02/12/2011 15:30:30
onlyhurling
County: Galway
Posts: 442

1079117 ormondbannerman
'Pitch invasion are a thing of the past'
yet again you only quote the stats or facts you want. They are only a thing of the past in certain sports. There is life outside of 'sky sports hype', that is my whole point, and sports who respect their fans traditions have found a way to do this safely.
You say, one accident is too much, and I fully agree it needs to be made fully safe, but remember virtually everything we do comes with a level of risk. Driving to matches is much higher risk, look at the stats, should we ban travelling to matches. Have you ever gone to the toliets behind either terrace during half time in a Munster hurling championship match. Now that is an accident waiting to happen and is the only place I have ever been worried about my safety at a GAA match. In general the GAA don't care about that and the genuine health risk (although I believe they are looking at the capacity now), they only care about what is visible and apeing the sports we get bombarded with by Sky sports and the Dublin based media. Again, I have no problem with anyone here saying that they prefer staying in the stands after the game and if that is what the majority of GAA fans want then I will fully support it. Just don't tell me pitch invasions can't be done safely.

What have any of my posts had to do with "sky sports hype"
How can you make a pitch invasion safe?????
you cant so you dont allow them in case an accident occurs, however small a chance or however unlikely it is that an accident occurs you stop them just in case one does happen. As if an accident occurs it will be the GAA who will have to pay the compensation to whoever gets hurt and before the courts the GAA would have no defence as to why the accident happened as fans shouldnt be on the pitch

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 02/12/2011 15:46:08    1079133

The GAA saw what happens in other sports and eventhough we had a superior system in place they went and aped what they saw in soccer and rugby. Consequently All-Ireland final day is a little less bright and little bit more corporate.

No comparison between 1995 and 2011 post match celebrations for me. 1995 was brilliant but once the intial euphoria had worn off this year it felt very removed to be in the stand. The atmosphere was still great but not as good as it could've been.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13833 - 02/12/2011 16:15:56    1079148

Well stop the press Mesamis,we agree on this one.
I though the festivities on September 18 this year were great,but all in all fans being in the stand does tend to lead to tamer celebrations.I would also feel that alot of it has to do with the Gaa wanting its showpiece to appear modern,like Fa cup finals,Heineken cup finals etc,although for me the pitch invasions beat them all.

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 02/12/2011 18:31:14    1079219

Here's some food for thought...
US college football supporters injured in Oklahoma stampede

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 06/12/2011 08:40:57    1080524

well done doublehop... it shows the dangers that are there for all to see with pitch 'invasions'. Unsafe - simple.

Beng in the Hill years ago was a crush at times... it was unpleasant and there was a lot of fans who did not enjoy it... soccer has had its fair share of tragedies, and we should learn form that.


Of course celebrations are different when you are not on the field after the game, but we will just have to get used to it! Its not worth risking the health and possibly the lives of any fans.

carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1881 - 06/12/2011 19:39:46    1081002

Doublehop,Im sure if you searched the net you would find plenty of articles concerning trouble breaking out between fans in the stands,so does that mean we should start to segregate fans at gaa matches?For the record I believe that will happen in the near future.I believe a brawl breaking out in the stands (like what happened in Tyrone) that results in someone suffering serious injuries is at least as likely to happen as fans getting hurt in a "stampede" after the all ireland final,so Gaa if you are so concerned with health and safety ,SEGREGATE FANS NOW.

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 06/12/2011 20:38:13    1081039

doublehop
Thanks for posting that link, I was actually watching that match. Would like to make a couple of points:
-firstly hope all injured make a full recovery
-secondly, US college football will not bow down to others, they will learn from their mistakes and make improvements where necessary but keep their traditions alive
-thirdly, if you look at the reasons people got injured here it is nothing to do with the type of pitch invasion that happens in a GAA match. I have never seen GAA supporters climbing goalposts and pulling them down in celebration.
-Fourthly, evrything in life comes with risk. In US college football, which I have watched for many years, injuries during pitch invasions are very very rare. There are about 180 Div 1 NCAA teams and about 50 of them with massive fans bases, 60,000+ at average home games. Many matches have over 100,000. So let's take it each team only has 1 invasion every year (wildly conservative) that's 50+ invasions every of a very large crowd whereas the GAA would only have 2 every year.
- If you say even one injury is too much then there are a lot of things we better all stop doing. Over 1 million people die in car crashes in the world every year: Ban all driving to matches. I personally know two people who have died watching matches due to heart attacks: Ban all spectators.
I respect those here who say that they prefer the crowd staying in the stand but do not in any way accept the argument that pitch invasions can't be carried out in a safe way if people want it that way.
(P.S. watching Galway hurling for the last 23 years has been bad for my health, should it be banned?)

onlyhurling (Galway) - Posts: 800 - 16/12/2011 21:50:35    1085434

can anyone ever recall someone getting seriously injured? and not just posters saying there friends..get proper articles about serious injuries in papers?

srgt_slaughter (Meath) - Posts: 462 - 17/12/2011 18:06:38    1085514

Just like to point out that my above post was created before the SEGREGATE FANS NOW thread.

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 17/12/2011 20:54:36    1085564

17/12/2011 18:06:38
srgt_slaughter
County: Meath
Posts: 63

1085514 can anyone ever recall someone getting seriously injured? and not just posters saying there friends..get proper articles about serious injuries in papers?

This link says their was a near death incident in 2009. Google pitch invasions GAA injurys and you will find other examples of people getting injured

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 17/12/2011 21:14:04    1085572

Ormond,I think the point that onlyhurling is making is that if there was a near death experience on say, a boat,does that mean sailing should be banned?

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 17/12/2011 21:59:32    1085592

16/12/2011 21:50:35
onlyhurling
County: Galway
Posts: 454

1085434
doublehop

-Fourthly, evrything in life comes with risk.

onlyhurling forgive me for deleting out irelevant rhetoric when quoting you but I felt it necessary to 'cut to the chase'. Are you seriously suggesting that we should accept the risk that our children or loved ones will be hurt (or worse) through the iresponsibility of fellow sports fans? ....just because of 'tradition'.

I for one am not willing to accept that risk, I've stood at the turnstiles in Croke Park on manys an All Ireland Sunday and the smell of drink would knock you down. Are we to believe that folks who have had a few before the game and are overwhelmed with emotion are capable of rational acts?

The case for the pitch invasion has been made IMHO and no amount of garbage talk concerning 'tradition' and calls for 'show me the injuries' will lessen the fact that the act is inherently unsafe. The professionals we pay to run our organisation have assessed the risk and deemed it unacceptable. In line with every other developed society we deem the loss of any life through forseeable events with indignation.

We have seen the results of poor stadium management over the years and have met it with 'it will never happen here'. Do we have to bring tragedy to our doorstep before we wake up and smell the coffee!

CRH

caughtredhanded (Tyrone) - Posts: 602 - 18/12/2011 19:16:35    1085763

well im for pitch invasions as they can be caried out safely the association should put a disclaimer saying they claim no responsibility and people enter the pitch at their own risk

srgt_slaughter (Meath) - Posts: 462 - 19/12/2011 10:16:02    1085860

CRH,while I agree that when it comes to safety,tradition takes a back seat,it most definitely is not garbage talk.In a time when soccer and to a certain extent rugby are seen as the glamour sports of the world,tradition plays a very important part in keeping kids playing our games,but I completely agree (and this is the point I was making in the segregation thread) that a H&S officer in Croker isnt going to give a damn about tradition when it comes to trying to preventing trouble.If he decides that fans need to be segregated,it wont be enough to go up to him and say "sure its part of our tradition to mingle".Hell tell ya to take a hike.
P.S. The point (I think) onlyhurling was making was that everything comes with risk.E.G. Are we putting our children/loved ones at risk when we drive them about,as they could be killed due to the irresponsibility of fellow drivers.Should we never put them in a car so.or is the safety of our fellow man too important to allow pitch invasions,but not important enough to ban cars altogether and go through the inconvenience of having to walk everywhere

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 19/12/2011 13:31:37    1085973

19/12/2011 10:16:02
srgt_slaughter
County: Meath
Posts: 64

1085860
well im for pitch invasions as they can be caried out safely the association should put a disclaimer saying they claim no responsibility and people enter the pitch at their own risk

(1) A safe pitch invasion is a contradiction in terms.

(2) No court in the world would let that disclaimer stand. Once you accept the general public into your property you are liable for their health and well being.

CRH

caughtredhanded (Tyrone) - Posts: 602 - 19/12/2011 21:38:15    1086208

I think what everyone is forgetting is it's not just the abolition of pitch invasions, fans have accepted it and no doubt those fans loved the laps of honour following the 4 finals there's been without invasions - Dublin being the best one in my opinion, what a spectacle that was. I sincerely doubt there were grumpy Dubs in the stands because they weren't on the pitch in that moment. It was a moment to be treasured by fans, not bemoaned by the lack of a pitch invasion

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 20/12/2011 12:03:30    1086297

link on pitch invasions.
anyone care to give opinion on this article.
have to say pitch invasions shouldn't be allowed. good to see less of them

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 11/07/2013 14:05:49    1428973

stewards will have to use plan B on Sunday if Limerick win. so easy to get onto the pitch there

Kenlim (Limerick) - Posts: 864 - 11/07/2013 14:39:40    1429012

Old news really but some parts of the country are a wee bit behind. I suppose we'll hear talk of tradition... like the tradition of pitch invasions or the tradition of drink driving...

Floops (Dublin) - Posts: 1623 - 11/07/2013 14:42:21    1429015

Jeez ormondbannerman you're like a Canadian Mountie! I barely even remember posting on this...

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 11/07/2013 15:11:50    1429052