The GAA has planned pilot matches to test for the suitable amount of spectators that should be at matches at the end of the summer
The pilot matches over this weekend will be Leinster and Munster hurling the semi-finals. Croke Park will have an attendance of 8,000, while there will be 2,400 at Semple Stadium.
They have also granted an attendance of 1,050 to go to the Roscommon v Galway match this Sunday at Dr. Hyde Park.
All other GAA matches have an attendance of around 500 spectators due to Covid19 guidelines.
The Association hopes that with the reopening of the country and success at the pilot matches that there will be 40,000 fans at both All-Ireland finals in August. That number would still only be half capacity for Croke Park to make sure that social distancing still happens.
The GAA has made these plans in partnership with the FAI and IRFU as they also plan to have fans at the Aviva Stadium.
Croke Park stadium director, Peter McKenna said:
“It will still look pretty cavernous, but the whole point of pilots is really to see are there any issues that we hadn’t anticipated and on the other side, concerns from the Department of Health concerning the virulence of the delta variant.”
3 more pilots confirmed this weekend
✅2nd July- Bray Wanderers v Cobh Ramblers- Carlisle Grounds
✅3rd July – Kilkenny v Wexford, Galway v Dublin Leinster Hurling Semi-Finals- Croke Park
✅4th July- Clare v Tipperary- Munster Hurling Championship- Gaelic Grounds-Limerick
— Jack Chambers TD (@jackfchambers) July 1, 2021
The GAA also plan to start increasing the attendance to 12,000 and 20,000 in the coming weeks with social distancing and other guidelines still being enforced.
Matches in Ulster will still only have an attendance of 500 spectators including the Ulster football quarterfinals due to their guidelines.
This will be a very hectic weekend in both hurling and Gaelic football, and it is nice to know that there will be a few fans cheering on in the stadiums.
“What we’re hoping for is a graduated escalation in numbers. I would hope that by the time we get to All-Ireland finals you’d be looking at 40,000. That’s a real aspiration even if we have a long way to go to get to that,” added McKenna.
Getting ready to welcome back 8,000 fans to #CrokePark this weekend 😍 #GAA pic.twitter.com/IosYfrcYBd
— Croke Park (@CrokePark) June 30, 2021
