TICKET FURY AHEAD OF BIG MATCH
CONTROVERSY AHEAD OF THE WEXFORD V KILKENNY LEINSTER HURLING SEMI FINAL AT WEXFORD PARK ON SATURDAY
WEXFORD GAA is at the centre of a storm over its ticket selling ahead of the big Senior Championship showdown between Wexford and Kikenny at Innovate Wexford Park this Saturday.
The decision not to allocate tickets to GAA clubs for one of the biggest hurling games in many years resulted in frayed tempers, long queues and disgruntled local residents as many hundreds of supporters queued for tickets at Wexford Park last Wednesday from as early as 4 a.m.
Among them were Wexford legends of the game, including Martin Storey, the All-Ireland winning captain from 1996. ‘I rang about tickets to be told the club were getting none, so it was a case of joining the queue,’ he said.
Veteran supporter Jimmy Nolan, father of noted racehorse trainer Paul, who has been following Wexford since 1951, was too far down the queue to get any stand tickets. ‘I was offered a terrace ticket but I would not be able to stand in a crowd like that at my age,’ he said. ‘This is a shambles and a disgrace.’ Wexford supporters were not alone in their frustration. Residents of estates adjacent to Innovate Wexford Park were furious to wake up to traffic chaos on Wednesday caused by indiscriminate parking, with parents trying to bring children to school finding their cars blocked in.
As a result of residents’ complaints, housing estates in the vicinity of Wexford Park are to be sealed off to all but residents for Saturday’s game. Meanwhile, traffic and parking plans are in place to cope with a crowd in excess of 18,000.
1996 WINNING CAPTAIN AMONG WEXFORD LEGENDS TO LOSE OUT AS TICKET SYSTEM BYPASSES CLUBS
THOUSANDS OF fans were left fuming after a day of ticket chaos left them unable to secure the precious commodity for Saturday’s Leinster Senior hurling championship semi-final at Innovate Wexford Park.
As supporters queued from as early as 4 a.m. last Wednesday at the county grounds to secure a ticket for the eagerly-awaited clash with arch-rivals and neighbours, Kilkenny, the G.A.A. ticketing allocation system in Wexford collapsed, leaving club members all over the county unable to secure a ticket.
Wexford GAA’s unprecedented decision to sell the tickets for this championship game on a firstcome, first-served basis, rather than through the clubs, left hundreds of club officers, players and long-time loyal supporters without a ticket for the biggest game at the county ground in decades.
As the luckier fans left the ground last Wednesday clutching their precious tickets, there was no return to ‘Dancing at the Crossroads’, the county song of 1996 All-Ireland fame, for the hundreds of others who missed out.
Wexford should not have been surprised by the demand for tickets, given the Davy Fitzgerald factor that has swept the county.
However, the decision to bypass the clubs has left thousands of members furious, with many now unable to attend the game.
For major games in the past, the 49 clubs in the county would have applied for tickets and then received an allocation which might not necessarily have met their full requirements depending on demand and venue capacity.
Then, and only then, would the remainder of the available tickets have been put on general sale to the public.
Now, many people who have served at county level on and off the playing fields have been left scrambling for a ticket.
More than 2,500 supporters queued at the county grounds last Wednesday morning, some from the very early hours.
The queue snaked from the ticket office out the gates of Wexford Park and into the adjacent Corish Park estate.
Residents had gardaí called to the grounds as people were unable to get from their home to work and schools given the erratic parking in the area. Gardaí maintained a presence throughout the morning as supporters’ tension began to rise, with news of tickets running out filtering along the queue.
One high-profile figure spotted in the long queue was 1996 All-Ireland winning captain, Martin Storey who had hoped to acquire stand tickets, but failed to do so.
‘It is what it is,’ he said. ‘I rang the club Chairperson, Mary Doyle, this morning about tickets to be told the club were getting none, so it was a case of joining the queue.’
By the time the legendary Wexford hurler, Oulart-The Ballagh stalwart and Minors manager reached the ticket desk, all seated tickets had been sold. Wexford’s last All-Ireland winning captain was then offered two terrace tickets.
The mood at the back of the queue was not helped by word that some tickets had been sold through supermarket outlets and online promotions.
Long-time supporter and former player Jimmy Nolan, father of noted racehorse trainer Paul, said: ‘It’s sad to see our last All-Ireland winning captain, Martin Storey, having to queue for tick-
ets. The likes of him, who has given so much to the GAA on and off the pitch, should have been facilitated. It’s an utter disgrace.
‘As a result of all this bungling with tickets, the game overall is going to be damaged in Wexford. The loyalty of people will be gone.
‘I have followed Wexford since 1951, and played with Rathnure and Wexford, but I am left without a ticket.
‘I was offered a terrace ticket but I would not be able to stand in a crowd like that at my age. This is the worst P.R. exercise ever for Wexford GAA, and a real blow to our once proud county.
‘Wexford officers should not feel proud of that horrible sight of people queuing for tickets.
‘There should be no home advantage when a county cannot cater for supporter demand. Anyhow, all championship games should be played on neutral ground. There are 20-year-olds who have never seen Wexford play in Croke Park. This was a shambles and a disgrace’.
Former Mayor of Wexford and ex-county GAA Development Officer, Cllr. Ger Carthy, said: ‘I could only get terrace tickets after queuing. I’ve worked for the GAA at county and club level and in my political life, but myself and people like me have been treated badly.
‘The servants of the GAA are the clubs, they are always being portrayed as the grassroots of the association. But that no longer applies in Wexford.
‘This was a total shambles and the management committee should not feel proud today. I did not see any of those people having to join the queue. Wexford GAA has been brought to a new low.
A club officer who did not wish to be named, called for ‘a full enquiry into this fiasco’.
‘Heads should roll or at least resignations from the top should be called for,’ he said.
County PRO P.J. Howlin, was unavailable for comment on the matter.