Time For Kildare Fans To Be Counted

Lads the reaction to this has been extraordinary. I haven't seen this kind of thing ever. Former and current players from all over congratulating the County supporters from other Counties wishing us well and to fight, it's a lightning rod for the disenfranchised of the GAA. Even in our own County clubs rowing in behind, supporters speaking as.one. Unbelievable stuff, didn't think I'd ever see the County be so strong. Very very proud tonight.

Yep amazing how a perceived high handed action can galvanize the grassroots. It's been coming for a while, this is the lightning rod.
Hopefully, it will stem the tide of the super8/SLY sports/2nd tier competition for the so-called weaker counties

Extremely disappointed with the GAA. They are a greedy shower. To have the neck to do all they've done and said today (McGill) and to sell tickets to top it off. They are so far removed from grassroots. They will most likely ignore this public outcry and support for us and award Mayo the walkover because they are so ignorant of reality.

Extremely proud of Cian O'Neill, The Team, The County Board and our County as well as the thousands of gaels across the country. Look at the people supporting our plea - Parkinson and SEVERAL Laois footballers! Amongst the many thousands of other disgruntled Gaels.

I think if they do not give us the fixture we, all of us head to newbridge, as many Kildare people in our white jerseys and stand together. Hell we might even use it as a fundraiser for St Conleths itself!!!!!!! If 10,000 Kildare fans turn out and threw the price of a ticket into a collection for Conleths for the purpose of its redevelopment, we'd have a nice earner for OUR ground! Our Board should use this opportunity if we are not offered a re-fixture in Conleths!

Well done everyone. I hope we continue to pile on the pressure on McGill and the rest of the cronies. Hopefully it results in a refixture.

Statement by text from Sky tonight:

“Sky has introduced red button functionality to cater for all eventualities including extra time for when we have double headers on our GAA coverage. Sky has absolutely no influence on the selection of venues for live televised matches. “

Kildare-Mayo venue won't change "under any circumstances"
June 25, 2018


The GAA's director of games administration Feargal McGill has reiterated that there will be no change in venue for Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier between Kildare and Mayo.
The Lilywhites released a statement this evening to confirm that they would not be travelling to the capital this weekend as they feel that the game should be played in Newbridge, having earned home advantage by virtue of being drawn first out of the hat this morning ahead of the Westerners.
Mr McGill told The Irish Times today that should Kildare stick to their guns with the decision the game will be awarded to Mayo.
"The game has been fixed for 7pm in Croke Park, and that is not going to change under any circumstances," he said. "We fully appreciate where Kildare are coming from. We don't take home venue off of a team lightly. The last thing we wanted to do was take this out of Newbridge, but we simply had no choice.
"The anticipated attendance on Saturday, for us, would be 18,000-20,000. Given that likely attendance, and given the lack of capacity, we had a serious fear for people actually turning up in Newbridge without tickets, and that would have led to major safety concerns.
"Under those circumstances, we felt there was no choice but to ask Kildare to nominate an alternative venue. They refused to do so.
"If Kildare don't show up in Croke Park on Saturday at 7pm the game will be awarded to Mayo."

Sean Cavanagh
‏

@SeanCavanagh14
7h7 hours ago
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Playing Kildare in Rd 3 of the 2013 qualifiers in Newbridge was one of the most competitive games of my career. I truly believe common sense will prevail here. Hopefully sooner than later.

Having read a lot of media and social media, big commentators included, the swell of support is great, Including the likes of Des Cahill and quite a few Dublin Supporters and supporters from all over the country but in general I’d say it’s 95% supporting Kildare. If and only if they don’t resolve this debacle and we show up on Sat. in Newbridge what will the GAA do to sanction Kildare. Will they withhold our money, suspend us next year.... or is there any sanction apart from a walkover. Interesting few days ahead. Cill Dara Abu.

@ Tommy, you mentioned earlier in the thread that you thought Kildare had done a deal earlier in the day but then reneged on it following the backlash.

Their statement yesterday seems to contradict this (ie it was never their intention to not seek home advantage).

Wondering was your source incorrect or was there a bit of flip flopping going on ?

More likely Tommy flip flopping from his laptop in Brazil.

How would you go about getting tickets for the game now if it was to go ahead in conleths?
Has anyone bought a ticket for Croke Park even?

The outcry from the public is the build up of frustration no doubt from the constant messing around by the GAA with our games, the financial doping and to be fair the messing around of most County Boards with regards fixture planning!!
It's no surprise it's all coming to a major backlash now!

I think at this stage we have won or at least are winning the moral battle.

However it seems to me that the GAA have broken its own competition rules. Surely we are entitled to appeal that decision both within the confines of the association and failing that through the courts. That might take weeks to resolve but it must be a principle worth fighting for, the principle of basic fairness!

As regards a possible sanction for not fulfilling the Croke Park fixture well I suppose they could take away our next home match!!! I don’t know if that’s in the rule book but that doesn’t really matter

My earliest memory is of Kildare winning the Leinster in 2000. I have great memories of division 2 triumps and Leinster final apppearnences, yet still this is the proudest moment I've ever had as a kildare man. Hopefully this will be the l catalyst to revive the GAA from selling themselves out for profit. The stand Kildare are making is about more than just one match. I can't believe I'm saying this after the Carlow debacle but I'm so proud of this team and management and I'm so proud to be a Kildare man right now. I'm sick of seeing money doped Dublin winning everything. As things stand they will win 15 of the next 20 All Ireland and all 20 of the next Leinsters.

Kildare and GAA fans need to keep pushing now. This whole issue could die without a whimper or we could ensure that our culture is not sold out for profit. The actions of the county board, the fans and all opposition fans throughout the country is pivotal over the next week. Either solidarity will be shown and real change will happen or the top few teams will break away and form a for profit league their own.

This may sound cringy but I see this action as the first step in the refusal of selling out our culture for profit. If kildare are thrown out of the competition this year and next year it would be small price to pay to ensure that our games stay our own and are not sold our for a profit. I would even support a break away from the GAA, their actions over the past decade have proven that they cannot be trusted with the oversight of our games and the that their true intersts are in profit and not the promotion of Gaelic games.

Anyone any idea if there is anything happening in the background in terms of trying to resolve ?

GAA statement last night and Kildare statement lays out the positions and it looks at this stage a walk over is likely - Is there any dialogue happening behind the scenes that anybody knows about or will the team train away all week not knowing

Fair play to the County Board, time to stand firm now.

Listened to Newstalk on way to work, vast majority of texts in favour of Kildare apparently. Shane Coleman kept going on about thousands of Mayo fans turning up with no tickets. Well fck them if they're that stupid! Also said Tyrone match wouldn't have been held there either, totally unaware of the 2013 game.
GAA have got it wrong and hopefully are aware of deep seated unease countrywide at the financial monster they have evolved into.

One thing is for sure, it's a defining moment for all the counties outside the elite. Hopefully we'll all look back in years to come as the moment it all changed for the better.

Very proud of my counties stance and if it's given as a walkover then so be it. I'd love to know what the major sponsors are thinking now.

Colm O'Rourke spoke very elequently in support of Kildare this morning on Newstalk, however like most national disputes where one side of the argument is pretty much indisputable there will be the inevitable swing to the other side, we need to stand firm on this.
As many Kildare supporters as possible should turn up in Newbridge on Saturday wearing white, lose this and we lose our games.

Fizzer wrote:

I think at this stage we have won or at least are winning the moral battle.

However it seems to me that the GAA have broken its own competition rules. Surely we are entitled to appeal that decision both within the confines of the association and failing that through the courts. That might take weeks to resolve but it must be a principle worth fighting for, the principle of basic fairness!

As regards a possible sanction for not fulfilling the Croke Park fixture well I suppose they could take away our next home match!!! I don’t know if that’s in the rule book but that doesn’t really matter

I heard, not sure how true it is, but if Kildare don't give the Gaa 48 hours notice of not fulfilling a fixture, the penalty is to be banned for 2019

Gaa1928 wrote:

Fizzer wrote:

I think at this stage we have won or at least are winning the moral battle.

However it seems to me that the GAA have broken its own competition rules. Surely we are entitled to appeal that decision both within the confines of the association and failing that through the courts. That might take weeks to resolve but it must be a principle worth fighting for, the principle of basic fairness!

As regards a possible sanction for not fulfilling the Croke Park fixture well I suppose they could take away our next home match!!! I don’t know if that’s in the rule book but that doesn’t really matter

I heard, not sure how true it is, but if Kildare don't give the Gaa 48 hours notice of not fulfilling a fixture, the penalty is to be banned for 2019  

Sure they have given them 5 days notice ..

Then we are banned. That's how strongly I feel about this. Any ban would only severely damage the reputation of the GAA beyond repair. It would show them up for what most already know, a dictatorship obsessed with money.

We must stand our ground. Newbridge or nowhere.

Rex wrote:

Then we are banned. That's how strongly I feel about this. Any ban would only severely damage the reputation of the GAA beyond repair. It would show them up for what most already know, a dictatorship obsessed with money.

We must stand our ground. Newbridge or nowhere.

+1

We'll play away with the clubs for the year.

kickingking wrote:

Rex wrote:

Then we are banned. That's how strongly I feel about this. Any ban would only severely damage the reputation of the GAA beyond repair. It would show them up for what most already know, a dictatorship obsessed with money.

We must stand our ground. Newbridge or nowhere.

+1

We'll play away with the clubs for the year.

Can't argue with any of that - happily support the county board holding firm on this even if it means no competitive games next year and demotion to division 4 for 2020.

If we are turfed out – currently a 95 percent certainty I would say – the ensuing shitstorm will make this look like a storm in a teacup. And the GAA would deserve every bit of it.

We're not budging on this – it's a bigger issue than us and we will benefit hugely from this stand in the long term.

I honestly think this is going to be the thin end of the wedge in terms of getting a whole range of issues getting addressed.

Again: minors tomorrow night, and U20s and hurlers this weekend. Everyone out roaring on the teams. Show of defiance.

Jack Anderson former Head of DRA posted this on tweeter, he spoke very well on OTB this morning

#sportslaw thanks to @offtheball for having me on earlier to talk about the Kildare v Mayo fixture debacle - did some further research on this and actually think @KildareGAA may have a solid legal argument here - thread
1. Under the GAA Official Guide r3.47 (a), the Central Competitions Control Committee has overall responsibility for Competition Scheduling and Arrangements for and Control of Games under the jurisdiction of the Central Council
2.Under the GAA Offical Guide r7.11(e)(3) there is no right of appeal against a decision of the Central Competitions Control Committee or a Provincial Competitions Control Committee with regard to arrangements for the date and venue of a Game
3. There is DRA authority that in exceptional circumstances a decision of a CCC can be overturned where it is unreasonable and irrational in the circumstances - high bar but can be done e.g., DRA 21 of 2016 Kilcoo GAC v Down CCC and Ulster HC
4. Kildare can argue that CCCC is unreasonably in breach of r6.28(A) (v) (2): "Home Venues SHALL be used in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 of the All-Ireland Qualifier Series, with first Team drawn having Home Advantage" and only exception is "Venues for Rd 4 shall be determined by CCCC"
5. If there is any exception to the home venue rule in rounds 1-3 of the All-Ireland Qs (e.g., ground capacity, health and welfare, season ticket etc) GAA probably should have thought of that beforehand and expressly given the CCCC a discretion but it didn't
6. In sum, while CCCC has wide discretionary powers (that usually can't be appealed) under GAA rules, the GAA Official Guide has expressly and clearly limited the CCCC's powers in rounds 1-3 of the qualifiers and it must give Kildare home advantage.
7. If @KildareGAA go for injunctive relief in the courts, they look like they have a good arguable case and would get it on the above grounds. CCCC are not in any way willfully breaching the Guide, doing their best, just more restricted than normal by Guide & haven't realised.
8. CCCC may have to back down this time & revisit matters at end of year to give themselves greater discretion with Qs. I would recommend that they do that: ensures game is played, Kildare get what their due & from next rd of qualifiers (R4) CCCC have power to fix venues anyway
9. hope that all sides see the sense in the above and avoid legal or even DRA route - it will cost money and time and disrupt the tight fixtures schedule, possibly impacting on the Super 8

This day was always going to come. Im shocked the GAA did not plan accordingly and be ready for the PR spin. They moved Wicklow out of Aughrim this year to cater for their Dublin cash cow. I know Wicklow people today wishing they had done what we are now doing.

It just happens to be us finally taking a stance. This could be the spark that finally gets the flames going again for Kildare football and it will benefit all of the middle and lower tier counties in the country.


Cill Dara abú!