Monaghan GAA thread

Replying To MONAGHAN1985:  "I know the county board are broke , but who thought charging €10 in to minor div 2 semi final s was a good idea"

Replying To monaghanmad:  "Surely Luke Hughie in that too"

Replying To ORIELMAN85:  "I see they are messing around with the Div. 1 Minor Championship finalists again. Putting them on as a curtainraiser to the Senior Final. These lads deserve their own headline billing, same as the Div. 2 and Div. 3 finalists. Then again it is a good way to get €25 of people who are only interested in the Minor Final. Then the lads and their supporters are rushed off the field to make way for the big boys. Monaghan CCC take a bow (not)"

Replying To MONAGHAN1985:  "I know the county board are broke , but who thought charging €10 in to minor div 2 semi final s was a good idea"

Replying To ORIELMAN85:  "Good value. The price of a pint and a half. You were hardly forced to attend. You think our competitions run on fresh air?"

Replying To Monaghanmad123:  "Solid win for the bog tonight. Essentially promotion play off with currin now Sunday to see who gets relegated with Toome next year"

Replying To MonaghanBoi:  "Some people would complain if the gate was free and they had to walk 20 yards from the car.

€10 into a Minor Championship semi-final is hardly outrageous. Referees, officials, grounds, insurance, lights and the running of competitions all cost money. You can't expect championship games to be put on for nothing. People will spend €20-€30 on a takeaway without thinking twice, or multiples of that going to a soccer match, but €10 for a live championship game is apparently where the line is drawn.

And now apparently putting the Division 1 Minor final before the Senior final is a bad thing as well. For years people have talked about promoting underage football and giving young players a proper occasion. What better way to do that than letting them play a county final in front of a big crowd, in a proper atmosphere, on the biggest club football day of the year?

The alternative is giving them their "own headline billing" and potentially having a few hundred people scattered around the ground. I'd imagine most 17 year olds would rather run out before a packed stand on Senior Final day than have a separate fixture just so it can technically be called the main event.

At times people seem to treat the County Board like they treat the Government - permanently looking for the next thing to give out about. If the price is €10, it's too dear. If the minors are put before the senior final, that's wrong. If they were given a separate day and hardly anyone turned up, the same people would be asking why underage football isn't being promoted properly.

Funny enough, you rarely see the same energy when something is done well. The games organised every week, the facilities, county final days, underage competitions and all the work that goes into keeping the whole thing running don't generate nearly as much discussion. And a lot of the people doing that work are volunteers giving up their own evenings and weekends, not some crowd sitting there making a fortune out of it.

But put an extra fiver on a ticket and suddenly everyone is an expert in county finances. People will spend more on a takeaway on Saturday night, a few pints or considerably more to go and watch professional soccer, but apparently a tenner to watch their own club or county championship is daylight robbery.

Some people have just made giving out about the County Board a hobby at this stage. No matter what they do, somebody will find a problem with it. You'd nearly think people enjoy the complaining more than the football."