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Croke Park - A neutral ground?

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Replying To clondalkindub:  "Avonali hindsight is great but if we lost and didn't go to the Hill they'd of been slated for not going , Mayo laid down the challenge Dublin accepted it and in the end lost, but with 7 points up in the 2nd half going to the Hill or not had absolutely nothing to do with going With that result. Come on all the big teams have played big games in Croker now it makes no difference at this stage Mayo players are more use to croke park than Mchale park. Why would teams want to warm up the hill end anyway where it's full of Dubs and if you kick the balls over the back netting you ain't getting them back haha."
I take your point but the purpose of warming up is to prepare the body and mind for the challenge to come.
Warm -ups are essential to Re-establish hand- eye co-ordination, limber up, get the eye in for goal, establish a collective focus, acclimatise to the environment etc etc but rather than do that Dublin fell right into the trap and acknowledged that Mayo had stolen a march on them. better to let it go, use the warm up and then get stuck in.

avonali (Dublin) - Posts: 1974 - 08/09/2016 11:17:44    1911702

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Replying To TheUsername:  "If i am being honest i dont think its a neutral venue, i know its not offical, but in essence its Dublins home ground. What are you going to do its in Dublin and without Dublin its a big white elephant used for bit and bobs throughout the year. Dublins fanbase and team are very comfortable in Croke Park. Sure its grand and handy.

I often consider what it must be like for other counties and fans when they visit, wonder does it have that mystiuqe and added pressure. Teams and fans seem very wound up on their visit and i often wonder does it effect performence and make victory or defeat that little bit sweeter or bitter. I would be interested to hear other fans thoughts?

I would be open to far more away games have had some great days out in the league and down in Kilkeeny this year, the atmosphere in Croke park for league games or early championship games can be stillted so i would also have a preference for Dublin to build a 50k stadium somewhere in the county, the atmosphere in Kilkenny is electric if we could harness that i thin Dublin would be far better.

I would also be open to just giving Croke park to Dublin and building a national stadium somewhere like Athlone, sure that would be grand for everyone and mean you wouldnt have haldf a county desending on Dublin for matches causing trvel chaos, not that we dont enjoy other fans visiting, its like when distant relatives come to visit!!"
after all the money spent on Croke park? Are you serious.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2520 - 08/09/2016 11:20:28    1911707

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Replying To CroiGorm:  "And how do you know for a 'fact'?? Can you back that up?"
Well your county man has just backed me up. Apparently it is down to alphabetical order as the reason for the same dressing room. As I said I have not problem with it but it is a fact. Some Dub's seem to get very defensive.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11236 - 08/09/2016 11:25:35    1911714

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Would Mayo still be searching for their first All Ireland win since 1951 if they got to play every game in the champ (bar a handful) between then and now in Castlebar?

leitrim4sam (Leitrim) - Posts: 645 - 08/09/2016 11:29:23    1911720

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Forums like this get created all the time having a go at how well Dublin are treated and at this stage they're all like broken records so I don't bother with them but work has been slow today so I threw an eye over it and yep most of the same stuff but just one thing that annoys me everytime....

Would Dublin posters stop playing the innocent! Call a spade a spade, for christ sake you play all your games in the stadium it's essentially your home venue in all but name the entire country knows it so just stop playing it down you're fooling nobody.

Uncle_Fester (Meath) - Posts: 217 - 08/09/2016 11:42:26    1911726

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Replying To leitrim4sam:  "Would Mayo still be searching for their first All Ireland win since 1951 if they got to play every game in the champ (bar a handful) between then and now in Castlebar?"
That not valid in fairness. Every county can't hold an All Ireland final and if you ask any county players where they want to play they will say Croke Park. The only major disadvantage is for traveling fans. Mayo fans will fork out hundreds on All Ireland final weekend on travel, hotels, food and drink alone.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11236 - 08/09/2016 11:48:34    1911731

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Replying To leitrim4sam:  "Would Mayo still be searching for their first All Ireland win since 1951 if they got to play every game in the champ (bar a handful) between then and now in Castlebar?"
Please, please leave Mayo out of this one. We just want to get through the next week or so with the minimum of fuss. By all means keep the Dubs annoyed though.

Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 08/09/2016 11:49:46    1911733

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Replying To leitrim4sam:  "Would Mayo still be searching for their first All Ireland win since 1951 if they got to play every game in the champ (bar a handful) between then and now in Castlebar?"
Probably.

Jackeen (Dublin) - Posts: 4097 - 08/09/2016 11:52:38    1911738

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Are there similar protocols in Semple Stadium?

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12121 - 08/09/2016 11:55:00    1911740

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Replying To leitrim4sam:  "Would Mayo still be searching for their first All Ireland win since 1951 if they got to play every game in the champ (bar a handful) between then and now in Castlebar?"
Don't know !

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 08/09/2016 11:56:00    1911742

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Replying To galwayford:  "after all the money spent on Croke park? Are you serious."
I don't see why not, it could be moved to a site outside of Dublin that has already had a few million ploughed into it - maybe Mountain South in your own fair county?

Jaden (Dublin) - Posts: 139 - 08/09/2016 11:56:09    1911743

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Replying To leitrim4sam:  "Would Mayo still be searching for their first All Ireland win since 1951 if they got to play every game in the champ (bar a handful) between then and now in Castlebar?"
To be fair we didn't even win in Tuam between 1951 and 1997, so it's probably a bit of a stretch to say that we'd have been piling up Sams if we'd been playing in McHale Park all that time. May have won a few more Nestors and gone further in the championship some of those years, though...

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 08/09/2016 12:06:03    1911746

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Replying To yew_tree:  "That not valid in fairness. Every county can't hold an All Ireland final and if you ask any county players where they want to play they will say Croke Park. The only major disadvantage is for traveling fans. Mayo fans will fork out hundreds on All Ireland final weekend on travel, hotels, food and drink alone."
Yup, when you tot up everything (in my case flights, food, drink, match ticket) it comes to several hundred euro (and that's without accommodation, for me). However, if I was told at the beginning of this year that I'd get to see Mayo battle for Sam, I'd bite your fingers off for a ticket, even if it was being played in the swamp!

At the end of the day, All-Ireland finals being held in Croke Park is something that will never change, and it's only fitting that a game of this magnitude be held in the country's finest stadium.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 08/09/2016 12:12:41    1911752

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Croke Park is home for the dubs.

End of story

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1792 - 08/09/2016 12:20:14    1911764

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I wouldn't say the advantage for Dublin is the fact that they have the same dressing room, Or warm up the same end. I honestly think that gets overplayed. Its a dressing room, having been in both dressing rooms they are the exact same in terms of size, colour on the walls, Showers, hooks on the walls for jerseys, the whole lot.

As for warming up at hill 16, I reckon if a team came out and tried to disrupt Dublin by warming up at hill 16, Dublin would just come out and go up the other end. No questions asked.

For me, the advantage the Dublin players have of playing their games in Croke park is similar to the one Tipperary have in Thurles. The players get a good nights sleep in their own bed, their own surroundings the night before a massive game. They don't need to worry about taking the Friday (if the game is a Saturday) or the Saturday (if the game is a sunday) off work and they don't have to worry about a 3 and a half/4 hour coach journey.

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 08/09/2016 12:25:14    1911766

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I am not for one second proposing such a game be moved away from Croke park. However, it seems fairly principled that the GAA would treat both teams as equals - as neutrals.

I had not considered the dressing room, FWIW I am not sure about the argument regarding "alphabetical order" for dressing rooms makes much sense. To my knowledge when a team finds itself in a "neutral ground" that is actually their home ground most sports will have a draw or coin flip to decide who gets the status of "home" team. For example, I believe mayo and Kerry flipped a coin in '04 for example due colour clash, although subsequently disregarded by Kerry (goo.gl/sUKfqR). One might disagree but it is easy to see why the cynic would draw conclusions about Croke park using alphabetical order.

It seems from a neutral perspective that Dublin appears to have the "right" to enter the field first and ultimately that allows them to dictate things like where they warm up, the match build up. That is wrong.

Such a "right" is afforded to a home team. Alternatively, it is afforded to a team at a neutral ground who has won the right through a transparent process, such as a draw/coin flip. The Dublin fans argument that there is no advantage and that Dublin don't care about dressing room or where they warm up does not really wash when you consider their actions when Mayo took to the park first, and you have Connolly on social media last week saying Dubin owns the hill.

roadrunner7 (Meath) - Posts: 4 - 08/09/2016 12:48:54    1911782

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Replying To bert09:  "Croke Park is home for the dubs.

End of story"
Grand so close thread.

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2837 - 08/09/2016 12:49:32    1911783

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Replying To Llaw_Gyffes:  "Please, please leave Mayo out of this one. We just want to get through the next week or so with the minimum of fuss. By all means keep the Dubs annoyed though."
We just want to get through the next week or so with the minimum of fuss.

Tell that to the person that turned his Ferrari in to a giant Mayo flag or the one that met Ian Rushe off the plane in Knock with a 'Mayo for Sam' t-shirt!

CroiGorm (Dublin) - Posts: 1547 - 08/09/2016 12:58:59    1911789

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Replying To BillyD1983:  "The dressing rooms are designated in alphabetical order, Átha Cliath, so Dublin will get the Hill 16 end dressing room in all cases unless playing Armagh. so there is no "Home" dressing room or "Away" dressing room in Croker."
eh what?


Would An Mhi, An Chiarrai, Aontroim, An Lu, etc. not all be ahead of them alphabetically?

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5016 - 08/09/2016 13:06:57    1911797

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Replying To waynoI:  "I wouldn't say the advantage for Dublin is the fact that they have the same dressing room, Or warm up the same end. I honestly think that gets overplayed. Its a dressing room, having been in both dressing rooms they are the exact same in terms of size, colour on the walls, Showers, hooks on the walls for jerseys, the whole lot.

As for warming up at hill 16, I reckon if a team came out and tried to disrupt Dublin by warming up at hill 16, Dublin would just come out and go up the other end. No questions asked.

For me, the advantage the Dublin players have of playing their games in Croke park is similar to the one Tipperary have in Thurles. The players get a good nights sleep in their own bed, their own surroundings the night before a massive game. They don't need to worry about taking the Friday (if the game is a Saturday) or the Saturday (if the game is a sunday) off work and they don't have to worry about a 3 and a half/4 hour coach journey."
I think there should be some kind of draw for changing rooms and side of pitch to warm up. Just to keep things completely on an even par, with absolutely no bias shown towards a particular team. Otherwise, it does become a home game for Dublin which can have a psychological effect.

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 08/09/2016 13:11:10    1911802

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