I would have liked to have gone to the game saturday, but an overnighter in Dublin is not an option for me.
I notice that not all tickets are sold for the game? Is the late KO affecting the numbers? Would an earlier KO have suited better?
Why is KO so late? Is it a Sky requirement?
Thoughts, opinions?
I think the game is at 8. Correct me if I'm wrong. Will be travelling from Donegal - headin out on the first flight to Rome on the Sunday. So we are caught between a rock and a hard place result depending - it would be a shame to miss a good night out in the capital if we won. Come on up man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Originally Posted by sullanefc
Last edited by BigmanCas; 24/03/2009 at 8:02 PM.
It's not going to affect attendance in a bad way. Same time as a Wednesday kick off and obviously Saturday's are a lot more convenient for most people.
Personally i prefer an evening kick off (its at 7:45), usually is better atmosphere etc. Althou doesnt really matter to me as I live in Dublin, but im originally from Cork and often made the journey up for sat evening games. Doubt it will affect attendance to be honest.
Personally, i think the late kick off adds to the atmosphere, and we need all the help we can get in that regards in croker!
Apparently it is a Sky requirement because they want to show the England (friendly!) game at 5.15 first but as pointed out by other posters it's the same time as a midweek game so the timing really shouldn't have any negative impact on attendance.
Think there's just a number of people who aren't very optimistic based on recent home performanaces so are giving it a miss. That's their choice but no doubt they'll all be back moaning about lack of tickets if we are still in the hunt for qualification by the time of the Italy home game in October.
Sky aren't showing the England game - it's on Setanta and/or ITV.
Sky are showing Wales at 3.00pm and Northern Ireland at 5.15pm and then our game at 7.45pm.
There are late trains back to Galway on Saturday so I presume as usual there will be late trains to Cork,Waterford etc.
We are the Galway Boys Stand up and make some noise"
The reason it's not selling out is not because of the team or the ko time. We're doing fine with both at the moment, it's because of the sky high prices in a recession.
A father taking his two kids to a game can pay anything between €150-210 for tickets alone, throw in transport costs around the country, and other expenses, and you could easily be talking €300 per family. For a qualifier, every qualifier regardless of opposition.
The FAI are not prepared to reduce the prices, so there are rows and rows and rows of empty seats.
Isn't the price fixed, on the basis of their contract with The G.A.A.??
Though granted prices are too dear....
What's the expected crowd, 60k, 65k, 70k?
and lets face it, they can't go cutting the prices now....
there is one plus point though, and that is that cos we are at Croker we don't have to buy tickets to a load of ****ty friendlies against the likes of China and Canad just to keep our tickets (although i think we all remember duffer's goal v Canada, especially those in the terrace behind the goal)
Well if they don't cut them, the situation will continue. It's the same as every other business. Less customers = less revenue. Their prices haven't changed since 2007 when more people could afford them.
Given that there will be no official away support when Italy visit in October, bar those living here, there won't be many more at that game than currently attend.
And ticket prices are going to remain the same once we move back to Lansdowne. The FAI announced last year that there was a price freeze on tickets for Lansdowne.
Also, everyone on the block booking list has had to buy their tickets for the friendlies. If not, expect your block booking to disappear when we move back to Lansdowne. The same for those on the block booking waiting list - it you didn't take tickets for the friendlies in Croker, you can expect to be removed from this waiting list. The FAI may have continued to offer you tickets for every game, but once we're finished in Croker next year, the lists will be "updated."
The reason the evening kick-off is if I remember correctly after the awful dry atmosphere in Croker for the 1st match against Wales which was a 3 o clock kick off, either the management or players were consulted by the FAI and the conclusion was to move kick-off to the evening time like ALL big European continental teams regardless of what day of the week to ensure there was a good atmosphere.
I personally think this was a great initiative by the FAI for a change. I can see this saturday's match creating a real buzz in Croker. Remember we haven't had a meaningful qualifier on a saturday since Wales.
Its nothing to do with tv, especially SKY, if anyone was deciding times it would be RTE as they are the host broadcaster at all Irish home competitive games.
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
I talked to a girl in the ticket office about this and she was crystal clear.... while it mattered for block bookers to take up their allocation at croke park, it made no difference to waiting listers. My friend is a waiting lister in his own right, as am I, and he hasn't bought any tickets for any of the croke park games (I get four, and he takes one of them, along with my dad and bro), and the ticket office were quite clear that he had retained his place on the list just below me.
So when we go back to Lansdowne, Block Bookers will be dealt with first, but only at their previous allocation. While they were given the opportunity to increase the number of tickets they receive while at croke park, it was quite clear (and confirmed in my recent conversation with the ticket office) that on the return to Lansdowne, they will return to their previous allocation.
What wasn't exactly clear is what happens after that, although I anticipate that block bookers would be dealt with first, in date order. That was the impression I was given, although there was no clarification as to how many tickets each would be given. I got the impression it would be a maximum of two each, but who knows? The thing is, the capacity of the new stadium is 50,500 (500 obstructed view seats) and the attendance at the czech game last time out was 35,500.... so allowing for 10,000 premium seats, that's only 5,000 more seats for Joe Public (although obviously some of the premium seats will go to exisiting block bookers). Nonetheless, it was made quite clear to me that it was irrelevant that current waiting listers hadn't bought tickets to croke park games, as they still retained their place on the list, and it was listed quite clearly in the first few application forms I received when we first moved to croker, i.e. that this applied only to croke park, and the current block booking system was to be reactivated when they return to lansdowne road. The impression I got was that the previous system was pretty much frozen, and would only be reactivated on a return to LR.
Hope this helps.
none back to belfast
Judging by the tickets selling in The FAI Store , i'd say the attendence is going to be very high. Seems to be a great buzz about the game .
For the people who constantly seem to text in the likes of Today FM etc close to our games and complain about tickets............i can understand the viewpoint of a dad with two sons etc, its an expensive day out and there should be some sort of family ticket to accomodate this situation. But other than that, I think the ticket prices are reasonable if you consider our competitors:
The gaa charge 80 for an AI final ticket, irrespective of where you sit. Semis were 45 i think last year.
Rugby charge min 90 per ticket, again irrespective of where you sit. (where were all the texts to the radio stations during the six nations???)
FAI charge 70/50 and pricing is based on the seating which is only right and fair imo.
Your average concert in the 02 is anything from €60 upwards.
Im not saying the fai should be praised for the prices they charge, in comparison to european standards they are high, however in comparison to our Irish competitors, they are imo the fairest of the lot. And def dont expect a reduction in LR, if they can get 60k plus into croker at these prices, they'll def get 50k in LR.
Earth Hour is at 8:30 and the FAI have confirmed that the second half will be played in the dark.
Trappatoni has contacted Stan for tactical advice, apparently he was in the dark throughout his tenure in the position.
So far, Stan has mentioned "bamboozling" and "Clinton Morrison"
My advice would be to put the clock forward early i.e. at 7:30 and have Earth hour then, with the game starting at 8:30 which would really only be 7:30. Genius.
I’m on the FAI’s block booking list for Republic of Ireland home games since they started their series of games at Croke Park in 2007. I buy eight tickets @ €50 each for myself, friends and family for every home game including friendlies. I was telephoned yesterday by the FAI to tell me that unfortunately I wouldn’t be getting to see the boys in green playing any time soon at their fabulous new stadium on Lansdowne Road. Due to supply and demand I’m roundabout position 1,200 on the waiting list. That’s fair enough. I only signed up relatively recently and though the Aviva has more capacity (50,000) than the old Lansdowne Road (36,000 fully seated) it is a lot smaller than the cavernous Croke Park (82,300). What gets me though, is that once the bad news had been broken, the chat turned into a sales pitch for premium level Vantage Club tickets. My caller was ringing all the block bookers on the waiting list, who regularly buy six or more tickets for RoI home games, to try and sell the “prawn sandwich” tickets that cost €12,000 for ten years. I simply can’t afford that and told him so. Then his tack changed to “well, if you bought a couple of premium tickets on direct debit, we might be able to get you a couple of general admission tickets as well”. Now hang on... I thought they were all allocated. Hmmm... Apres Match once described the FAI as the best run football association in Merrion Square. They’ve moved offices but some things never change.
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