Ladies football want to break the European attendance record
September 15, 2015
Half time action during the TG4 Ladies Championship finals ©LGFA
Sunday week sees three All-Ireland ladies football finals take place in Croke Park and in advance of this games the president of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association Marie Hickey has set a challenge for all supporters of ladies football, women's sport and sports fans in general.
"In 2015 we want to set a new record for attendance at a women's sporting event in Europe for this year," said Hickey. "Earlier this Summer the Women's FA Cup in Wembley Stadium recorded an attendance of 30,710 and we want to surpass that mark. Last year we had a great attendance of over 27,000 but I firmly believe that we can hit our target and take the title of best supported women's sport in Europe in 2015."
With over 150,000 registered members the president of the LGFA knows that there is enough interest and support for the game within the country to ensure that the target is met.
"We are very ambitious for the future of our games, if we do not aim for progression then we will stagnate and that is not what this sport is about. We have some of the best players in any sport playing our game and some that will be remembered in history as trailblazers and barrier breakers. If you look at the quality of the football that is played there is no doubt that anyone that attends will be more then entertained as anyone that was at last year's senior final between Dublin and Cork will testify and these two teams are back again this year to renew their rivalry."
There are many interesting subplots on TG4 All Ireland Finals day. In the TG4 Junior Final Scotland will play in Croke Park for the first time ever despite only establishing a team in April of this year. They will face Louth in that final and will be captained by Rosanna Heeney who played in the colours of Louth in the 2012 final and must now try to plot the downfall of her native county. Kildare will meet Waterford in the Intermediate Final as they hope to make an immediate return to the senior grade. Waterford will contest the Intermediate All Ireland Final for the third time since 2010 and will hope to make it third time lucky and it will be a unique family occasion for the Murray triplets Katie, Aoife and Emma who will all hope to play in their first All Ireland final at just 17 years of age.
The senior final will see the only two teams to win the All Ireland title since 2010 renew their rivalry when they meet at 4:00pm. Cork are going for their fifth All Ireland title in a row and their 10th in 11 years with two players; Rena Buckley and Briege Corkery, hoping to do the 'double double' of winning Senior Ladies Football and Camogie titles two years in a row. Dublin will hope to end the history making run of the Rebellettes as they look to avenge the stunning defeat they suffered at the hands of Cork last year where they lost by a point despite leading by 10 points with 12 minutes to play, this year Dublin will aim to achieve All Ireland glory despite being without 11 of last year's starting 15 players.
Tickets for the TG4 All Ireland Finals on Sunday 27 September are on sale now from www.tickets.ie and usual GAA outlets at just €25 for adults, €10 for students & OAP's and children are only €5.
