HOME COMFORTS
GAA must limit Dublin’s exposure to Croke Park in order to restore the credibility of its competitions
WORD had barely broken that the Dublin footballers were wading through hot water last month, when social media’s disciplinary committee handed out its sanction.
‘As a result of a breach in collective training regulation, Dublin will be stripped of home advantage in Parnell Park and will have to play all their games in Croke Park,’ quipped the comics.
Like most good lines, it was funny because it was true.
The true sanction for Dublin — and Cork and Down, who also breached the collective training ban — became clear last Monday afternoon with the release of the provisional Allianz League fixtures. The guilty trio will not play at home in this season’s minigroups, with their designated home fixture now to be played at a neutral venue.
A fourth county, Monaghan, have had their two scheduled home games cut to just one.
Dublin have played 47 of 48 home ties at Croke Park
In a season when the League’s value has been diminished by the reduction in fixtures, and when the advantage of playing at home has been lost amid the continued absence of supporters, the suspicion is that the quartet of counties will cope.
Dublin may be inconvenienced by having to play their secondround game against Kerry on May 23, almost certainly in Portlaoise. But what will put them out even more is the probability that this punishment will once again turn the spotlight on the very real advantage they have enjoyed over the last decade.
For all the talk of Dublin’s advantages in terms of population, resources and income, none are as obvious as their home-field advantage.
Parnell Park is home to the Dublin footballers like a skeleton-staffed headquarters in Panama is home to a global commercial giant, enjoying the tax benefits of its postal address while the real profits are made elsewhere.
Ever since the launch of the Spring Series in 2011, Dublin have played their League games in Croke Park, in the process ensuring the GAA’s big house has become a cold house to football’s chasing pack. Here are the sobering numbers. Of the 159 competitive games Dublin have played since the beginning of 2010, 115 have been home fixtures.
Since 2011, when Croke Park was first utilised as Dublin’s home venue for League games, the All-Ireland champions have played 47 out of 48 home fixtures at GAA headquarters.
The exception was last winter’s behind-closed-doors game against Meath at Parnell Park.
Dublin effectively have played three out of every four games (72%) in Croke Park over the past 10 years and no-one else comes near that.
Mayo and Kerry, the only other two counties to have enjoyed permanent residency in the League’s top tier over the past decade and who have come closest to shadowing Dublin in the Championship, are closer to playing one in every three games at home.
Of Kerry’s 139 games in League and Championship since 2010, just 54 (38.5%) have been played at home.
Mayo’s figures are even starker. The Westerners have played 52 of their 152 games in Castlebar, which comes in at 35%. It is a fact that home advantage leads to better results in sport.
Dublin’s win record at home is staggering. They have lost just 12 of their 115 games over the past decade, boasting a home win-rate in excess of 84%.
Again, no-one comes near that, although Kerry have won 38 of their 54 home games, a win-rate of almost 69%, while Mayo have won 28 of their 52 (almost 54%).
While Kerry and Mayo’s figures pale when compared to Dublin’s, they still point to the core truth that when good teams play at home, they win more often than not. And by extension, when a great team plays at home a lot more than their competitors, then they are going to win a lot more games.
Of course, Dublin’s unprecedented success is ultimately down to their quality, organisation and desire, but it is not just that they are getting to play more games at home, it is that they get to play their biggest games there that has truly weaponised their home field advantage.
They have won 57 of their 64 Championship games at Croke Park since 2010 — they lost just four — and have become insulated from the threat of being fatally ambushed in an away tie. Their only two away Championship games in the past 10 years were in the Super 8s against Tyrone in 2018 and 2019.
It is 15 years since they last played a Leinster Championship game at the ground of an opponent — when they travelled to Longford in 2006.
Does that really matter? Has that really helped fuel the hottest winning streak the game has ever seen, which will see them seek a seventh All-Ireland in a row this summer? In a word, yes. After all, Dublin don’t even have the best home record in Championship football over the last decade.
Kerry have not lost one of their 16 Championship games at home in that time — winning 15 and drawing one. While it’s hard to assert that their record would be flawless if they played as many games as Dublin in Croke Park, they certainly would have won more than just one Sam Maguire in that period if they played every final in Killarney.
That is not realistic, of course, but neither is the GAA’s decision to reduce the national stadium to
Dublin’s home ground. The argument made in defence of the status quo is that the extra gate money Dublin bring in at Croke Park trickles down to everyone else.
However, the reality is that as results have become more predictable — and this has become markedly evident with both the Spring Series and the Leinster Championship — attendances have dropped off.
But even if that money argument was legitimate, the game needs teams on a level playing field, rather than county treasurers holding out a begging bowl for a few cents more.
It is the issue that the GAA have not had the conviction to tackle, but they must.
In his autobiography, former Galway manager Kevin Walsh labelled Dublin’s home field advantage ‘scandalous’.
‘The skewed system that gives Dublin the huge advantage of playing all their games in Croke Park is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
‘It beggars belief that you would hand such an advantage to a team in the marquee competition. I would categorise it as a six to eight-point advantage,’ wrote Walsh. While it is a fact that the business end of the All-Ireland series can’t be moved out of Croke Park, Dublin can certainly be moved out of there for the League. In doing so, the GAA would be finally addressing a long-standing advantage that far eclipses the benefits any covert team training session. In ensuring that their rookie players are guaranteed game-time in Croke Park — an experience some long-serving players in lower-tier counties may never have — they already have a priceless edge. Dublin need to be sent back to Parnell Park or soon the GAA will find that the rest have lost interest in the box room of their Master’s House.