Congratulations to Mayo on upsetting favourites and reigning Champions Dublin in the All Ireland Football Championship on Sunday.  Congratulations also to the GAA for attracting a near sell out crowd of 81,623 to Croke Park, the first time this summer that the 80,000 figure, which is the capacity of the Olympic stadium in London has been bettered.
Added to the 50,000 sell out at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, the draw of sport has shown again that it has no equal when it comes to attracting people to attend a major event.
As late as the end of last week the numbers expected at Croke Park were said to be closer to 70,000 but a late surge in sales brought the number within a thousand of full capacity.
The presence of Donegal and Mayo in the final on September 23rd is the first time teams from Ulster and Connaught will battle for the Sam Maguire trophy since 1948.
Donegal have only won once before, in 1992 while Mayo is looking to bridge a gap of 61 years and bring to an end stories of a curse laid on the team by a priest who was upset at the victory procession after victory in 1951 disrupting a funeral service in Foxford.  He is reported to have said that Mayo would not win another All Ireland until every member of that 1951 team had passed away.
We wrote last week about the scramble for Donegal jerseys and the same will now happen to Mayo, giving a good boost to Elvery’s who not only adorn the shirt but will also sell the majority of those that are bought in the coming weeks.
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