The Offaly and Derry footballers will contest the National Football League Division Three final this weekend, as announced yesterday.
It will be the only National Football League final played before the Championship begins.
The GAA announced that the showdown will be held at Croke Park.
Also, the final will have 2,400 spectators in attendance.
The other finals will only take place if the two finalists meet in the 2021 All-Ireland Championship.
GAA Fans’ Reactions
Fans of Offaly and Derry reacted positively to the news that the game was going ahead.
Well done. Proper order to play a final rather than the nonsense of joint winners.
— lazlopuskas (@lazlopuskas) June 13, 2021
Some have made their feelings known about the concept of joint-winners in the league.
Divisions One, Two and Four will be shared by the two semi-final winners unless those sides meet in the Championship.
The finals would have taken place a week before the Championship begins.
Offaly and Derry made their feelings known about this and were able to get the Division Three final on their schedules.
Imagine county’s deciding if they play a final or not it’s a shambles from the @officialgaa ffs they should had planned it better it’s a disaster from a Pr situation !!
— Dayno (@dayno1) June 13, 2021
Other fans criticised the GAA for its scheduling as it was that which led to their initial decision to overlook league finals this year.
In particular, one Twitter user described the situation as a PR disaster for the sport’s national organisation.
However, negative reactions followed after the announcement that the final held at Croke Park will have 2,400 fans in attendance.
Many questioned the logic behind the small number as Croke Park can house over 80,000 at full capacity.
This is actually a joke. One of the biggest stadiums in Europe.
Bigger attendances at vaccination centres. https://t.co/5GzAiHnImE
— Scatman J 🇮🇪🇪🇺🇬🇧 (@ScatmanJohn5) June 15, 2021
The 2,400 in attendance will only make up 2.9% of the full capacity.
Many fans have criticised this as they do not feel it will gather enough data to help analyse the position the country is in.
Therefore, the use of it as a pilot fixture for the return of spectators is unusual.
Furthermore, it is a very safe choice to allocate only 2,400 tickets for the game in one of the biggest stadiums in Europe.
However, what matters is that Offaly and Derry have got what they want and deserve.
Kick-off is at 5:00 pm, per the press release above.
A full list of upcoming GAA fixtures on TV is available here.
