The Munster Council of the GAA has confirmed a switch of the Cork Vs Kerry Munster Football Championship Semi-Final to Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.
The two traditional giants of Munster Football have a longstanding agreement that they host a clash between them in the province at alternate home venues.
2022 was due to be held in Pairc Uí Chaoimh but with concerns over the pitch soon after two Ed Sheeran concerts the request was made to switch to the smaller Pairc Uí Rinn.
The expectation was that this would allow for 15,000 which was a challenging reduction but one that was originally accepted.
The sides have met in the Final at Pairc Uí Chaoimh seven times in the past two decades and have drawn an average crowd of 26,670.
Fitzgerald Stadium has hosted the same pairing in the Final on six occasions with an average attendance of 33,731.
With the crowd numbers swelling this year after two years of games played largely behind closed doors, 15,000 was always going to look very tight and when the capacity was reduced by almost one third following a health and safety review it became a bigger issue again.
In a statement issued last night, Munster GAA PRO Bob Ryan said that “The game was originally fixed for Páirc Uí Rinn given the unavailability of Páirc Uí Chaoimh, in the expectation that Páirc Uí Rinn would hold 15,000 spectators. Following an independent statutory annual health and safety inspection which identified a number of issues at the ground, the capacity was reduced to 9,200 and even If all of the required works are completed on time, the maximum capacity that can be achieved at the venue is 11,000.”
“Given the average attendance of the last three Cork Vs Kerry matches in the Munster Senior Football Championship held at Páirc Uí Chaoimh is in excess of 22,000, (not including the Covid restricted match in 2020), the Munster Council decided to move the 2022 Munster Semi-Final between the teams to Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney on Saturday, May 7th at the earlier start time of 6 pm. It is also expected that this game will form a doubleheader with Munster LFGA.”
“Based on the long-standing home and away agreement between Kerry and Cork, following on from this year’s game in Killarney, the next two meetings of the counties in the Munster Senior Football Championship will take place at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. A similar arrangement was successfully used during the recent redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh.”
The concern among Cork footballers and fans was heightened this year when the threat of being unable to compete in the Sam Maguire Championship was present with a defeat to Kerry in the Semi-Final after possible relegation from the Allianz League Division Two.
A late winning point against Offaly last weekend though removed that fear and it is hard to argue with the fairness to fans and in the longer term of the decision taken last night.
The financial pressures brought about by the past two years meant the stadium could not turn down the opportunity to host two major concerts and Ed Sheeran’s touring schedule does not take account of the Munster Football Championship.
