Ciaran Kilkenny was one of the architects of Dublin Football’s romp through the Leinster Championship Quarter-Final on Sunday and yesterday it was still centre stage in the questions as he put on another hat as an ambassador for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

He spoke of the disappointing crowd of only 21,000, around a third of what this rivalry would generate at Croke Park in its prime, including when Meath beat Dublin in the Leinster final but that game was 14 years ago and Dublin’s dominance is a problem for the province.

As a player Kilkenny spoke of his liking of the split season, the intensity of the programme of matches and then the prominence given back to club games in the second half of the year.

As a teacher though he also rued the loss of the promotion of the All Ireland Finals in September that would take over the classrooms of the competing counties and build a solid base for a lifelong love of the games.

These days though there are more competing events and one of them that used to coincide with an All Ireland Semi Final is the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, the event he was promoting yesterday.

Kilkenny, in common with many GAA players and a fast growing cohort of Irish sports fans is a big fan of American football and this game is the high point of that sport in a Irish context.

This year’s game is fast heading towards another sell-out with Florida State University and Georgia Tech taking over the Aviva Stadium and the city of Dublin on August 24th in the opening game of the season.

ESPN’s iconic College Game Day is broadcasting from Dublin as well this year, opening up visibility to millions of American sports fans.

The sport is on a high here at the moment and later today the Pittsburgh Steelers and Leader Kicking will host a special coaching session at the Sport Ireland Campus for those who might dream one day of being part of it.

Kilkenny is content to watch from the sidelines and continue his path towards an oyther Al ireland Football title as opposed to a SuperBowl but he will be in the ground for the College Game this August.

If you want to be there too there are now only a limited number of tickets available to join the 20,000 fans travelling from the US.

You can get yours here.

 

Aer Lingus and the College Football Classic as well as Dublin GAA are full members of the Sport for Business community.


 

The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations including all the leading sports and sponsors, commercial and state agencies. 

Be part of the biggest community of sporting and business organisations in Ireland by becoming a member of Sport for Business and enjoying a host of benefits.

Find out more about joining us today.

 

Get ready to join us for some of these forthcoming events…