Dublin’s ‘Unfair’ Croke Park Advantages? Connolly Gives His Verdict
Our gaelic football ambassador Diarmuid Connolly has weighed in on the debate around the Dublin football team’s use of Croke Park.
There has been an awful lot of talk in recent years about where Dublin play their home games and where Dublin should play their home games. As the gaelic football Championship heats up with the provincial finals starting this week discussion around this topic has hit a fever pitch once again.
The issue that many gaelic football fans and pundits have is that Dublin play all their home games at Croke Park. The argument is that Dublin are at an advantage playing all their homes games in Croker and that Croke Park should be a neutral venue but instead has become Dublin’s de facto home ground.
Unfair Advantages For Dublin In Croke Park
Dublin and Kildare recently went head-to-head in the Leinster Championship semi-final where the Dubs ultimately prevailed by two points in a tightly contested game. The game was of course in Croke Park and Kildare manager Glen Ryan made a point in his post-match interview about Dublin playing all their Championship games in Croke Park being unfair.
Here’s what Kildare manager Glen Ryan had to say:
“Everything is laid out up here from a familiarity perspective… Sure we’ll play anywhere, but you want to play anywhere when it’s fair.”
Ryan’s comments questioning the fairness of Dublin playing all their games in Croke Park really brought the issue into the spotlight once again.
These comments by Ryan prompted a discussion on the Irish Examiner’s The Gaelic Football Show where former Mayo manager James Horan echoed Ryan’s sentiments in relation to the unfairness of Dublin playing all their home games at Croke Park.
Here’s what James Horan had to say on the matter when speaking on The Gaelic Football Show:
“I think the familiarity that Dublin have with Croke Park, I think there’s a bias there that favours Dublin that some of the people around Croke Park don’t even realise… They (Dublin) know the people around the place, times, dressing rooms, the stuff on the big screens, images that are shown, the music that’s played.”
“It’s small in isolation stuff but when you add it all up there’s definitely something there that’s a favour to them.”
You can listen to all of Horan’s thoughts on the issue by watching the video in the tweet below.
"In my experience, he is 100% right."
James Horan, speaking on the Irish Examiner Gaelic Football Show, gives his view on the advantages Dublin have at Croke Park.
Full podcast is viewable at the link below (subscriber only): https://t.co/7WHcTSe6ZA pic.twitter.com/x45vl0bGPo
— Irish Examiner Sport (@ExaminerSport) May 3, 2023
Diarmuid Connolly On Dublin’s Advantages At Croke Park
Dublin football legend and six-time All-Ireland champion Diarmuid Connolly weighed in on the debate of Dublin having advantages by playing all their games at Croke Park.
Connolly said:
“I agree that it’s an advantage for Dublin to be playing all games in Croke Park, there is no question or doubt about that.”
While the Dublin legend did agree that the Dubs have an advantage playing all their games at Croke Park he said that he found ‘comedic value’ in some of the supposed advantages that Dublin have when playing at Croker:
“But to say that the conditions in Croke Park are against the opposition and the music that is played over the stadium or the big screen is in Dublin’s favour, well there is comedic value in that. I had a chuckle listening to it. Dublin can’t control where they play, they are told where to play.”
Connolly went on to say that the use of Croke Park as a home venue for Dublin isn’t something that the team should worry about and that the decision for where they play comes down to the Leinster Council and GAA:
“People think Parnell Park is their home ground but at the moment Croke Park is their home ground and that’s just the way it is. From my point of view it’s all about controlling the controllables and if other managers are getting upset about where Dublin play then that takes the eye off what they are trying to do.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it because Dublin have zero control over it and that is a decision for the Leinster Council and the GAA.”
The Dubs once again find themselves as one of the favourites for this year’s All-Ireland and you can check out our breakdown of the latest All-Ireland Football odds here.
*Prices subject to fluctuation
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