3 days ago
Kerry GAA fans call it a neutral venue ‘in the wrong place'
Consternation arose when fixtures for the final round of group games in the All-Ireland Championship – due to be played in neutral venues – were announced with Kerry scheduled to play Meath (4:15pm) at the County Offaly venue on Saturday 14.
While the venue is neutral, its proximity to Meath when compared to Kerry is causing outrage among many Kerry fans. For example, Trim to Tullamore is less than an hour's drive, while Cahersiveen to Tullamore is just under four hours.
PRO of Kerry Supporters Club Martin Leane said the arrangement will 'definitely' result in less Kerry supporters travelling to the game. He added his surprised that the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick was not considered as a venue.
'It's a neutral venue in the wrong place. We would love to have seen the game played closer to home and level out the playing pitch a bit more,' Martin said.
'I was looking at some northern parts of Meath that are only an hour and 20 minutes away from Tullamore. If you go from Portmagee or West Kerry, you are travelling for an hour and a half just to get to Tralee. To leave Tralee by coach for Tullamore you're talking about the guts of three hours with traffic,' he added.
He feels Limerick would have been a more balanced venue, one that Meath would not have had an issue with considering there is a motorway connecting the counties. Martin said when compared to a venue like Thurles, the Gaelic Grounds provides better connectivity for fans.
'We are getting the odd phone call from people complaining about the fixture. As always, you've got to accept that decisions are made by the CCC about fixtures and venues. You've got to go with them. Of course, I would like to see it closer to home on a Saturday evening as people could get home earlier,' Martin said.
'We're planning to leave at around 10am to start our pick-ups. If the game was in Limerick, at 5pm, you wouldn't need to leave until after 2pm. They've made their decision now and I can't see them going back on it,' he added.
"Unless we get a flood in O'Connor Park! But this will definitely cut down the travelling Kerry support. There is no doubt about that. You have to acknowledge that Meath supporters will outnumber Kerry's on Saturday week,' Martin said.
