Replying To Seanfanbocht:  "9,117 in Castlebar, 7,692 Salthill, "a little over 8k" in Kilkarney."

Replying To AnFear16:  "I think this will be a continued theme throughout the course of this group stage. People are generally looking down in these group games like they are National league games. With 12 counties qualifiying out of 16 to knockout phase, and lets be frank, you could probably predict with relative confidence which 12 teams will progress from the groups which leads to people not attending these games knowing their counties will almost certainly have a knockout game (or games) in late June and July which they will wait for to attend.
I was in Killarney yesterday and whilst the crowd was disappointing, it was not a surprise as:
1) Kerry were 1/8 to beat Monaghan.
2) Kerry were almost certain to qualify from the group before a ball was kicked.
3) There was NOBODY talking about the game in Kerry since they beat Clare which lead me to believe that people had no interest in the game and they were waiting for other games down the line.

I would have had Derry and Galway down as a close game but I guess supporters of both counties would have thought that they would surely still be in the top 3 of the group (no offence to Westmeath) at the end. Led to an attendance of under 8k.

The GAA have got this wrong, too many teams in Sam Maguire. Probably should be 3 tiers. 12 (with 8 qualifying for QF's) a Sam Maguire competition. 4 groups of 3 (1 home and 1 away game), top 2 qualify where a 1st placed team vs a 2nd placed team in QF's. 4 provincial champions, last years Tailteann Cup winners and next best 7 ranked teams from the league. That would be your 12.

Another 12 (next best 12 ranked from league) in the Tailteann Cup and the remainder in a 3rd tier competition as we saw what happened to Waterford vs Kildare yesterday and thats just one example.

There's a big gap between the top ranked sides in these competitions and the bottom ranked sides and it leads to people not interested in the games."

Replying To AnFear16:  "I think this will be a continued theme throughout the course of this group stage. People are generally looking down in these group games like they are National league games. With 12 counties qualifiying out of 16 to knockout phase, and lets be frank, you could probably predict with relative confidence which 12 teams will progress from the groups which leads to people not attending these games knowing their counties will almost certainly have a knockout game (or games) in late June and July which they will wait for to attend.
I was in Killarney yesterday and whilst the crowd was disappointing, it was not a surprise as:
1) Kerry were 1/8 to beat Monaghan.
2) Kerry were almost certain to qualify from the group before a ball was kicked.
3) There was NOBODY talking about the game in Kerry since they beat Clare which lead me to believe that people had no interest in the game and they were waiting for other games down the line.

I would have had Derry and Galway down as a close game but I guess supporters of both counties would have thought that they would surely still be in the top 3 of the group (no offence to Westmeath) at the end. Led to an attendance of under 8k.

The GAA have got this wrong, too many teams in Sam Maguire. Probably should be 3 tiers. 12 (with 8 qualifying for QF's) a Sam Maguire competition. 4 groups of 3 (1 home and 1 away game), top 2 qualify where a 1st placed team vs a 2nd placed team in QF's. 4 provincial champions, last years Tailteann Cup winners and next best 7 ranked teams from the league. That would be your 12.

Another 12 (next best 12 ranked from league) in the Tailteann Cup and the remainder in a 3rd tier competition as we saw what happened to Waterford vs Kildare yesterday and thats just one example.

There's a big gap between the top ranked sides in these competitions and the bottom ranked sides and it leads to people not interested in the games."

Replying To Seanfanbocht:  "9,117 in Castlebar, 7,692 Salthill, "a little over 8k" in Kilkarney."

Replying To Seanfanbocht:  "9,117 in Castlebar, 7,692 Salthill, "a little over 8k" in Kilkarney."

Replying To MachaireConnacht:  "I was surprised at the small attendance initially in Pearase stadium for the fixture of the group but when you think about it, Galway have played 3 games in Connacht which included a trip to London and extortionate ticket prices for the other two games thanks to the Connacht Council. They know they will qualifiy from the group and have at least 3-4 more games after the Derry game. People aren't made of money."

Replying To ForeverBlue2:  "Very poor crowd in McHale park… Where were all the great Mayo supporters… ? Has the nonsense of it all finally sunk in…?"

Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Look on the bright side, youse won the Scottish premiership,"