Last year, when Tipperary went on their heroic run to the All-Ireland football semi-final, one of the memorable images that was produced was the sight of Tipp fans streaming from one side of Croke Park to the other after they beat Galway in the All-Ireland football quarter-final. There was a small, tight-knit band of fans all gathered at the Hogan Stand side of the ground. And judging by the National League attendances this weekend it would seem that, despite that success last season, Tipperary's football following remains fairly small - at least compared to hurling within the county.
There are no such worries for Cavan, however.
In his match report for the42.ie Jackie Cahill reported that 722 spectators attended Tipperary v Antrim in their Division 3 clash, which the Premier County won by five points. In contrast to this, 16,231 spectators attended Cavan's Division 1 game with Dublin at Breffni Park (per RTE).
The difference is evident even from looking at Sportsfile's photos from both games.
Above: Tipperary v Antrim, Semple Stadium
Above: Cavan v Dublin, Breffni Park
According to Mayo GAA, 10,817 supporters attended the county's home game against Monaghan in Division 1, while Donegal GAA tweeted out that 6,320 fans turned up for Donegal v Kerry in Ballybofey (also a Division 1 game).
Apart from Dublin, these big attendances all concerned counties whose primary focus is football, whereas Tipperary excel at both hurling and football - so perhaps this goes some way to explaining the difference in attendance levels. As well as that, a Division 3 match at home to Antrim is arguably a less tantalising prospect than witnessing the return of Dublin's Jack McCaffrey or seeing Conor McManus in action for Monaghan. Nevertheless it is striking that a county that reached an All-Ireland semi-final should draw such a small crowd for the first game of the season, and at home.
On the plus side, the big attendance at Breffni Park - which has been one of the talking points out of the weekend, almost as much as what happened on the pitch - perhaps shows the fairly simple formula that needs to be in place for GAA supporters to go to games (a formula that was perhaps incomplete regarding Tipp v Antrim) :
Quality team + Quality team +Match of relative importance = Large attendance
There were even a couple of suggestions that far more than 16-odd thousand turned up to Breffni.
it looked like almost a full house in Breffni today and the official capacity is 24k so I don't know where the 8k would fit
— rita martin (@brucearva) February 5, 2017
Yea that's what had me wondering.
— Mark Farrelly (@MarkFarrelly131) February 5, 2017
With a general population of over 160,000 compared to Cavan (76,000) and Monaghan (around 60,000), most likely it is the prevailing dominance of hurling in Tipperary that is of more relevance. And that is what Michael Quinlivan et al will be trying to change with another successful football campaign in 2017.
(Photo credit: Sportsfile)
