League & Championship hurling 2022

[greenairfield]

I think on paper Birr have a better team thank k/k so if they hurled to 100% they would win but they still have to go do that.

[SearingDrive]

I think on paper Birr have a better team thank k/k so if they hurled to 100% they would win but they still have to go do that.

A lot of ifs there. Should be a good match.

[private joker]

Only one "if" to be fair

[greenairfield]

[Fairplayalways]

thats the nuts and bolts of it I think too..KK are favourites..

[Fairplayalways]

Belmont will be a hard team to beat, they will be delighted Rynas are gone and they have Shinrone in a semi final, they fully believe this is their chance, and now no football final to consume them either.

Belmont had good teams in the last few years, the semifinal they lost to Coolderry after blitzing them at the start and a semi final they lost to Rynaghs by a point (Clancy saved a late penaltyy for Rynaghs I think) those two Belmont teams were so close but didnt get over the line, the margins are fine, semifinal is a great chance for them to get to a final with this current team, as they will know, there are no guarantees..

[private joker]

County senior A final to be held in Birr in 2023 *edit.

[frankthetank]

County senior A final to be held in Birr

In 2023.

https://twitter.com/birrclg/status/1569 ... 97955?s=21

Absolutely fantastic news. Well done to all who made it happen.

[private joker]

Duignan made it happen as it was a pre election promise.

[Bord na Mona man]

It gives Birr a bit of time to get their ground up to scratch as well.

[greenairfield]

Great news.

I think it's a real win for clubs in South Offaly.

Please note we are aware OCP is 10 times better than Birr but we must remember Birr is run by its Club volunteers no different to Lusmagh, Tubber or Carrig...to pull this off is a massive achievement and fair play to Duignan the county board and Birr GAA.

Promoting hurling across the county makes sense.

[frankthetank]

It gives Birr a bit of time to get their ground up to scratch as well.

.

[Dodge83]

Any indication if the county final will become a regular thing in Birr or not ? You’d imagine if there is a good crowd and cracking atmosphere the county board will have to give it serious consideration

[Lone Shark]

Any indication if the county final will become a regular thing in Birr or not ? You’d imagine if there is a good crowd and cracking atmosphere the county board will have to give it serious consideration

You can't measure atmosphere, so that's moot, but you can measure the crowd, and I've no doubt that will be a huge part of the calculations for 2024 and onwards. Back when this whole debate cropped up first back in the 2000s, Birr wanted the games but they also wanted the standard ground rent fee. That's not a factor any more, so it's a pretty clear calculation - is the crowd more, less, or broadly the same as what you'd expect for the same game in Tullamore? If it's less, debate over. If it's the same, then it'll be hard to justify not using the better facilities and the greater comfort for supporters that exists in Tullamore. If bringing the game to Birr results in a significant bump in attendance however, then of course - and rightly - that will by itself represent a strong argument for leaving the fixture in SBP for a few more years after, to extend the experiment.

Generally speaking, in Tullamore and prior to the Covid years, the attendance at the Offaly senior hurling final tended to range from 5,000 to 7,000, and my understanding is that this number did include senior citizens and concessions, but not children who went in for free, though I am open to correction on that. There were years it went higher (K-K's emergence, the Tullamore years), there were years when it dipped lower (last year, when fears of covid meant crowds were lower across the board), but broadly speaking, that was the norm.

Now almost all of those finals - every one of them since 2010 - featured two out of Rynagh's, Birr, Kilcormac-Killoughey and Coolderry. Generally speaking, Rynagh's vs K-K were the best attended. K-K bring a decent crowd as a rule, while Coolderry is simply a very small area in terms of population and Birr, like a lot of town teams, doesn't have a huge following either, and they wouldn't have gone into many of those finals with high expectations.

This year, I would expect that the crowd might nudge towards the higher end of that scale. It will feature either K-K (who always bring a good crowd) or Birr (who will be favourites if they get that far, so that will be different from recent finals involving them) playing either Shinrone or Belmont, both of whom would be chasing their first championship, while Belmont would be in their first ever final. Naturally, that should lead to a "last one out, turn out the lights" scenario in those areas.

That number will set the bar, so to speak, and then that can be contrasted with the crowd that rocks up to St. Brendan's Park in 13 months time. No two games are identical of course - even if it's the same pairing, Rhode vs Tullamore last year made a lot more appeal than Rhode vs Tullamore this year - but I generally find it's better to set the parameters in advance for what constitutes a decent crowd, rather than have the debate after the fact when everyone will look at the matter from their own pre-existing viewpoint.

There are other issues of course, such as the lack of a warm up area, but Birr have plenty of time to sort that out and come up with a solution, which I'm sure they will. I think we can all agree that there is a world of difference between the mindset and ability of the Birr club executive now, relative to what was there when this debate first reared its head.

[frankthetank]

Just to address a few of LS points:

1. Why do Birr need a warm up area? To the best of my knowledge teams are well able to warm up on the pitch. It's actually only in OCP where this is an issue as they literally lock teams off the pitch until 15 minutes before throw in. Pretty low respect levels for clubs there.

2. Last year's county final attendance was 2,900. Covid or not county final attendances have been steadily dropping over the last decade and last year's attendance was terrible. The venue for the final is the predominant reason for this.

3. Atmosphere being a moot point - you're having a laugh. Going to a match as a paying punter is all about experiencing the occasion. To have it enjoyable as possible. Which would you have preferred - This year's minor All Ireland in Croke Park or Nowlan Park. I think we all know it was a brilliant occasion helped by the "immeasurable" atmosphere.

4. Better comfort for spectators....? Really? If I want to stand in OCP I can. Guess what? I can also stand in Birr. If I want to sit down in OCP I can. Guess what? I also can in Birr. The only difference for spectators is toilet facilities. And considering the average attendee at a county final probably spends an average 60 seconds in the bathroom it's not exactly a red line issue.

LS, your posts here are always excellent. Really balanced and informative and I constantly enjoy reading them. But you have to admit you have a serious bias towards OCP in this argument.