Dublin People - Out of pocket fans vent anger

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Out of pocket fans vent anger

Wednesday, 09 April 2008

NORTHSIDE fans of the Dublin senior football team who were left out of pocket after the postponement of a major league game last Sunday week have vented their fury at the GAA.
Fans who paid e15 to gain entry for the clash between the Dubs and Armagh at Crossmaglen were furious when they were not reimbursed after the game was called off due to an unplayable pitch on March 30.
The GAA said fans that paid into the game will now gain free entry to the rescheduled match between Armagh and Dublin, which will take place this Sunday, April 13.
However, supporters in Dublin who had made the 272km round-trip trek to Crossmaglen said it was unlikely all of them would be able to travel to the replayed game.
Speaking to Northside People, Howth man Hughie Maguire, registrar of the Dublin Supporters’ Club, said fans were annoyed they didn’t get their money back.
However, he said he was relieved the game had not been rescheduled as a midweek fixture, after it had been provisionally pencilled in for Wednesday, April 9.
“A midweek game would have meant both the Dublin players and the fans having to take a day off work to travel to Crossmaglen,” Hughie stated.

Hughie, who travelled to the game on the official supporters’ club bus, said the majority of Dublin fans were already in the ground when the postponement of the game was announced.
“It was a big disappointment, especially as many people felt the game could still have gone ahead,” he said.
“It is unlikely that every one of the Dublin fans who travelled to the game will be able to make the trip back up to Crossmaglen, so I think people should at least have got their money back.”
The GAA has apologised to Dublin and Armagh fans for the frustration caused by the postponement of the game.
A GAA statement said the match referee had sole responsibility for any decision taken relative to the suitability of a pitch from a premise of health and safety and that his decision was final.
“The association fully supports the referee in his decision as the health and safety of the players has to be paramount,” a spokesman said.
“The GAA understands and fully accepts the annoyance and inconvenience experienced by supporters but there is no more that it could meaningfully do.
“Fans will be allowed free entrance as a compensation to those who were not refunded their admission price.”
However, Dublin North Senator Brendan Ryan (Lab) has severely criticised the GAA for not reimbursing the fans.
“The offer by the GAA to give supporters free admission to the rescheduled match, rather than give them a refund, is simply not good enough, and is quite frankly an insult to the thousands of fans who made their way to Crossmaglen,” Senator Ryan argued.
“Once it became clear that the game was not going to go ahead, those people already in the stadium should have been issued with an immediate refund.”
Senator Ryan said fans could have been provided with a voucher that could have been used to either attend the replayed game or to get their money back.
“The GAA would do well to remember that paying supporters are the financial lifeblood of the organisation,” he added.
“I completely understand the frustration and anger of the fans.”

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