Croke Park should be made available to the FAI. I've heard all the arguments before about the GAA being such a wonderful, prudent sporting body and the FAI being a bunch of drunken wasters, but the FAI never had the advantage of keeping all the wages from their players. Imagine if the Roy Keanes of this world had to hand back his 70G a week. There would be no problem with a stadium then.
I live in Britain, so next to Vicarage Road or Kenilworth Road, any London venue would do nicely? Er, no it wouldn't. It is showing Ireland up as a third rate country that they haven't got a stadium to play in. Except they have. But despite hand outs and tax breaks from the government, its owners want to keep it all to themselves. Fine many will add, but remember where the GAA looked for grounds when they had big exhibition games in Britain. Brentford FC, Wembley. Exactly. I for one would have been disgusted if a football club, the FA or Wembley PLC turned down the GAA 'cos it's a Paddy game, roight.' In addition, when I was a yoof (long time ago) I played soccer on pitches owned by a Tory council, that doubled for matches of the Hertfordshire GAA. Imagine the uproar if the council denied the GAA that right because it excluded 'crown forces' from its membership.
The GAA should wake up to the twentieth century, stop acting as if its acronym stands for 'The Grab All Association', think of the service it would be doing the country that it bangs on about 24 - 7(another hospital could be built for the price of a new stadium) and open its doors. In return it will get a nice pay day (you'd think they were letting in travellers for nothing) which I believe it could do with at the moment.
As for Celtic Park? Uh oh, I feel another 44 pages coming on.
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