reality is if we want to play our finals there we have to be able to take responsibility for whatever cost goes with it. That's why we sat down last year and debated the issue. "Everybody wanted to stay, so we had to look at ways of funding it. And it's not just the cost of staging the finals on the day. It's all the promotion and everything that goes with it. "As well as buying the six tickets, it's also a means for the clubs to buy into the day." Tweet

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