There is no bigger occasion for a GAA fan than having your county reach an All Ireland Final.
Tickets quickly turn to gold dust as the 82,000 capacity of Croke Park is made to fell like the RDS as fans scramble to get their hands on the coveted prize of entry.
Those who are lucky enough to get a ticket are usually treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience regardless of whether they win or lose.
Over the years, there's been some truly remarkable fan stories from the All-Ireland ranging from heartbreak to kindness. Here are some of the best.
The Good Samaritan
A quite unbelievable story emerged from The Mayo News in 2012. Mayo fan Shane Scott was one of the lucky ones to get his hands on an All-Ireland ticket. Upon boarding the train to Dublin he did one last double check to make sure he had everything he needed. However there was one small thing missing: his ticket.
He quickly phoned his father who raced to collect him and the pair turned their house upside down but it was to no avail, the ticket was gone. The pair then headed to Dublin hoping to land a new ticket.
In the meantime Westport native Jason McDaid was on his way to work when he noticed a Hill 16 ticket lying on the ground. Rather than look to sell the ticket, Jason did the right thing and handed it into the police.
In another bizarre twist of fate Shane's mother phoned into a local radio station in Mayo to tell her son's hard luck story. As it turned out the guards were listening to the story as the ticket was handed in and they proceeded to call Shane.
They arranged for a sergeant at Croke Park to give Shane and his father a police escort into Hill 16 making Shane the only man in the Hill to gain entry without a ticket.
Epic Voyage
A fantastic story emerged from the Irish Examiner when Cork met Clare in the 2013 All Ireland Hurling final.
Cork fan Michael Angland was in the middle of a semester abroad in Morocco when his county made the All Ireland. After he encountered problems with his laptop Angland soon realised that he'd have to find another way to watch the Rebels.
A quick scour of the local pubs in Casablanca and Tangier gave him no success and he then decided he'd have to go above and beyond to watch the Rebels in action.
Michael eventually found a bar screening the game but it was in Marbella, in Spain, a different country, a different continent.
This was no obstacle for Michael who set out on his way to Marbella and after leaving Fez at 1am he was in Marbella 11 hours later.
Unfortunately the game ended in a draw and Cork lost the replay but Michael described the bar as "fantastic" and the entire trip only set him back €80, which he rightly pointed out was "the price of a ticket".
The Coppers Clown
Coppers is well known for playing host to people from the country and that was certainly the case in 2013 when Mayo returned to Croker to take on Dublin in the All Ireland.
Town was undoubtedly packed with Mayo supporters who were in good spirits ahead of their county's second consecutive final.
However there was one Mayo supporter who took the night before a little bigger than the match itself. He woke up on All-Ireland Sunday minus two very important items, his All-Ireland tickets.
Unlike the Good Samaritan above, this time, the person in question was only too happy to take the tickets for herself and even took to Facebook to gloat about her good fortune.
This could well have been Shane following on from his ticket exploits the year before, whoever it was I hope their night in Coppers was worth it.
The Toughest Challenge
GAA sponsors AIB have the cruelest way of supporting the games fans. Last year they offered a Kerry fan €2,000 for his club to rip up his All-Ireland ticket for the Kingdom's match against Donegal.
This year AIB were up to their same old tricks when they offered a Dublin fan €5,000 for his club to relinquish his coveted ticket and dress from head to toe in Kerry gear surrounded by Dubs supporters.
Fortunately Dublin won the match and he was still celebrating despite looking like a idiot, I doubt he cared.
Golden Ticket
There must have been something in the water in Mayo in 2012. After reporting Shane's remarkable Garda escort in 2012 The Mayo News reported another story of incredible fortune.
Conor Duffy made the trip up to Dublin hoping for a ticket after his father and brother managed to get their hands on one. After hours of no luck Conor made the decision to return to Mayo to watch the game at home.
On his way to the train station Conor's father noticed a ticket with All-Ireland written on it, however there was no stub accompanying the prized asset. Conor felt it was worth chancing his arm and he proceeded to Croker with his stubless ticket.
Imagine his luck when he found the missing stub a few steps down the street, and better still it was for a corporate box. Conor kept quiet upon entry and quietly took the best seat in the house for the big occasion.
Car For Tickets
A clearly die-hard Mayo fan made a desperate attempt online to secure All-Ireland tickets for the final in 2013.
An ad surface on donedeal.com in the build up to the game offering a fully functioning car in return for tickets to the big game. The car itself was described as a combination of Honda, Ford, Toyota and others and was probably only worth €600-800.
Better still the car was given a custom Mayo GAA paint job, making it very unappealing to anyone outside the county.
Something the seller also didn't consider was that anyone daft enough to drive such a car would probably be going to the game themselves or be looking for tickets.
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