WE COULD HAVE SOLD OUT CROKE PARK TWICE OVER FOR FINAL – GAA

The GAA could have sold out Croke Park twice over for Sunday’s All-Ireland final between Donegal and Kerry.

At least Big Neil is guaranteed a ticket at Croker!

The claim will be little comfort to Donegal fans who have still yet to get their hands on a golden pass.

But Alan Milton, the GAA’s Head of Media Relations, said the game has generated exceptional demand.

“I can’t quantify this precisely in that I haven’t logged every single request for a ticket, but my belief is that we could sell out Croke Park twice over for Sunday.

“There are a number of factors: a) it’s a novel pairing b) the semi-finals were of a such a high standard that there’s big neutral interest and c) the numbers from each county who will travel back to Ireland – both Kerry and Donegal have a very strong overseas presence in the United States particularly but also farther afield.

“Kerry haven’t won for five years and haven’t even been in a final for three. Throw in that Donegal come with a level of expectation after beating Dublin and may start as favourites and you can get an idea of the allure created by this fixture.

“It might surprise people that this is on a par with Mayo and Donegal two years ago, which was the highest demand I’d ever seen for an All-Ireland final.”